It's Kristen Stewart's stand out performance as Bella which impresses the most

Whereas Twilight introduced the franchise and set the characters up, you'd expect a sequel to ramp up the action and the stakes. However, New Moon is a slight side step on that franchise path as it's about setting up the Jacob/Edward/Wolf pack/Vampire issues which will play out through the rest of the novels/films. So, while there is a bit more action than the original film, there's still a lot of foreboding, plotting and signposting to be done.

And that's perhaps where director Chris Weitz fumbles the Twilight ball a little (in the eyes of a non-obsessive Twihard) - there are scenes of aching moments of love and loss, balanced by a sweeping tinkling piano score - which to the casual viewer seem cliched and unoriginal; some of the newcomers in the Wolf Pack are not the strongest actors - but given their buffness and penchant for wandering around shirtless, you would imagine they're no more than eye candy.

To be honest, the biggest disappointment is the Volturi - early on they're alluded to as Vampire aristocracy who rule with power and fear and yet it's only Dakota Fanning's Jane who comes off as powerful and menacing; Michael Sheen's Aro verges on hammy creepiness - his early menace is soon lost by a lot of clasping hands and wide red eyes.

SHOOT: I agree with this reviewer that some folks who are not 'Twilight' fans might wonder what all the fuss is about, and not without good reason.

clipped from tvnz.co.nz Some films are review proof - and the latest in the Twilight franchise is one of those. Regardless of how we critics see it, New Moon will be a box office phenomenon. Sure, I could spend time telling you how there's a gratuitous excess of abs on slow-mo show here (both with Jacob and Edward) - but that's what the fans want to see (certainly judging by the lusty cat calls and wolf whistles at the NZ premiere); I could reveal there's some horrendously corny teen love lines - such as Edward's "You gave me everything just by breathing" to Bella, but the audience's swoons suggest to me that that's just pandering to the fans - and I could tell you that parts of the film play like music videos as the soundtrack swells over aching teens caught up in their relationship and during the Wolf Pack chasing Victoria the vampire - but again, that's what the diehard fans of the franchise want.