Oct 012004
 
two reels

In ancient times, a war between the forces of light and darkness ended in a truce. The Night Watch was given authority to keep evil in its place (and the Day Watch polices “good”). Anton (Konstantin Khabensky) is an “other,” a person with supernatural powers. After meeting with a witch in order to harm the fetus of his cheating wife, he was introduced to the watches and chose the side of light. Now, twelve years later, he tracks a pair of vampires who are hunting a boy who may be “the Great Other” of a prophecy who will determine the outcome of the unfinished war. At the same time, the Night Watch must stop a curse which has caused a vortex of evil to ravage Moscow.

Word that Russia’s blockbuster, fantasy epic would make it to U.S. screens had cult movie fans drooling. They’ve had to keep generating that saliva for a long time as its release was delayed. But now (mid-February, 2005) it is finally going to appear, though in a limited number of theaters. And what is all the fuss about?  Well, it’s a modern-day action horror fantasy that borrows heavily from the likes of Blade, Neverwhere, Underworld, Constantine, and Nightbreed, but it’s in Russian, so it must be better.

The basic setup has a haunting charm to it, even if we’ve seen it many times before (note the previously mentioned films). Magic, witches, clairvoyants, shape changers, wizards, and vampires are all around us; we just don’t know it. The heroes try to retain the status quo. Considering how worn, dirty, and bug-infested Moscow appears, it might not be a bad idea if evil shook things up.  Anton is a renegade hero (aren’t they always?) who doesn’t take orders well.  He also looks and acts like he’s dealing poorly with heroin withdrawal. He’s not a happy guy.

With all the monsters and enchantments, this is a very busy film. People are constantly running here and there to deal with…well, here it gets a bit trickier. Most of the time, there’s no way to tell what the hell they are dealing with. It all makes sense in the end (even if what few rules we’ve been given have been violated), but most of it is a mystery when it takes place.  The film is half over before it finally becomes clear who the Others are (why they exist is not touched on), and it is even later when I finally realized that the two narrative threads have nothing to do with each other. Basic information is withheld and major plot points are barely mentioned, apparently to add suspense. The story (well, stories) turns out to be quite simple, but is told in the most confusing fashion possible.

More troubling than the lack of story development is the lack of character development. The film never bothers to give more than the most basic of personality traits to anyone, and most are given absolutely nothing. There is no opportunity to learn about these people, so it is hard to empathize with their problems.

For a low-budget film (somewhere in the 5 million range), it looks amazingly good. The effects could have come from a film costing four or five times more. Walking dolls, a woman transforming into a cat, an owl becoming human, and vampires sliding in and out of visibility, are spot on.  Still, when really big, Matrix-style flash is attempted, the lack of money is noticeable. And the filmmakers were a bit too proud of their computer creations, stuffing in an entire CSI season’s worth of shots into two hours.

Combat is notoriously expensive, and director Timur Bekmambetov shows little talent for doing it on the cheap.  Instead, when violence is called for, he just wobbles the camera and focuses on a shadow, leaving us to wonder what the guy holding a fluorescent tube is doing with it. Note to all warriors: choose a gun or sword for your dirty work; do not choose a fluorescent light bulb.

Night Watch reminds me of a fantasy role-playing game (or to a lesser extent, a computer game). It would be more fun to play than watch. There’s a lot on the screen, but it means very little. Perhaps the sequels (two have been announced, though the publication of a forth source novel implies there may be even more movies) will give some depth to the series.

The version I watched was the one shown in Russian (with added, hard-to-read English subtitles). There is a second, edited version, where the subtitles transition in and out and are colored to fit the mood of the character. Strangely, this gimmick has been warmly received.

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