view_and_review
This foreign film was a major league production. It was full of action, special effects and good versus evil. Visually it was stunning. With a name like Night Watch it was apropos that the movie was dark with very few scenes taking place in the light.The story was also good. There is a truce between the light side and the dark side with each side keeping the other in check. The Night Watch monitors those on the dark side and the Day Watch monitors those on the light side. Both sides were awaiting the coming of a powerful "other" that would tip the scales.I was with the story up until the end. I think the ending was rather simplistic and not well thought out. Besides the ending the movie had a fresh and unique spin on the good v. evil story and it was very compelling.
SnoopyStyle
Others are humans with varying supernatural powers. They are split into the forces of Light and Darkness. In the heat of a devastating battle, the leader of the Light Geser offers a truce to the leader of the Dark Zavulon. From then on, choosing sides must be done freely and the truce is monitored by forces from both sides. Night Watch is a force of Light that police the Dark force during the night. In Moscow, Anton Gorodetsky is recruited into Night Watch.It's crazy dark moody style. It's chaotic and unrestrained. I love the chaos but only in the style. It's also chaotic story telling and that's not a good thing. The whole thing is fascinating at first but eventually wears me out. Timur Bekmambetov shows great promise but he needs more clarity in his story telling skills. The scenes need better connective tissues and the style can't be done at the expense of everything else.
TheLittleSongbird
Night Watch seems to be one of those love it or hate it films, and it is easy to see why. For this viewer, it has a fair bit to redeem it but has too many flaws as well to make it good enough, very similar pros and cons for 2007's Wolfhound actually. Night Watch is an excellently made film, the scenery is sumptuous with a dark edge as well, the CGI is well-defined and used appropriately and most of the photography is skilfully done. The music score is terrific as well, it has some beautiful parts, some stirring parts and some haunting parts, and these are used in a way that is effective for each scene and doesn't across as repetitive or jarring. The acting is also quite good, Konstantin Khabensky's lead performance in particular is great and the supporting do a good job in making the most of what they have. The script is a mix here, some of it is literate and thoughtful but there are too many other instances where it sounds awkward and underwritten. Most of the photography is fine, but that is not the case with the action sequences where it is very claustrophobic-feeling and too much like watching a hurriedly-edited music video. The action doesn't really have as much drive or tension as it ought to, it's performed competently but rather stodgily choreographed. The characters are sketched very thinly, we know what types of characters they are but often that's pretty much it. The story is the biggest problem with Night Watch, a good idea but the storytelling is far too rushed and confused with too many things left unexplained or underdeveloped. If the pace had slowed down, things would have been more comprehensible, less choppy and better developed. While the ending is also a let down, it was here where Night Watch felt the most rushed and it felt unfinished and anti-climatic too. Overall, a mixed bag here and this is coming from a Russian fantasy fanatic who hasn't read the book(and you don't necessarily have had to to either like or dislike the film) and judged Night Watch on its own terms. 5/10 Bethany Cox
Marko Vrbanec
OK I finally saw this movie, and although I've been warned by friends who also read the books and loved them, I wanted to see for myself. First of all, if you haven't read the book, you're probably gonna have a hard time following the story. Sure, some things are explained, but a lot of the mythology is left out. I for one, read the books, all of them, and simply loved them. In my opinion, one of the greatest works of fiction I read (and believe me, I read a lot). So, anyway, what's wrong with this movie... well the first scene in it is actually not supposed to be there, since it's from the beginning of The Day Watch, just with some roles switched. Second, an one of the biggest flaws, it appears Egor is Anton's son. Shocked? I know I am, since it doesn't make any sense and completely sets the story on a different side of tracks than it is in the books. Then we have the characters that are somewhat weaker then in the books. Where's Gesar's power? Or Zabulon's? They're supposed to be mages without classification, and yet, Gesar has trouble healing Anton. And don't get me started on Zabulon's outfit, the guy looks like a bum. Where's the Zabulon from the books? Sophisticated, always wears a suit and clearly powerful. This guy in the movie is some crack head, Playstation playing dirty bum that hasn't seen a soap in months.Another thing, what the heck is Alisa doing, being a pop star? I know she always has her way, but come on, this is ridiculous. Totally spoils the first story in The Day Watch, when she goes to that summer camp to replenish her energy reserves.The only thing I liked in the movie were special effects and Tiger Cub. She was always my favorite character and I think she did well in the movie. Beautiful, but deadly. Although, her romance with Bear was kinda wrong. They're supposed to be just friends.Anyway, to sum it all up, if you're a fan of the series, you'll probably understand the story, which is btw. just one third of the novel (they only took the first story in the novel and focused on it), but you will probably be disappointed.
AD
