Apparently this film took the highest gross at Russian movie theatres of all time, only to be eclipsed by a film this year. Does this mark a great turning point in Russian cinema? Possibly, but as far as I can make out it is only a turning point that encourages blockbusters rather than great movies to be made.
Essentially "Night Watch" falls into the comedy/horror genre, and appears in its telling to borrow heavily from films like 'The Matrix', 'Lord of the Rings' and 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer'. Full marks for trying though, director Timur Bekmambetov (who also co-wrote the screenplay) attempts to create an entire mythology surrounding 'The Others' and the struggle of good verses evil. Basically 'The Others' are humanoid supernatural beings, some are good, some are evil. Due to a truce between these opposing forces peace has been maintained for many centuries, however this film charts events that lead to the breakdown of the truce.
Most of the film follows the activities of "Anton Gorodetsky" a 'light' other, who uses his gifts to help the Night Watch protect the forces of good. The 'Day Watch' is run from the dark side and see to maintain the interests of the forces of evil. Much of the film consists of Anton trying to get to a young boy, Yegor, who has been marked for a draining by the vampires! To complicate matters during his pursuit of Yegor he discovers something that is likely to unsettle the whole balance of the world!
Fearsome stuff you may say, but sadly no. The first half of the film starts with promise, rapid action and explanation and development of the plot and characters. This is mixed in with a certain amount of comedy as well, which the audience with whom I watched this film seemed to miss most of for some reason. Unfortunately the second half of the film degenerates into a moralistic family drama with a pro-life theme! The ending just makes you realise that this is the beginning of an intended franchise, possibly referred to by the clips of 'Buffy' that we see during the film itself!
The first half is good however, and it was a shame that the excellent visual effects and sense of horror that were being worked on ran out of steam towards the end of the film. Again the cinematic effects of the first half are excellent if slightly over the top, simple scenes are buffed up with multiple angles and rapid editing. There are some nice set pieces here too, sadly the attempt to cram too much into the feature's 114-minute run-length ultimately backfires.
**1/2 (out of 5)
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