Summit Entertainment

Bella (Kristen Stewart) and Edward (Robert Pattinson) in "The Twilight Saga: New Moon"

The romantic misadventures of monster-magnet Bella Swan continue in "The Twilight Saga: New Moon."

This latest screen adaptation of a Stephenie Meyer vampire novel will no doubt make enough money to cover the national debt. And it will likely please female teens and young adults, its target audiences. Even for others, it's mildly watchable because of the special effects and batty dialogue.

Kristen Stewart returns as Bella, the high school girl in love with a vampire. Robert Pattinson plays Edward Cullen, the undead swain. Early in the movie, there are several references to Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet." Just so we'd be sure to know this is a tale of star-crossed lovers.

Edward is forced to move with his family because daddy vampire isn't showing his age and his neighbors are growing suspicious.

During a birthday bash, Bella gets a paper cut and one of the Cullen clan goes into a blood-lust frenzy. Edward tells Bella he's leaving and won't see her again. Meanwhile, she's been begging him for a bite on the neck so she can join him in eternal life and love. Looking like the ghost of James Dean, Edward refuses.

You don't have to be Sigmund Freud to figure out the sexual subtext in all of this. Before he leaves, Edward tells Bella not to do anything reckless. Hoping he will pop up to save her, Bella picks up a biker, dives off a cliff and buys a couple of motorcycles.

Enter Jacob, a native American hunk, who helps her repair the bikes. Played by Taylor Lautner, he also happens to be a werewolf who is smitten by Bella. You have to ask yourself: What kind of pheromones is this girl putting out?

Director Chris Weitz handles the action scenes pretty well. In "The Wolfman Meets Dracula" scenarios, werewolves and vampires battle to the death. But there are so many scenes of woebegone teenagers mooning over each other, you feel enervated by their self-absorbed suffering.

Then there's the screenplay by Melissa Rosenberg. While Bella and Jake walk on the beach, she says: "So, you're a werewolf" like saying "so, you're a Capricorn." It's not a lifestyle choice he tells her.

At one point, the teen-looking Edward tells her, "leaving you was the hardest thing I've done in a hundred years." Somehow, the cast manages to float above such wordsmithing.

The movie saves its liveliest moments for the end. It jumps to Italy where Michael Sheen plays the head of a super vampire council. His droll but menacing charisma provides the kind of fun that much of the previous proceedings lack. And, yes, there's a cliff hanger at the end. So stay tuned to this gothic soap opera.

"The Twilight Saga: New Moon"

2-1/2 stars

Showing at Carmike 10 at Tanglewood, Grandin Theatre, Salem Valley 8, Valley View Grande 16 an Westlake Cinema.

See the show times.

Rated PG-13 for sensuality and violence.

Two hours, 10 minutes.