NIGHTWATCH represents Russia's entree into the world of glossy, flashy, action-oriented entertainment.
The movie is just that: glossy, flashy, and action-oriented. Unfortunately, that's all it is. NIGHT WATCH tells the story of the the, erm, Nightwatch, a group of supernatural cops who ensure that the bad guys play by rules established in a Manichean-confounding truce sometime in the Middle Ages. The movie has a Maguffin, it has a conflicted hero, and it has plenty of neat special effects, but it chokes on its own need to be hip an cool. NIGHT WATCH never met a CGI-insert it didn't like, and the animations and jump-cuts threaten to overwhelm an otherwise-professional action picture.
Yes, with NIGHT WATCH the Russian film industry does, indeed, arrive: at the direct-to-video market. With a little more character work and a little less flash, this could have been a fascinating movie. Let's hope they tune the machine a little more smoothly before DAY WATCH hits the streets.
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