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Starring: Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner, Robert Pattinson

Rating: Three stars out of five

The wait is over; now the waiting begins.

Twilight fans have been in knots for almost a year over the second chapter of Stephenie Meyers' vampire series. And what does Edward Cullen tell his human squeeze Bella in, like, the third scene? That he's leaving because she's not good for him. (She is, actually, but only in the nutritional sense.)

Kristen Stewart then spends the next hour alternately mooning over her lost love and trying to mend her heart by cliff-diving, motorcycle racing, hanging out with werewolves -- anything to get the blood pumping.

In early scenes, Robert Pattinson seems paler, sparklier and generally more vamped out than in the first Twilight movie. And Taylor Lautner as Jacob "don't call me werewolf" Black is likely to inspire an MTV Movie Award for best-removal-of-shirt.

Chris Weitz, who said this week he may soon fold up his director's chair, acquits himself well. He's too fond of circling camera shots, and his computer-generated werewolves sometimes look a tad robotic, but he keeps the focus on the conflicted heroine, with just enough footage of pale Edward and buff Jacob to satisfy the vicarious hordes.

The soundtrack is strong -- it's easy to imagine Lykke Li's "Possibility" looping on the iPod of a broken-hearted teen -- and there are a few laughs, although it's hard to tell which are intentional. (Jasper's menacing/hungry stare at Bella looks more Johnny-Depp-as-Mad-Hatter.)

This is beside the point for fans, who will find their blood lust sated for the seven months it will take to bring The Twilight Saga: Eclipse to the screen. Mind you, if you're a Jacob fan, that's more than four years in werewolf years.