Dnevnoy dozor

Night Watch personally was neither a great or terrible film, if anything it was kind of a mixed bag. Its sequel Day Watch was lacking in a lot of areas and while Night Watch was far from great it was better than this. There are definitely things to like about Day Watch. Like its predecessor it is stunning to look at, it's beautifully shot and the scenery is very Russian, very like Russian fairy-tale quality. The special effects are also great, and while occasionally erratic so is the music score with its fair share of rousing and haunting moments. If there's anything also that Day Watch does better than Night Watch is that the action sequences have more energy and cohesion, some of the stunts are a wonder to behold. The acting is not very consistent though, there are no complaints about Konstantin Khabensky who's great but supporting roles could have a tendency to feel over-compensated(Viktor Verzhbitsky) or vapid(Maria Poroshina). The story is a mess, the actual structure is very dense but more of a problem was that there was almost too much going on or written in. Things often got confused or unexplained, even both, while the pacing gets tedious towards the end and the film feels thirty minutes too long, not to mention the cop-out of an ending. There is a great Russian fantasy/sci-fi atmosphere evoked, but the overlong length, drawn out pacing and messy narrative make a film devoid of wonder, thrills or genuine excitement outside of the action sequences, special effects and stunts. The characters are fantasy clichés and next to nothing is done with them, we know they are heroes and villains and that there's a conflict of light and dark(good vs.evil) but little else. The script is the same as the story, often underwritten and stilted with the humour feeling out-of-place. The direction is the kind that does a great job with the visual side of things but any of the assets that give substance are largely ignored, it's a little more refined this time around but can be both erratic and ponderous. Again, not a terrible directing job but a case of pluses and minuses. In conclusion, no problems visually and musically but the script and story are another story put together. 4/10 Bethany Cox

Day watch manages to be something none of those Hollywood sci-fi saga type movies never could. It combines EVERYTHING in itself. Action, drama, suspense, CGI that's definitely better, and more believable, than in any of the matrix movies, a very intricate plot, that you have to follow carefully throughout the movie, wonderful acting and great dialogs. Well you'd say, lord of the rings has all of that too. The only thing that lord of the rings lacks is that, those three hours get a little bit boring at times. I don't know why, but i know i'm not the only one who feels that way. Day watch is three hours long too. After the movie, i went back to the ticket shop, and watched it again. That totals up to six hours of movie watching. And it wasn't boring even for a second. So why did i give it a nine? It suffers from the same thing the first movie suffered. The whole super power thing is not really explained, no one ever tells the audience how they work. You just have to live with it.

The visual effects are superb, using state of the art CGI with true artistry to create an original and interesting new look.

Unfortunately the characters are all clichés: a troubled loner cop haunted by his past, his doormat girlfriend, the crusty chief of police, the sexy bad girl, the aristocratic villain, etc.

The problem is not so much that the film makers populated the film with clichés, but that they don't do anything with them. They all play their predictable roles with predictable dialog and that's all.

Another major problem with that there is a lot of fighting, done with magic, but they never explain the magic powers, so you never know what is going on. Sometimes getting punched is bad, sometimes getting hit by a bus doesn't seem to hurt the guy. Sometimes they can shoot magic at each other, and sometimes they can't. It's visually stunning, but you don't know who is winning or losing or who is dangerous and who isn't. It's like watching a sport where you don't know the rules.

The first movie had many of the same problems, but it also had some interesting scenes, like the vampire girl in traffic and the first time the main character encounters magic. "Day Watch" has one interesting scene, the opening one set in the past, but it's bland from then on.

I must admit that before this film I was never a real fan of the Watcher series. A Russian friend of mine advised me to watch Nochnoy Dozor. I was impressed, but hardly blown away. So I went into this film expecting another worthless sequel Hollywood seems to be churning out by the dozen. But this is not Hollywood, and this is not another worthless sequel. In fact, this is surprisingly amazing. Every aspect of the original have been amplified up ten times until you can almost feel the room reverberating. We're spoilt with so much cinematic impact right from the start. The CGI landscapes are breathtaking and the epic battles are just as panoramic as something out of a LoTR film.

The cast is kept the same as the original, all still pitch-perfect in their roles. I can't imagine anyone other than Khabensky playing our helplessly flawed hero. The premise might seem overused (Light versus Dark) but the background plot is actually very unique. I love how the leaders can joke around with each other when taking time off being sworn mortal enemies. And you can tell that the film is a book adaptation by how deep the story goes. Very few aspects are covered completely, leaving you to wonder what motives have some of the characters really got, and what was decidedly cut out of the film version. The soundtrack is one of the most erratic ones I've ever heard but works perfectly for this film. One scene a romantic love score, the next some adrenaline pumping heavy metal, immediately followed by a chirpy joke song. I honestly can't say much about the script since I don't understand Russian, but I feel that there are some in-jokes that would be hilarious if only I understood them. And that's the surprising thing about the film - despite all of its mind-blowing action, there is still time for the writer to fit in some matured dry humour!

I've now been thoroughly converted into a Watcher fan. The first thing I'll do is hunt down some English copies of the books. It feels to me as if the first film is just an introduction to these characters and leads up to the second film where the action heats up. A little surprised by the conclusive ending but can't wait to see what they'll do with it in the next film!

Generally, sequels are inferior to their parent counterparts. However, this is one of those great times when the sequel surpasses the quality of the first and stands on it's own bearings. The plot line was well written and the acting was absolutely fantastic! Watching in the native language with the subtitles merely added to the essence of the story.

GO SEE THIS MOVIE!

But, if you have read the books these movies are based on, please do not compare. It's as if Lukanyenko decided, "This is how I wanted it as a book, but it should be this way for the movie." They are basically separate entities. Yet, both extremely satisfying. You will not walk out of the movie saying, "The book was better than the movie," because you simply cannot equate the two. And if you haven't read the books. READ THEM! It is very interesting to see the absolute contrast of the author's ideas on paper and on film.