New Moon
Composed by Alexandre Desplat
Sound Clips: New Moon | Marry Me, Bella
 
Running Time: 72:58
About the Soundtrack:  Alexandre Desplat steps into the Twilight saga with his score for, New Moon, a sequel that has been eagerly anticipated by the legions of fans that the series has garnered.  The first movie, though a success on most levels, lacked the type of musical score that soundtrack enthusiasts were looking for from Carter Burwell.  Now, Burwell has given way to a composer who has gained immense commercial popularity in recent years in the form of Desplat and many listeners were eager to hear the direction he would take this in.  The score album (there was also a song compilation release) features about an hour’s worth of music and has been met with positive feedback thus far. 

What You Need to Know: New Moon is a step above and beyond from what we heard with Burwell’s attempt; let me just put that out there.  The main theme for this sequel is quite stunning with its beauty and heart and is perhaps the most I have been moved by a Desplat piece thus far.  It has an almost intoxicating aura about it and brings home a melody that this series was sorely lacking.  This winning theme is ushered out at the start of the album and gets things going in the right direction.

And then the underscore sets in.

The bulk of New Moon is simply a wash for me.  The emotion from the main theme doesn’t translate to the rest of the experience.  Instead of building off of the beauty, Desplat lures the listener down a path in which a slow moving underscore paces the way.  Even when the music requires taking a menacing turn, he is still too reserved with it for my tastes.  His creativity is perhaps too subtle.

I know Desplat has turned into one of the elite composers these days, but aside from a few moments of breathtaking beauty, New Moon is a largely forgettable score.  Better than Twilight, no doubt, but not as captivating as it should have been.

Final Score: A stellar main theme goes wasted as the majority of Alexendre Desplat’s New Moon score plays out too predictably and too slowly.  The thematic highlights are the only reason this soundtrack gets as high a grade as it does.