If nothing else, “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” is an improvement over its predecessor.

It’s too long, it’s poorly acted, the story’s clunky and the dialogue is laughable.
Which says something about the quality of the first film, “Twilight: New Moon” at least has more of a sense of humor and, thanks to a bigger budget and more assured direction by Chris Weitz (Catherine Hardwicke directed the first film), a little more energy.
Except when Kristen Stewart is on-screen. Which is most of the time.
Which is a problem.
She’s back as Bella Swan, the lovelorn teenage girl desperately in love with a vampire, Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson). As “New Moon” begins, they’re together, but she’s moping around because she wants him to “change” her, to turn her into a vampire.
Yes, it’s a rather obvious metaphor. Subtlety is not exactly the strong suit of the series, and the script, by Melissa Rosenberg and based on the novel by Stephenie Meyer, is not above beating you over the head to make a point. Like when Bella and Edward’s class watch “Romeo and Juliet” in English class. Desperate, doomed young lovers. Hmm. Remind anybody of anyone?
An ill-timed paper cut — yes, really — leads to the sudden departure of Edward and his family, leaving Bella behind with her understandably confused father, Charlie (Billy Burke, in a thankless role). If Bella was mopey before, now she’s practically despondent. She blows off her friends, which is a shame for her and worse for us, because Anna Kendrick’s portrayal of the wisecracking Jessica, one of her pals, is the best thing about the movie. (Ashley Greene, as Edward’s sister Alice, is a close second.) Enter old family friend Jacob (Taylor Lautner), with whom Bella rekindles a friendship. She discovers that when she puts herself in danger, she can still see Edward, who shows up as a ghostly figure to warn her against whatever trouble she’s about to walk into.
Jacob is all of a sudden incredibly muscular and strong. He loves Bella, of course, but his advances suddenly stop. He cuts his hair, gets a tattoo and runs around shirtless with a crowd he formerly shunned. What gives?
Well, he’s a werewolf. So there’s that.
Jacob, too, must stay away from Bella to protect her; she is evidently doomed to a life of being dumped by supernatural creatures.
You hear of the split among fans between Team Jacob and Team Edward. In the movie, there’s no question. Jacob romps around in the woods with his wolf friends, killing the occasional bad vampire, while Edward moves away and mopes (at least he and Bella have that in common). Who would you rather hang out with?
Bella and Edward can’t be kept apart forever, of course. They’re reunited when Edward goes before a sort of vampire council in Italy, led by Aro (Michael Sheen). (Dakota Fanning pops up here, as well, as one of his minions.) It’s all sort of silly, but impressive in this regard: If you can make an actor as brilliant as Sheen seem pedestrian, you’re doing something.
This bit of plot does allow Pattinson to take his shirt off, so you can compare and contrast with Lautner if you’re still on the fence.
Don’t worry, you have time to decide. The end of the film is a set-up for the next one.
Pattinson’s actually not in the film that much, but he does his swoon-worthy best when he’s around. Lautner is more compelling; then again, he’s given more interesting things to do.
But Stewart is a huge disappointment. Granted, she is playing a character wallowing in unhappiness. Depressed is one thing. Lifeless is another.
That’s ironic in a movie involving the undead, maybe. But in “New Moon,” Stewart’s the real vampire here. She sucks the energy right out of the film.