To get in, I had to show two forms of ID, get patted down, wand-ed with a metal detector and give up my cell phone and iPod. Did I go to a special dinner at the White House? Was I getting checked in at FBI headquarters? Nope, all of these formalities were just my welcome to the advanced screening of The Twilight Saga: New Moon.

I knew I had arrived at the right place because the line of women (and a few men as well) was five people wide and spanned about two and a half blocks. You could literally feel the energy rolling off everyone as they bounced up and down with crossed fingers hoping to get a seat. I’ll be honest, some of that energy was coming from me too.

I will say it loud and say it proud: I am a total Twi-hard. Seeing this movie has been my primary motivation for living for the past three weeks, and if I am being honest, probably much longer than that. Thank goodness it did not disappoint.

To prove that I am not so blinded with Twi-love that I cannot see any flaws, I will begin with the admission that no, New Moon will not be winning any Oscars, and if your primary film viewing consists of either avant-garde subtitled foreign films or Scorsese-style action and gore, this is not a movie for you. Just don’t go — but do us all a favor and do not start complaining when this movie makes major bank at the box office, because trust me, it will.

A quick tutorial for those of you who have been living under a rock for the past two years and are unacquainted with the story of the saga. There are three main characters: Bella, a human; her boyfriend and Romeo-esque love, Edward, a vampire; and her best friend, Jacob, who just happens to be a werewolf. In New Moon, Edward leaves Bella in an attempt to protect her from his vampire ways, and Jacob swoops in to pick up the pieces — and try to win the girl. For more information, get with the program that is youth culture and read the book. Now, on to the movie reviewing.

First and foremost, everyone who saw Twilight will be happy to hear that this is a huge step up from the first film. Gone is the weird, blue-tinted camera filter that made everyone look dead (not just the vampires), and thankfully other colors besides light blue and white have been introduced into the characters’ wardrobes. Everyone’s acting has improved, and I was incredibly happy to see that Kristen Stewart, who is a phenomenal actress but fell a bit flat in the first film, really has stepped up her game.

Second, the movie does a fantastic job of sticking to the actual storyline from the book — and those things they did change actually made it better in my opinion. Those of you who have read New Moon will notice a lot of verbatim lines from the text thrown into the dialogue, and although those fair-weather fans who have not read the greatness that is the book may not totally understand how important they are, diehards will definitely appreciate it.

They drastically change the climactic scene in Italy after Bella comes to save Edward by adding a lot more action than exists in the book, and it made the scene much more of a nail-biter than in the book. Also, Edward (Robert Pattinson) is shirtless for quite some time, which is definitely a plus.

Speaking of shirtless men, Taylor Lautner, who plays Jacob, is not only shirtless through most of the film (and looking fine, by the way) but also really proves to be the shining star of the film.

Director Chris Weitz faced some major special effects challenges in the film — creating werewolves, for one thing — and I have to say that in the FX realm, it is a bit of a mixed bag. The wolves were done quite well, as was the super-strength of the vampires, but there were some points where it was extremely obvious that the actors were actually CGI, or that the background was really a green screen. By far the worst moment of the film, however, came in the form of a flash-forward scene toward the end of the film featuring a vampire Edward and Bella running through the woods in what can only be described as Anne of Green Gables-old clothes. Everyone laughed, hard.

I left the theater and could not stop smiling, and my heart was beating so fast toward the end of the film I was briefly concerned I might actually be having a heart attack. The movie was good. If you are a Twilight fan, a girl or anyone who can appreciate a heart-wrenching movie featuring supernatural creatures, The Twilight Saga: New Moon will not let you down. Now if you will excuse me, I need to go get back in line to see the movie again.