The apocalyptic sci-fi thriller Day Watch (aka Dvevnoy Dozor, 2006) constitutes the second installment in a planned supernatural trilogy by Russian director Timur Bekmambetov. As preceded by 2004's blockbuster Night Watch and followed by Twilight Watch, this sophomore film picks up on the byzantine tale of a world where, centuries ago, the powers of light (representing goodness) and the powers of darkness (representing evil) called a truce. Each side set up a law-enforcement team to guard and
monitor the other's activities -- the powers of darkness established and controlled the Day Watch, while the powers of light established and controlled the Night Watch. Day Watch opens in the 14th century, when Tamerlane, a Mongol warrior, acquires an implement called "The Chalk of Destiny," that can be used to guide the course of history. Eons later (in the present day), the Day Watch and the Night Watch are ongoing. Two Warriors of Light, Anton Gorodetsky (Konstantin Khabensky) and his protégé/partner-in-training, Svetlana (Maria Poroshina), quietly develop feelings for one another as they patrol the Night Watch together. As the story progresses, the pair must respond to a distress call from an octogenarian victim of a vampiric attack -- an attack committed (as it turns out) by Anton's 12-year-old son, Yegor (Dima Martynov) -- now a Warrior of Darkness. Anton must suddenly wrestle with two conflicting desires -- the need to protect his offspring by destroying incriminating evidence, and his own desire to remain loyal to the Night Watch. Several additional subplots then unfold concurrently, including that of Yegor learning to practice evil from his mentor, Zavulon (Viktor Verzhbitsky), that of Anton "body swapping" with associate Olga (Galina Tyunina), and that of the relationship between a vampiric child, Kostya (Aleksei Chadov), and his dad (Valery Zolotukhin), who works as a butcher. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
At 2 hours and 20 minutes, this zippy follow-up to Night Watch delivers a killer pace, blasts of heavy-metal, vexed characters, and gory allegory wherein occult terrorists suck blood, cast spells and escape to a spooky zone known as the Gloom.
Visually, it mixes a gritty reality with eye-popping horror-fantasy, but the story short-circuits the film by adding a level of incomprehensibility, particularly in its second half.
Watch's supernatural police and Bekmambetov's rich visual palette give the film enough strength at least to throw a couple elbows to set itself apart from other nameless films with plenty of effects, but little vision.
While it's not as good as the first film, Day Watch is a nice alternative to the American horror flicks that have been polluting the cinemas this year.
mporei to epiko toy pragmatos na einai telika perissotero sto kefali ton synteleston opos kai i idea oti kanoyn kati megalytero apo holigoyntiano mplokmpaster, alla pantoy diakrineis ayti tin periergi slabiki ithiki kai se arketes periptoseis tin ieri tre
As ornate as a high class Russian samovar, Day Watch continues the battle between Light and Dark in Timur Bekmambetov's unmistakable high octane fashion.
A must-see for fans of the original, but a shorter running time and less energetic CGI excess might have done this flawed horror fantasy a serious favour.
A slight improvement on its predecessor mainly because this one knows how over the top and ridiculous this premise is and just runs with it at a breakneck pace without looking back. This one has more action, thrills, and humor than the first. It's also not as dreary. The story still makes little sense as it is
happening, and the movie still has problems with figuring out what parts of the plot are important and which ones aren't, but this one is more entertaining than the first, mainly because the visuals are better and the eye candy quotient was raised. This series is off the wall craziness mixed with a little horror and humor. If that sounds like your thing, then give them a try.
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