I was disappointed with the first movie installment, I felt that the this was the best representation of the characters and overall feel of the book. I was impressed with the fact that they were able to keep quite a bit of the story in the movie and the use of dialogue from the novel also a plus. I felt that the characters were much more developed in this film as well. Kudos to the director. The special effects in this movie far surpassed the previous one. The way that they made the vampires run was less campy, giving them a more superhuman feel as described in the books. My ONLY gripe was the flashes of Edward when she "sees" visions of him. I thought the way it was executed was very cheesy. I couldn't take it seriously.