This movie was definitely more engaging than the first movie. It may have helped that I only rented the first movie and didn't see it on the big screen. It was nice that Bella finally smiled in this movie, I don't think it happened once in the first. The cheesy dialogue was brought down a notch and some decent acting actually showed its face. If you like the Twilight series, don't give up hope! The directing was much better this time around!