Nochnoy dozor (2004) Reviews

• Shows promise as the beginning of a trilogy...

  deepcheck2005-05-02

  I have always respected fantasy-set films that try and take themselves seriously as cinematic pieces. When a director takes the actual construction of the film seriously, or tries to, I can respect the intent. As such "Night Watch" is difficult to judge. The cinematography is excellent: the camera-work is superb, the mood is perfect, the effects are beautifully rendered (and not overused), and the timing of individual scenes is consistent throughout the piece. The problem is the overall timing of the film. For over half the film, the overall plot and premise is ignored. It is very much as if we are watching two different episodes of the same TV series; the characters are the same, the premise is the same, it is clear how the plots fit together visually and thematically, but otherwise they have pretty much nothing to do with one another. They are not disjointed in their construction or presentation, it is simply that the plot threads are mostly unrelated. It is worth pointing out that this is the first film in a planned trilogy. Every hanging plot/character moment in the film is very strongly intended to be followed through upon in the next two films, and it shows. Characters and references are not simply tossed aside, but are led into gently just enough to let the audience know that greater things are intended. While I'm not particularly a fan of this kind of thing, Night Watch does it very well, and I await the sequels with anticipation. Many people on this board have made comparisons to Star Wars EpI-II, and for the life of me I haven't the faintest clue why. The concept of Imperfect Good vs Seductive Evil within the human soul was hardly invented by George Lucas (though vampires in Star Wars would be pretty freakin' cool), and its presentation in Night Watch is tight and interesting. There is no resemblance whatsoever, this is one of the more original films that I have ever seen, and I recommend it both for its flaws and perfections.

• Amazing and Unique: a compelling story with a breath-taking presentation

  salsadancingboy2006-03-17

  On the surface the story line appears to be standard Hollywood stock; a race of super-humans (called "Others") exists. The Others are divided into two camps: the keepers of the light and the army of darkness. 1,000 years ago they fought each other to a bloody stalemate and signed the Truce. The standard Hollywood story line stops there. The Truce has very specific terms and any individual caught violating the Truce faces severe consequences. Both sides continually cheat the Truce and bait each other to violate its terms so that they can catch and punish the guilty individuals. The most important rule of the Truce is that each Other must decide freely which camp they wish to join: the Light or the Dark. The movie follows a boy who is destined to be the Great Other who will tip the balance of power to the camp he decides to join. The story is filled with stunning visuals and sound effects - think the best elements of The Matrix and Highlander with a bit of Sin City thrown in. All the characters are three dimensional and the actors' performances are superb. (A rarity in action films these days.) In Night Watch the line between good and evil is often blurred. The lead character struggles with what is a truly a moral action and what is not. Night Watch does not offer any easy answers to this question. After all, what is moral and what is not is something that each of us must decide freely for ourselves. This is an incredible movie and is not one you have seen before. I highly recommend it.

• mind boggling

  nobbytatoes2005-10-12

  When the forces of light and dark take to battle and realize they are equally strong, decide to make a truce. The people of light will become the Nightwatch, and the people of darkness will become the Daywatch. Neither side can force people to join their side, they have the freedom of choice. The Daywatch and Nightwatch keep tabs to make sure this truce holds. When Anton finds out he is an other; a person with special powers, he joins the side of light. Anton is a seer and when he is finding a victim of two vampires, he runs into Svetlana, a virgin cursed with bad luck and key into the Apocolpes. Night Watch is a mind blowing, visually astounding triumph of Russian cinema. Its dark, claustrophobic, grungy and a very thrilling ride. You can see that Timur Bekmambetov has a history in commercials, this moves at a fast paced and the camera doesn't stop moving, with constant fast swoops and always tracking around. The story has been done many times before, but it seems so fresh here. The flaw of the story though is that it's so layered it's hard to understand at first. As it moves at such at fast pace, there isn't much chance to take everything in and to nut everything out. But with all the energy Nightwatch contains, you don't care, cause you'll gladly go again. For the small budget it had, you wonder how they made this film. You are constantly blown away by the visual effects. They are so flawless. The subtitles are cleverly used as well; they come into a form of their own. All i can say is i cant wait for the sequels to now make there way over.

• No masterpiece, but quite entertaining and imaginative

  mvvik2005-01-07

  I enjoyed this movie quite a lot; if you are into Jeunet-type fantasy, I would recommend that you see it. Overall, I would give it a rating of 7 out of 10. The reason for the Jeunet comparison (e.g. Delicatessen, City of Lost Children) is that it has the same dark antiutopian/surrealistic ambiance to it, and is very imaginative. It is also very elaborate in its style, which lends most of the appeal to the movie. This being said, the biggest disappointment of the movie is the plot, which is overly straightforward and simple-minded, but at least it does not devolve into some technical meaningless psycho-babble as many Hollywood fantasy movies do, and maintains its fairy-tale quality. It is unfortunate that modern Russian cinematography seems to be chasing the success of Hollywood (which is ironic, given the country's negative attitude towards US in general and Hollywood in particular), but this movie benefits from Hollywood-style special effects, and is free of annoying clichés (unlike the atrociously pretentious "Barber of Siberia" - another recent style-heavy Russian blockbuster; sorry Mikhalkov). To sum up, this movie is quite original, imaginative, stylish and at times visually stunning, which in my book constitutes success, but don't expect any depth of ideas.

• Excellent movie about the struggle between light and darkness

  i0nesco2004-08-26

  A thousand years ago two forces met on the battle field, the warriors of light and the army of darkness. As the battle raged, the two forces proved to be exactly balanced, and so a decision was made maintain that balance and the two sides came to an agreement that neither side would breach. And to enforce the agreement two watches were formed: the Day Watch and the Night Watch. The Night Watch is composed of the forces of good who work keep the forces of evil from breaching the agreement and vice versa. The watches continue today... Warriors of virtue (some are shape changers, others have less definable talents) who fight against rogue vampires, witches, etc. Both sides are usually invisible to normal people unless they choose to be seen, except for a few "others" who can see and interact with the immortals. And therein lies the instability, because the "others" also have the potential to become immortals and they can go toward either side. Plus, there is a prophecy of a "Great One" who will shift the balance, plunging the world into an era of light or darkness. Great action, good use of CGI and practical effects. Excellent soundtrack. It reminded me quite a bit of Jeunet's directional style (CITY OF LOST CHILDREN), but more than anything the movie reminded me of the recent Bollywood sci-fi actioner RUDRAKSCH. This one is definitely recommended if you are tired of the same old Hollywood formula crap. Especially if you are a fan of Horror/Action with a dash of Sci-Fi.