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Overall Rating : 7/10
Directed By : Timur Bekmambetov
Konstantin Khabensky
Vladimir Menshov
Valeri Zolotukhin
Mariya Poroshina
Supplied By : Fox Home Video
Film Reviewed By : Rick Blalock
Date Reviewed : Jul. 26, 2006
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| PLOT Among normal humans live the "Others" possessing various supernatural powers. They are divided up into the forces of light and the forces of the dark, who signed a truce several centuries ago to end a devastating battle. Ever since, the forces of light govern the day while the night belongs to their dark opponents. In modern day Moscow the dark Others actually roam the night as vampires while a "Night Watch" of light forces, among them Anton, the movie's protagonist, try to control them and limit their outrage. |
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| THE REVIEW In the Russian epic NIGHT WATCH, among humans live beings known as "Others" These Others are divided into two separate groups - sort of like different religions, "Light and Dark. Light Others are the traditional good guys while you probably guessed, the Dark Others to be the bad. Centuries ago, the two prestigious groups waged war against each other and the death toll was so devastation that the commander of the Light begged and pleaded to end the war - thus the two parties agreed to form a truce, never to fight amongst each other again. To make sure that the truce stay mutual the so sides would govern on two shifts. The Light Others would patrol the night know as "The Night Watch", while respectably the Dark Others patrolling day know as "The Day Watch" But when someone discovers they are an other they are not however forced to join either side, it is their own decision as to where their loyalty lies and what shift they will enforce, We pick up in modern Russian on the Night Watch, the watch is seemingly lead by Anton, 13 years ago Anton learned that the baby that his girlfriend was carrying was not his - he visits an older woman whom plans to use black magic to kill the child - but the Light interfere and arrest the woman. Anton was also captured and during the capture it is discovered that Anton was in fact an Other and possessed special powers - he then joined the forces of good. Picking up it present day Russian, The Dark Others are vampires, so when when Anton on patrol a vampire brutally killing and other he retaliates and ends up killing the vamp. This predictably enrages the dark forces and they want to commence the war all over again while the Night Watch will try to prevent it. Before seeing this, I knew that it had a hype surrounding it, and in my opinion 8 times out of ten, over hyped films usually are not as good as they are publicized to be. But the first time I read the plot I thought it sounded pretty damn good and at almost 2 hours running time approximately - I thought to myself "it better be", because I wouldn't want to suffer anymore than I had to if it were terrible. Luckily it wasn't bad at all! Presented here is a story that is sort of like a cross between a BLADE movie(not the god-awful series) and films like NEAR DARK. The story was intriguing to me, two distinct forces struggle to keep peace between each other in their world, while hating each others guts - but you just know the tension would erupt some day. amidst the story are incredible CGI effects, effects that are far better than any American film I have seen for sure. We see many of the Light Others shapeshift to various animals, like a tiger and one is an Owl who transforms back into human form that was kinda weird, but cool in the same. They create sort of a fantasy world that transforms some elements into a sci-fi film, yet it's gore maintains it as Horror - there is really not one genre to limit NIGHT WATCH to. I am usually not one to complain about a movie being to fast paced but in the case of this film it moves too fast and sometimes tangles itself up, leaving a viewer confused. But what is left is just enough to keep you in your seat, I know I couldn't wait to see what would come of the tension between the two sides, even that is a bit scrambled - but you get the picture. |
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| GORE
METER 5/10 There are some pretty intense battle sequences at the beginning and ending resulting in brutal stabbings and slashes and also I really enjoyed the fight between Anton and the vampires that results in a bloody ass-kicking. |
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| MUSICAL
SCORE 5.5/10 The score is a mix of haunting vibes with a little bit of rock thrown in for good measure... it manages stay out to par with the film's fast pace. |
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| OVERALL
IMPRESSION OF THE FILM Although not all of NIGHT WATCH is easy to follow, I still found myself loving the flashy fantasy like CGI effects, that were sort of "MATRIX-esque". But like mentioned earlier the plot in understandable to follow just enough to enjoy it, I recommend this one to fans of BLADE, NEAR DARK, and THE MATRIX. |
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