Day Watch is a stunning, well executed action
adventure film, with a simple supernatural
hook, a well-defined and well-deployed McGuffin
and a sense of fun and originality.
Konstantin Khabensky as well as much of the
cast of Night Watch returns, now mentor to
Svetlana, responsible for her training as
part of the Night Watch. As Anton, he is weary,
wary, woeful and wooing as he shepherds his
apprentice. His task is made more complex
by the fact that, while he is only moderately
powerful, she is a 'Great Light Other', a
supernatural entity capable of terrifying
acts.
Further complicating the situation is the
presence of Yegor (Dmitry Martynov), Anton's
estranged son, who, though Anton is Light,
is a 'Great Dark Other', or will be upon his
imminent birthday. With the potential for
two Great Others running around Moscow, the
two Watches, Night and Day, and the Inquisition
are somewhat nervous.
While their mission is to prevent a war between
Light and Dark, to maintain the uneasy truce,
these two make it worse - even vampires and
warlocks are subject to the balance of terror.
Svetlana and Yegor between them are Mutually
Assured Destruction made flesh, and conflict
between them would be apocalypse.
In establishing this weighty back-story, Day
Watch uses swiftly drawn action sequences
with stunning effects and narration from Anton.
Exposition that might be off-putting is easily
disguised between Svetlana's training and
Yegor's naivete. He may be immensely powerful,
but he's also only fourteen, and his guardian,
Zavulon, has a vested interest in keeping
him controlled.
Having established the prospect of an inevitable
apocalypse, Day Watch produces a McGuffin,
The Chalk of Fate. It has the power to rewrite
destiny, but only in specific and certain
ways.
The Chalk, the limitations of its powers,
and the places where its awesome ability may
be directed are drawn with verve and panache.
Many a genre film has had a McGuffin, but
few have introduced it with Tamerlane's nomad
horde storming across the endless steppes
to lay siege to a labyrinthian castle on the
edge of reality.
The action sequences are stunning, the special
effects impressive, and while there's quite
a bit of product placement many of the references
will be lost on audiences who don't watch
Russian television.
That said, it's got the same sophisticated
subtitling as Night Watch, with the same neat
tricks - words hang in the air like real things,
change in response to character realisation,
gyre and twist as the situation evolves.
Moscow is well presented, and it's a nice
change to see a world city outwith the US,
UK, or Japan threatened with destruction.
The international cut reviewed has some significant
variations from the Russian release in terms
of structure, but it hangs together well despite
the chops and changes.
There are other clever moments, from the way
billboards are integrated into the credit
sequences to various cameos from Russian pop-stars
and science fiction authors, including Night
Watch's author Sergei Lukyanenko.
Day Watch is a well constructed genre film,
a sequel which stands alone, a triumph of
an international release. It's weakness is
that it is a genre film, that it is a sequel,
that it is in Russian. All of these dissuade
audiences, but they should not. Day Watch
is brilliant
I Am A Big Fan Of This Movie Series And I
Shall Rate This Movie 7 Out Of 10. If You're
A Fan Of Horror Fantasy Movies, I Would Recommend
This Movie For Your Lazy Weekends. So See
You With Another Episode. Take Care Guys,
Bye Bye.
