STARRING:
Konstantin Khabensky, Maria Poroshina, Vladimir Menshov, Galina Tyunina,
Victor Verzhbitskiy, Zhanna Friske, Dima Martynov, Valeriy Zolotukhin,
Aleksey Chadov
2007, 140 Minutes, Directed by:
Timur Bekmambetov
Description:The dizzying supernatural Russian epic started in Night Watch continues
with Day Watch, in which once again the battle between the forces of Light
(the Night Watch) and Dark (the Day Watch) threatens to crack open the world
as we know it. The plot centres around Anton (Russian superstar Konstantin
Khabensky), an Other (one of many beings with varied supernatural powers)
whose son, Yegor, has joined the Day Watch, who are grooming him to be their
superpowerful savior. Anton's protégé, Svetlana, also has high-capacity
power, and if Yegor and Svetlana come into conflict, the resulting
devastation could shatter everything. The key to success seems to lie with
the Chalk of Fate, a simple piece of chalk that can rewrite reality.
—
Amazon.com
This sequel and the original 2005 Night Watch
should preferably be viewed as a double bill in a single sitting. Day
Watch simply barrels ahead with the tale begun in that unexpectedly good
Russian supernatural thriller, assuming that the viewer had seen the
original and can remember it rather well. Things are made worse by the fact
that while the theatrical cut of the movie boasted a eight-minute recap to
bring viewers back up to speed again, the so-called “director’s cut” DVD
features no such niceties. If you haven’t seen Night Watch at all,
you’d simply be wasting your time.
Like the first movie, Day Watch is nonsense. But it’s glorious
nonsense. The script is muddled and riddled with various plot holes, but the
over-the-top special effects
— as if they filmed one
of the X-Men movies whilst high on acid
— are still a delight.
Even with the nonsensical plot (it really helps that you have recently seen
the original movie quite recently) the movie still manages to boil up some
tension and involvement regardless. We don’t always know what exactly is
happening, but we care damn it!
Russian author Sergei Lukyanenko wrote another book in the series titled
Twilight Watch, but it is unclear whether there are plans to film for
talented newcomer Timur Bekmambetov to film it too as the director is
currently making his Hollywood debut with
Wanted starring Angelina Jolie.
Our video evenings are all the poorer for it . . .
Description:
The dizzying supernatural Russian epic started in Night Watch continues
with Day Watch, in which once again the battle between the forces of Light
(the Night Watch) and Dark (the Day Watch) threatens to crack open the world
as we know it. The plot centres around Anton (Russian superstar Konstantin
Khabensky), an Other (one of many beings with varied supernatural powers)
whose son, Yegor, has joined the Day Watch, who are grooming him to be their
superpowerful savior. Anton's protégé, Svetlana, also has high-capacity
power, and if Yegor and Svetlana come into conflict, the resulting
devastation could shatter everything. The key to success seems to lie with
the Chalk of Fate, a simple piece of chalk that can rewrite reality.
—