2004, Russia
Director: Timur Bekmambetov
Starring: Konstantin Khabensky, YurinKutsenko

Plot: Centuries ago, the forces of good the “Warriors of Light” and the forces of evil the “Warriors of Darkness” waged war against each other. After days of battle, both the Warriors of Light and Darkness knew that neither will ever win because each needs the other to exist. In order to maintain that peace, the Warriors of Light establishes a team called the “Night Watch”, to seek out any rogue warriors that may threaten that peace. Now, present day, Night Watch member Anton (Khabensky) gets ready to take out vampires that have broken the “truce” established thousands of years ago. Along the way, Anton saves a boy but the Warriors of Darkness soon realize that this boy is the key to defeating the Warriors of Light once and for all.

NIGHT WATCH is the first episode of trilogy just like LOTR or MATRIX. After a huge box office hit in Russia, Fox Searchlight snagged distribution rights and the remake rights as well. The film is a huge event film that stars Russian cast because it is a Russian film. But just like nothing about LOTR was New Zealand, nothing about NIGHT WATCH is Russian. It feels like an American film and for that matters it feels bigger than any Bruckheimer film.

The story is nothing new to film geeks, it is about the “real” world spawned underneath the actual human world. It is about a prophecy of a chosen one to balance the power of good and evil. It’s UNDERWORLD meets LOTR. Now if that wasn’t enough, there are many subplots going on that it gets a bit confusing. There are many things that are rarely explained and raise questions but being a first of trilogy, the filmmakers hopefully know what they are doing.

If the film has a major problem, it is a pacing. I never thought the fast pacing of the film could be a problem. The film feels like it outruns the thunder. It jets through the story at high octane speed, sometimes it is hard to realize what you are seeing or where you are in the story. It’s edited with so much energy. Even the special effects are wild. Director Bekmambetov uses all he knows and perhaps more and incorporates many styles. It is wilder than most of the special effects driven films that the U.S. makes so often these days.

That said, stylish camera work, quick editing, and special effects are the heart of the film. At least it feels like it since it is a bit hard to understand most of the story line. But one must remember that it is only a part one of a trilogy. There will be more development throughout the series. But no matter how confused you are at the end, as the film closes with a cliffhanger, you will surely ask for next chapter right away.

Review by Shogo.