Twilight: New Moon

Synopsis

This is the sequel to the movie/book Twilight. Edward is convinced that he is no good for Bella and leaves her in hopes of giving her a normal life to live. His absence causes Bella to enter into a deep depression. Her only way out is Jacob, who seems to be just what she needed, and almost gets pulled out of her slump, until he leaves her too. After Bella miraculously saves Edward's life (a self-imposed death sentence) she must choose between Jacob and Edward who turn out to be mortal/immortal enemies.

Entertainment Value - B

This sequel is a lot better than the original (I'm sure a new director helped), though the storyline in the first was more interesting. I would have liked to understand a little bit more about the werewolves and seen more interaction with the vampires (the scene in Rome was pretty cool). My wife (who's read the book) explained a little bit more to me and that helped.

Moral Value - Failure to Communicate? - 3

I don't think either Jacob or Edward are good for Bella. Both of them put Bella into a situation where she is forced to lie to her dad, who really loves her and should be most important in her life (at least until she moves out of the house to go to college, but she's still in high school!). Any relationship that endangers her family is probably an unwise one; not to mention the fact that Bella's obsession takes her so far as to almost kill herself various times only to catch a fleeting glimpse of her beloved.

Granted, Edward's influence over Bella is paranormal, however, the emotions this story pulls out of people who watch/read it are real and and unhealthy (particularly young girls/women).  Specifically with the novel, some of the people I know that have followed the story have expressed the emotions and thoughts that it draws out of them and how they have a hard time putting them aside. I wouldn't call these people unprincipled, I just think Stephanie Meyer is a talented writer that could probably write something with a little more moral fiber.

I failed to mention it in the earlier post on Twilight, but I made some comparisons to the chemistry between Edward and Bella and aggressive mimicry on my other blog. I still think this applies to this second installation.

Stepping down from my soap box, the story's a fun one to follow (though I'd recommend keeping your emotionally charged teenagers away from the books for as long as you can), so if you have a buck it's worth checking out at RedBox.