In the jaded eyes of many dyed-in-the-wool horror film fanatics, a big budget is the proverbial kiss of death when it comes to how well a film will work...and perhaps more importantly...how efficiently that film will transcend its big-budget trappings to deliver solid shocks, scares, and other tangible horror-related experiences. Case in point, take the recent Underworld and Blade movies. Whereas those films provide the requisite action-packed fight scenes and high-falutin' special effects, they generally fail to generate anything even remotely "scary", thus diluting their effectiveness as "horror films". No, those flicks are celluloid comic books...and that's not necessarily a bad thing. They simply don't work as scary movies. Which brings us to the influence that the financial success of those films (as well as the Matrix series) has had on the film industry all over the world. Like it or not, these films have huge influence at home and abroad, so it's natural that, eventually, the Russians would get their Western-culture-starved hands on the concept. Enter director Timur Bekmambetov, who has taken mother Russia by storm with Night Watch (Nochnoy Dozor or Nochnoi Dozor, depending on who you ask)...the biggest budget Russian film ever, and the phenomenon that raked in more rubles than the whole Lord of the Rings Trilogy in the former Soviet Republics. Now read that last sentence again. You read that right...Night Watch is that important...it's taken that seriously. Is it a good film? Sure. Is it better than Underworld? Probably. Will American audiences give a flying fuck about it when it is (inevitably) released here? Probably not...
The synopsis...
Night Watch opens impressively with an epic battle sequence atop a bridge somewhere in Medieval Russia, with the armies of good and evil smashing the living fuck out of each other. When the leaders of each faction realize that they are quite evenly matched, and that continued battle will only result in needless bloodshed, they stop the battle and forge a treaty whereby for the rest of time, a carefully controlled system of checks and balances will govern the two sides; the Day Watch and the titular Night Watch. The Night Watch will be comprised of members of the "good" side, and is charged with watching over and keeping tabs on the forces of the night, leaving the Day Watch to watch over the forces of good. Flash forward several hundred (?) years to Russia, circa the 1990's (right after the fall of the Soviet empire). A regular schlub named Anton (Konstantin Khabensky) visits an old lady...who happens to be a witch doctor...so that she may place a hex on Anton's cheatin' wife, who he believes to be pregnant with another man's baby. The hex will not only cause Anton's wife to "fall out of love" with her lover, but will also instigate an abortion/miscarriage of the illegitimate foetus. In the middle of the spell-casting process, an ass-kicking team of Night Watch members come barging in and put an abrupt stop this "illegal use of black magic". Anton soon finds himself embroiled in the world and workings of the Night Watch, and becomes an unwitting member. Flash forward (again) a dozen or so years, where Anton and other Night Watch members soon find themselves on the trail of a group of wayward vampire-types who seem to be trying to capture seduce a young boy (whom they believe may hold the key to tipping the scales in the favor of the forces of evil). Hmmm...I wonder who that could fucking be! Also thrown into the mix are an incredibly hot vampire chick who is hellbent on getting revenge for the dispatching of her sire/lover by Anton and other Night Watch members, an oddly beautiful but lonely girl who may or may not hold the key to tipping the scales in favor of the forces of good, a oddly beautiful girl who can turn herself into (in a very slimy process) an owl, impromptu "faith surgery", a spiraling vortex above a mysterious block of flats, a seemingly doomed jumbo-jet, a man who can remove his spinal column and use it as a sword (!), a lot of bloody noses, and a lot of nonsensical action sequences, and you've got an exhilirating brew that, admittedly, does pack quite a visual and visceral wallop, but ends up being confusing and disjointed as hell. Everyone, it seems, may or may not hold the key to tipping the scales in the favor of either the good guys or the bad guys, and everyone seems to be the physical manifestation of some sort of cyclopean prophecy. There simply are no "regular" people in the world of Night Watch.
So, are you confused yet? Well, that's ok...and you shouldn't hold it against Night Watch, as this film is simply the first part of a projected three-film series based on novels by Sergei Lukyanenko...although, as of this writing, rumors abound that the series will be expanded into a whopping six (!) movies when all is said and done. With that in mind, look at Night Watch as being very introductory in nature, and by necessity and nature it feels a bit rushed and disjointed. In the grand tradition of Russian epics (both literary and cinematic), there are literally dozens of major characters, each of whom has a fairly well-defined character arc to follow, and each of whom has (or will have) fully fleshed-out motivations. So, it's best to just sit back and enjoy the ride. It takes several viewings for everything to begin to make any sense, but don't sweat it...this is still a big-budget extravaganza, and those repeated viewings will be justified by all of the little details that flood the screen at any one time. None of this is to say that Night Watch is a great movie...even a great "horror" movie. It's very much like Underworld in very specific ways...most notably that it just feels like the story and the characters are taking a back seat to the action and effects. I've heard that particular bit of criticism leveled at Night Watch by bigger critical fish than myself, but frankly, I think it's unfair and somewhat pre-emptive at this stage in the story. The whole Night Watch series has oodles of cinematic potential...I can only hope that Timur Bekmambetov has the verve and vision to take the story where it needs to go. I have a feeling that the next installment in this story will be a comparitively quiet and low-key affair, but I could be wrong.
Which, of course, brings us to the technical wizardry at work in Night Watch. There are hundreds of effects shots here, comprising just about every whiz-bang effects trick that you can imagine; from bullet-time to computer generated armies...from excellent practical and mechanical makeup effects to subtle and effective stop-motion animation...from David Fincheresque swooping, invasive camerawork to somewhat dated (but still cool looking) "morphing" effects...it's all here. The coolest effects, though, are the ones that only become truly apparent after repeated viewings. Specifically, I'm referring to the world itself...it just breathes and has a certain undefinable vitality, all set against a backdrop of post-Soviet-collapse social and economic decay. The cool thing is that most of the "city" (ostensibly Moscow) was created on soundstages, with a breathtaking attention to detail. It's a damn near perfect execution of a subtle and effective illusion, and it helps to make Night Watch more than just your typical action/horror epic.
It's not a perfect film, however...as mentioned earlier, Night Watch is fairly disjointed, often feeling like a strung-together hodgepodge of genre cliches and action set pieces. Again, I can't stress this enough...it's supposed to feel that way, or rather, it has no choice but to feel that way. The narrative covers an enormous amount of figurative real estate in a relatively short time, and while this is by all means indicative of a filmmaker who had something to prove, it's not inherently indicative of a "bad movie". The problem is that the vast majority of viewers are going to watch this thing once, form their opinions about it, and move on...and will be, no doubt, left with the nagging feeling that they've just witnessed a slick but empty movie. Trust me, there's more than meets the eye here. You can learn to enjoy a movie in spite of its technical successes, and to recognize it for what it is...the exhilirating opening movement of a much larger, almost operatic, piece of cross-genre cinema. Just give it a chance, is all I'm sayin'! You won't be sorry...
Now, since this is a DVD review, I must touch on the DVD itself. This one, available from Asian Cult Cinema for a pittance, certainly serves its purpose. The excellent widescreen print and surround sound work to draw the viewer into this twisted world. The disc also has removable and remarkably clean English subs for the feature itself. Now, as I understand it, there are some cool extra features on the disc, but guess what...all of the menus are in Russian, and I must admit, I haven't a clue about Russian. I did, however, manage to unlock a "making of" featurette, but again, it's in Russian, so the details are sketchy for me at best. Still, if you've seen one "making of" you've seen them all, and you can get the point of the piece just by watching what's going on. All in all, Night Watch is a fun, freaky, and highly glossy epic horror/fantasy/action movie...and I, for one, think it's miles better than the movies to which it's most often compared (Underworld and the Blade series). Give it a shot...it's better than you think it will be.
In the jaded eyes of many dyed-in-the-wool horror film fanatics, a big budget is the proverbial kiss of death when it comes to how well a film will work...and perhaps more importantly...how efficiently that film will transcend its big-budget trappings to deliver solid shocks, scares, and other tangible horror-related experiences. Case in point, take the recent Underworld and Blade movies. Whereas those films provide the requisite action-packed fight scenes and high-falutin' special effects, they generally fail to generate anything even remotely "scary", thus diluting their effectiveness as "horror films". No, those flicks are celluloid comic books...and that's not necessarily a bad thing. They simply don't work as scary movies. Which brings us to the influence that the financial success of those films (as well as the Matrix series) has had on the film industry all over the world. Like it or not, these films have huge influence at home and abroad, so it's natural that, eventually, the Russians would get their Western-culture-starved hands on the concept. Enter director Timur Bekmambetov, who has taken mother Russia by storm with Night Watch (Nochnoy Dozor or Nochnoi Dozor, depending on who you ask)...the biggest budget Russian film ever, and the phenomenon that raked in more rubles than the whole Lord of the Rings Trilogy in the former Soviet Republics. Now read that last sentence again. You read that right...Night Watch is that important...it's taken that seriously. Is it a good film? Sure. Is it better than Underworld? Probably. Will American audiences give a flying fuck about it when it is (inevitably) released here? Probably not...
