When the first Twilight movie came out a year ago, and it was such a hit that sequels were immediately greenlit, there was one big question on everyone’s mind.

Who would play Jacob Black?

Jacob is, of course, the male lead in New Moon, and his character appeared briefly in Twilight. Taylor Lautner, in a long dark wig, played the part of Bella’s Native American friend…fine. He was good. I liked him, and I thought he did the role justice. It certainly looks a lot like what she had envisioned for Jacob.

But in New Moon, Jacob is much more than just a dark-skinned friend. He gets a lot more face time than Bella’s vampire boyfriend Edward, who dumps Bella in a misguided attempt to protect her from himself and her kind. When Bella breaks down, Jacob is there for her. He is Bella’s best friend, lifesaver, and helper on her ill-advised adventures. The relationship between these two is deep, warm, loving and compelling.

Also, Jacob has gotten huge. He has built some serious muscles and has grown several inches. That was the trick… could the baby-faced Lautner pull it off? Not just the looks, not just the acting, but the physical requirements of the role?

Lautner set out to prove he could do it. He worked out tirelessly, going from a willowy 16-year-old to a 17-year-old Mr. Teen Universe. He’s not extremely tall, but he matches Robert Pattinson, who plays Edward, and that’s all that matters. Plus, since Jacob isn’t the only Quileute aficionado, it must be a nightmare for a casting director trying to find half a dozen muscular 7-foot-tall Native American actors. Six feet tall seems to have been enough.

That was not all Lautner did. He read the books. He studied Jacob’s character, his feelings, his motivations. He worked with an acting coach to deepen Jacob, understand him, and bring that understanding to life on screen.

Obviously, Taylor Lautner really wanted to play Jacob. So director Chris Weitz jumped at the chance and cast him again in the role.

Thank you Mr. Weitz! Something happened to Lautner between Twilight and New Moon. He reached new depths in his craft and managed to vividly communicate humor, angst, fear, rage, violence and tenderness, all without a shirt on.

In shorts, 17-year-old Taylor Lautner carries this film on his muscular shoulders.

Sure, there are other good performances. Kristen Stewart finally has some emotion to work with, so Bella’s take on her is deeper and more evocative than before. Robert Pattinson doesn’t appear on screen much, and the parts he does have are cut from the script, but he does a good job of portraying the terror, temptation, and heartbreak that Edward goes through, at least as much as he’s allowed. .

I think Weitz and screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg play down the Cullens for the most part, so they can spend more time on Jacob and his relationship with Bella. That’s too bad, because the scenes with the vampires set up the rest of the movie and are vital to understanding the sequel, Eclipse.

However, there was one scene with the Cullens that stands out. After Bella is injured at her birthday party, Carlisle, the vampire father and doctor played by Peter Facinelli, takes her away from the other vampires to stitch her up. They have a quiet and gentle conversation, in which Carlisle explains to Bella why Edward is so reluctant to turn her into a vampire. The common understanding is that vampires are doomed, that they no longer have a soul, and Edward refuses to steal Bella from him. The scene took away some important things from the book, but the connection between Bella and Carlisle is very touching.

But when it comes to the Quileutes (and I’m just going to spill the beans here, Quileute young men are werewolves, okay?), the entire pack, led by Jacob (performance-wise, I mean, Jacob isn’t actually the Alpha) just shines. This is where Weitz did his best work. The wolf pack actors make the most of small supporting roles, look handsome shirtless, are both funny and menacing, and photograph extremely well. Both the impulse to protect and the incipient violence are offered in equally credible measures.

The heart of the movie is, of course, this kind of love triangle. Bella pines for Edward, and while we don’t see much of it on screen, Edward is also falling apart without Bella. But Bella, at least, has Jacob, while Edward is all alone. It’s no wonder, then, that when Edward believes Bella committed suicide, he wants to follow her into oblivion.

Meanwhile, while Edward is Bella’s one true love, she comes to rely more and more on Jacob, and his feelings for her develop and strengthen. He knows that she is hurt, but falls for her anyway. And she loves him too, in her damaged way. But Edward is always first in her heart, and when he needs her, she leaves Jacob and goes with him. That scene beautifully parallels the scene at the beginning of the movie where Edward leaves Bella. Jacob begged Bella not to go, just like Bella begged Edward not to go. Bella leaves Jacob, anyway, just like Edward left her. And the result is heartbreak for everyone.

In addition to the Quileute werewolves, another exciting group of characters enters the picture in this installment. The Volturi are a group of powerful vampires who administer the laws in the vampire world. They also complied with the punishments, and Edward approaches them to ask them to kill him.

The most prominent and notable of the Volturi is the character of Aro, the head of the group, played by Michael Sheen. He was wonderful, and somehow managed to convey pleasure, interest, and bloodlust in the same expressions. For a minute I really thought he was going to eat Bella!

Dakota Fanning, as sadistic young vampire Jane, did the role justice. There are so many ways an actor can convey something that’s completely mental, but the pain-inflicting, red-eyed death stare of hers did a pretty good job. She portrayed the authority and confidence of someone who knows that she holds all the cards and always will.

There are weaknesses in the film, of course. He wanted Edward and Bella to suffer more. In the book, they’re remains, though we see more of Bella’s remains. But we didn’t see the depths of her devastation as we should have. I don’t think it was Stewart’s fault; I think Rosenberg was in too much of a rush to get to the werewolves and shirtless Jacob (and I guess I can’t blame her…).

The makeup was much better than last time, but gorgeous Nikki Reed, playing the ultra-beautiful Rosalie, looked strange in her blonde wig, so why not just dye her hair blonde? And there wasn’t enough Emmett! His line about Bella being an older woman was amazing, but she should have had more. Her role, like that of most of the Cullens, was rushed by the writer.

But kudos to the makeup people on how Edward appeared in the Volturi scene, except for the fact that he had golden eyes (a flat mistake: he wasn’t eating. His eyes should have been black), he looked miserable. That was good…he should look miserable there. And he wanted more of the meeting scene and the voting scene; again, they were rushed. Rosenberg needs to learn to slow down the emotional parts. We don’t read these books or watch these movies for the action or special effects, we love them for the thrill. Let us experience it for a few minutes before we continue!

So, final judgment on The Twilight Saga: New Moon is: pretty good. The character and role of Jacob was the defining element of this film, and Taylor Lautner rose to the occasion beautifully. He really made the movie work.

The film was not without its problems, but what would we talk about on the discussion boards if it was perfect? I mean, besides Taylor’s abs…