white male consumer

Night Watch is the first in a trilogy, based upon the science-fiction novels of Russian author Sergei Lukyanenko. Working with a budget of around $4 million (exceptionally large for Russian cinema) director Timur Bekmambetov created a popular piece of action film for 2004, raking in one of the largest openings for a Russian film in Russia and catching the eye of Fox Searchlight, which bought the rights to it and the sequel (and is currently financing the third). Those accustomed to Hollywood budgets will be shocked at the CGI eye candy in Night Watch – its special effects can compete with the best, proving that innovation is just as important as a large budget.

But Lukyanenko’s sci-fi universe is terribly convulted for a movie, leaving the viewer puzzled and walking out of the theater wondering what he just witnessed. Combine this with static characters and a limp-wristed ending (even taking into account two more installations, the ending here hurts the film), and you’re left wanting to root for a film that doesn’t really deserve it.

In Lukyanenko’s universe, there’s a conflict between Light and Dark, your typical good versus evil, fought between the Others, seemingly ordinary humans who possess supernatural powers. (Originality in cinema is a pipedream at this point.) Their powers vary tremendously, but oftentimes involve some sort of shape-shifting ability. The Other all have a tendency towards drinking blood, and the Dark (evil) Others are referred to as vampires at various intervals.

After a gruesome battle at the beginning of the film, circa 1342 AD, an uneasy truce is settled upon – the forces of Light will watch the day, while the Dark get the night, keeping each other in check. Several hundred years later, in 1990s Moscow, we meet protagonist Anton Gorodetsky (played by Konstantin Khabensky) in a scene which sets the stage for several of the story-lines. He discovers that he’s an Other after a traumatic event (how they often find out, we learn), and then we flash foward twelve more years. The rest of the film spends equal time attempting to create the universe and setting up the overarching conflict – a final battle between Light and Dark. Little is resolved, and the movie feels more like an introduction to the second part (Day Watch, currently playing in Russian theaters) than a film in its own right. We get a taste for the conflict, and issues are raised – whether the good / evil dichotomy is even valid. But we’re left wanting more.

One of the largest problems with the film stems from this universe. It’s as if Bekmambetov spent too much time telling the overarching conflict and not enough time developing the characters or any of the subplots. Anton Gorodetsky changes little through the course of the film, despite an intriguing (but obvious early on) personal link to the overarching conflict. And a static protagonist does not bode well for the rest of the cast. Anton’s “sidekick,” Olga, introduced halfway through (first played by a stuffed owl in a humorous bit, and then later by Galina Tyunina), is brought into the picture, acts as a possible love interest, and then spends maybe fifteen minutes onscreen total. The only real character development comes between Anton and his neighbor Kostya (Aleksei Chadov), which is still never explored, but left for the next two sequels!

The movie also suffers a bit of schizophrenia at times: the special effects occasionally missing the mark, or the atmosphere jumping from dark and serious to humorous and back. The truck-flipping scene (reminiscent of Hellboy) comes to mind as an unnecessary bit of CGI that doesn’t fit in with the feel of the film. And the humor, while decent, comes seldom at odd intervals, in an otherwise sober movie. Is this supposed to be funny?

The music and atmosphere is gritty, reminding the viewer of any sort of American fare, particulary Underworld. The Russian language suits the film (one entertaining scene has a TV showing Buffy the Vampire Slayer, dubbed) and subtitles are treated novelly – instead of staid lines of text at the bottom, the lines are revealed and disappear behind moving characters or objects, or they might turn red and dissolve, like drops of blood in water.

Like any decent sci-fi dystopia, Night Watch makes the audience wish they were in the universe, taking place in the action. It sparks the imagination. But director Timur Bekmambetov would have better served the movie by spending less time on the special effects, simplifying the overall conflict, creating a greater climax and resolution at the end, and focusing his energy working on character arcs and making the subplots more involved. As is, Night Watch is an admirable effort from Russia – and an entertaining piece of film. But it fails to be especially good. For fans of the genre, be sure to catch it. For people who want something a bit different, try it. But for those wanting to see a high caliber film, you might just want to pass.