New Moon is the second installment of the Twilight saga and I was introduced to these films by my daughter. After initially thinking that there would not be much to keep my attention in Twilight I was proved wrong - very wrong. I thoroughly enjoyed Twilight and eagerly anticipated the release of New Moon. I have always been attracted to the Vampire genre of films and have previously enjoyed films such as Interview with the Vampire and The Lost Boys - more recently I have very much enjoyed the series called True Blood and also Vampire Diaries. I don't know what it is really that draws my attention with Vampires, I am just fascinated I guess.

New Moon carries on nicely from where Twilight left off and we soon discover that it will be Bella's 18th birthday. Friends and family members shower her with gifts even though she wants to keep it a low key affair and of course Alice Cullen arranges a small get together at the Cullens home in honour of Bella's birthday. Chaos erupts when Bella cuts her finger whilst opening a gift and Jasper cannot control his instinct - with Edward fiercely protecting his love interest - Bella.

Edward makes a decision to leave Bella - reluctantly - as he fears for her future safety if he remains in town. He tells Bella in the forest and leaves her alone - she is devastated and attempts to follow him, though that was a no starter as Edward moves at the speed of light! Nigh time comes and a search party eventually discover Bella. Sam (a friend of Jacob's) returns from the forest holding Bella.

As the months progress Bella is becoming more and more grief stricken and experiences the pain of the loss of Edward both physically and mentally - the acting is particularly good by Kristen Stewart as Bella. Finally her dad, Charlie, decides she had better return to live with her mother to which Bella refuses and it is agreed that she will begin to see friends again.

One friend in particular is Jacob. They spend a lot of time together whilst Jacob repairs two motorcycles for himself and Bella as unknown to him Bella has turned into an adrenaline junkie as that is the only way she sees Edward - in a vision telling her to stop, this seems to happen when she is doing something reckless.

Bella and Jacob begin to develop a bond, closeness and they see lots of each other as Bella feels she can cope better with Jacob around. The relationship is believable and you can sense the feelings that are growing.

Victoria returns and because of this vampire presence in the area a clan of werewolves develop, it is in certain boys genes to become the protectors of the people if vampires are present. Jacob is one of these boys and avoids Bella when the change takes place. The wolves are superb! they look so realistic and the camera work is great. I love wolves and really enjoyed the addition of them to the story.

Bella learns first hand of the presence of wolves when she is endangered by a return of Laurent, a vampire friend of Victoria who wants revenge. He meets his end pretty efficiently, really exciting special effects!

There are more scenes of risk taking by Bella in order to see and hear Edward and her relationship with Jacob continues to develop - then when it seems that Bella has gone to far and may be dead Alice informs Edward that she is dead and he heads straight to the Volturi to end his existence too! Because they decline he prepares to expose himself at at festival that will certainly guarantee his death as this would mean revealing his body in the sun - sparkley! So it is up to Bella and Alice to rescue him and save the day.

We are off to Italy for these scenes and I particularly enjoyed the race against the clock through the bustling crowds and in the sports car - I was on the edge of the seat. Of course all ends well and the two love birds are back together with a promise from Edward never to leave Bella again.

I really enjoyed the film, there is a very large part of it without Edward but the relationship that developed between Bella and Jacob and the wolves was interesting. If you have not read the book you may not get the same understanding of the heartbreak and grief that Bella experiences when Edward leaves - the book gives all that Bella is thinking and is very descriptive although the film does a good job and the acting is really convincing. I found that I enjoyed this film more on a second viewing, it is not as intensely passionate as Twilight but I think it still stands up as a really good film and a satisfying ending.

Looking forward to the Eclipse!

Thanks for reading.