New Moon is the second installment in the Twilight Series directed by Chris Weitz (The Golden Compass). It continues with the story of high school student Bella Swan and her relationship with Edward Cullen, a vampire who thirsts for Bella's blood.

In New Moon, after constant struggles in their relationship, Edward and Bella part ways. Edward and the Cullen family leave Forks for good and Bella behind. Heartbroken, Bella forms a close friendship with Jacob Black, a native of the Quileute tribe, who has a secret. Suddenly, Bella is thrown into another world of danger and disaster and must eventually face the truth: change is inevitable.

SPOILERS AHEAD!

According to Courtney:

After departing from original director Catherine Hardwicke, Summit Entertainment tapped director Chris Weitz of Golden Compass fame to direct New Moon.

Chris Weitz brings a much more dynamic film and enjoyable film for Twi-hards.

Being a skeptic on tween films and already seeing the incredibly cheesy Twilight I was cynical over the new film.

Chris Weitz brings a much more dynamic and enjoyable film for Twi-hards. He got rid of the one-dimensional camera techniques, blue monotone coloring, and static performances of the actors.

New Moon is deeper in developing Bella and Jacob's relationship and making it more relatable. Stewart seems more comfortable in her role and bond between Stewart and Lautner seems genuine.

The film was well done given the content, and even the casual fan would enjoy it.

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According to Linda:

I am not going to lie, I had pretty low expectations for New Moon. Don't call me a Twi-hard, but I read the books, I know the characters and I follow the hype. ...I'm into Twilight. Now, keep reading.

The first Twilight movie was no doubt incredibly successful, grossing more than $382 million worldwide, but it had a lot of serious problems.

'New Moon' takes all the problems from its predecessor and moves in a better direction. It has better dialogue (surprisingly witty), a fluid storyline, interesting action scenes and stronger character development.

Perhaps director Catherine Hardwicke wanted to cater more to a mainstream audience than say, an intelligent and coherent movie goer, but the fans ate it up anyway.

New Moon takes all the problems from its predecessor and moves in a better direction. It has better, surprisingly witty dialogue, a fluid storyline, interesting action scenes and stronger character development. Director Chris Weitz portrayed a darker side to the series with more graphic scenes and action sequences.

In addition, New Moon focuses more heavily on the human psyche (for example when Bella Swan often sees Edward Cullen like an apparition subconsciously) and the emotional baggage that comes with relationships.

Weitz's take on New Moon allowed the audience to see the deeper relationships between the characters Bella Swan and Jacob Black.

Now New Moon is not without its flaws. There's still quite a bit of cheesy lines, unrealistic scenarios and for some reason, a ton of shirtless attractive males flaunting about. But to be honest, that's Twilight. It wouldn't be the same series without it.

For Twilight fans, Weitz's New Moon does not disappoint. And I say that because the book was completely atrocious and the film made me even like Jacob for a moment.