When I was invited by Fox Searchlight to see a special screening of Day Watch, I was reluctant because I hadn't seen Night Watch. But I was assured by many people that Night Watch made next to no sense anyway so I would probably be on the same page as everyone else.
Day Watch does have a story. It is about two vampire clans in modern day Russia. Centuries before they were at war but they came to a truce as long as the two clans are able to monitor the other's activities. One member of clan Night Watch, Anton [played by Konstantin Khabensky] has a son who is meant to cause the downfall of the truce but the son is under the care of the opposing clan. Anton has a plan to get his son and that is to get the mysterious Chalk of Fate, which grants its user wishes.
If just reading the synopsis hasn't sold you on seeing this film then you shouldn't see it because you have no imagination. Much like anime the plot is tenuous enough to allow for amazing fight scenes and balls to the wall action. Also like anime many scenes seem to hold no purpose except to showcase something cool. Such as: Why does someone need to fly their car to the top of a building rather than just take the elevator? Well that's to show off director Timur Bekmambetov's amazing skill at melding special effects and live action. In fact he does it better than most of this summer's Hollywood blockbusters. Other scenes that stand out in Day Watch are when the leader of Day Watch uses power lines as a whip to destroy about a dozen cars. Day Watch will also make you believe that a yo-yo can kill.
Overall Day Watch is a fun ride, don't be put off by the subtitles [the dialogue is in its original Russian. It's a blast and it really sets you up for the eventual second sequel.
AndersWolleck
Astoria, NY
February 2003
JUN 01, 2007 09:41 AM