Night Watch (2006)

To those who thinks it's just another vampire story made with Hollywood trademark approach. No way. This movie goes much deeper in its plot. If it escapes from you then it's probably because your personal world is set in stone and it's not reacting anymore to the signals from Reality )) The Night Watch basically says: there's no Good or Evil in Nature. We, the people, made them up. Just like almost everything else )) It's easy to imagine the Universe where our official righteousness would be considered a crime. And vice versa. The movie itself is good. It has your attention right after you start watching it. And its director, Timur, is one of my favorites. He succeeds at mixing commercial and true art parts in his works. Which is a rare talent. He even manages to make people read titles at the end ))

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.

There's certainly no shortage of vampire flicks out there, so the challenge is upon filmmakers to distinguish theirs from the rest of the vampire stew. "Nightwatch" definitely distinguishes itself, if for no other reason than it is Russian. But even beyond that it does introduce some original ideas.Historically, the vampire tale has been a clearcut battle of good vs. evil: evil of course being the bloodthirsty freaks with fangs and good usually being the supple-necked victims and those who defend them. Nightwatch certainly begins that way with an opening narrative showing us, literally, the armies of good fighting armies of evil. But in a subtle way, from the opening shots the director injects scenes that make us question "what makes good good? what makes evil evil? What is the difference?" For my money, that's what this film brings to the table. Like the more recent Clint Eastwood films (beginning with "The Unforgiven" all the way through the WWII films "Flags of Our Fathers" and "Iwo Jima") we are challenged to objectively define who are the good guys and who are the bad guys. The answer isn't as clearcut as the old Westerns would make you think."Nightwatch" is mostly a high-powered action film mixed with a bit of a detective story and a few nicely placed slower moments. But I think its real power lies in the theme of good vs. evil. I haven't yet seen the sequel "Daywatch", but based on how "Nightwatch" sets the stage, I bet it will be even better.I enjoyed "Nightwatch" and will probably watch it again to pick up on more that I may have missed. My criticisms are similar to what other reviewers have said. It seems rushed at times, there are a lot of very quick cuts like you might see in music videos, and I would have loved to see it dwell on some shots a little longer. But perhaps the whole idea behind the quick cuts is to disorient & unsettle the viewer, just as the theme may disorient & unsettle you about your definitions of good and evil.A few plot elements seemed hastily tied up at the end, but maybe the dialogue translations into English didn't properly convey what the characters were saying. I definitely found myself wishing I understood Russian. Oh wellski.I would compare this film to "Underworld" but with more frenzied action scenes and more subdued chillout scenes. Parts of it, particularly the flashbacks to ancient times, reminded me of the classic "Highlander" films. The dark, claustrophobic feel reminded me of the interesting Russian ghost story "Moscow Zero". This is a film worth seeing.

I've been a fan of speculative fiction for quite a long time, no matter that books or movies, I just love them. I read the Night Watch novel not long ago and despite of liking fantasy less than the other genres under the umbrella of speculative fiction, I found this book extremely enjoyable, the story is great, smart and thought-provoking, the characters are interesting, the sophisticated fight between the Night and Day Watches is truly fascinating.So I decided to check out the movie as I guessed that such a great story couldn't be messed up. Maybe I was never so wrong. The story is only loosely connected the original, the once amazing and complex story was simplified to a silly, discursive plot; the once cool and special members of the watches were turned into a bunch of laughable idiots. And this newly added cheesy father-son relationship is physically painful. The only real good thing in the movie is the soundtrack. I'm truly interested what Mr. Lukyanenko thinks of this adaptation, but maybe he can be more forgiving as the movie brought him international popularity. An advice for you: pick the book!