THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON (12A, 130 mins) *** Starring Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Billy Burke, Peter Facinelli, Elizabeth Reaser, Ashley Greene, Kellan Lutz, Nikki Reed, Jackson Rathbone, Rachelle Lefevre, Michael Sheen, Dakota Fanning, Ed Gathegi

Not since Harry Potter first cast a spell over cinema audiences has a franchise based on a series of best-selling novels been as completely critic-proof as The Twilight Saga.

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The good-looking cast could probably stare silently into the camera for two hours and fans of Stephenie Meyer’s teen romances would still flock to the multiplexes in their millions.

Thankfully, director Chris Weitz’s eagerly-anticipated rendering of the second instalment of the four-book saga is thoroughly entertaining and more polished than its predecessor.

New Moon is too long – 15 minutes of gloom and adolescent angst could easily have been excised from the opening act – but it’s unlikely that the target audience will complain.

This is soap opera writ large, complete with a cliffhanger finale that leaves the audience teetering on the edge of their seats until next summer, when the next film is out.

The love affair between teenage misfit Bella Swan (Stewart) and vampire Edward Cullen (Pattinson) reaches a crossroads, and the paths ahead all lead to heartbreak.

Edward and the Cullen clan – Dr Carlisle (Facinelli), Esme (Reaser), Alice (Greene), Jasper (Rathbone), Emmett (Lutz) and Rosalie (Reed) – are forced to abandon the close-knit community of Forks, Washington, if Bella is ever to be safe.

“You just don’t belong in my world,” Edward tells his beloved.

Abandoned by her soul(less) mate, the teenager becomes a shadow of her former self until her relationship with buffed-up family friend Jacob Black (Lautner) takes an exciting, new turn.

Bloodthirsty predator Laurent (Gathegi) returns to deal Bella a fatal blow at the behest of vengeful Victoria (Lefevre), but a new protector is there in the girl’s hour of need.

Weitz certainly likes his musical montages, employing them almost back-to-back in the opening hour, but like everything else in the film, they are polished to a sheen.

Stewart teases out her heroine’s internal anguish as Bella finds herself torn between morose Edward and hot-blooded Jacob. Romantic scenes with Lautner smoulder just as much as with Pattinson, which bodes well for the next film.