SummaryThe second installment of a trilogy based on the best-selling sci-fi novels of Sergei Lukyanenko, Day Watch (Dnevnoi Dozor) revolves around the conflict and balance maintained between the forces of light and darkness -- the result of a medieval truce between the opposing sides. (Fox Searchlight)
SummaryThe second installment of a trilogy based on the best-selling sci-fi novels of Sergei Lukyanenko, Day Watch (Dnevnoi Dozor) revolves around the conflict and balance maintained between the forces of light and darkness -- the result of a medieval truce between the opposing sides. (Fox Searchlight)
Excellent entertaining film and if the critic from Miami has seen it, then I would be amazed as this film is nothing like the Matrix. The effects were a compliment to the film rather than the film, the humour in it was great fun especially where the main character is placed in a womans body. The underlying message from both **** and Daywatch is about choices and how people can make poor choices which is why the ending is quite poignant. I think the negativity is more due to being a foreign language film and not American, both to my mind being pluses these days.
I never give anything a 10 but this came close.
Firstly it is not American, which means it has a different cultural perspective towards the genre. Secondly I suggest there is a "group think bias" amongst, especially US, critics to favour anything Hollywood over anything not! After all Hollywooders are the people who give out the free party invites. The same is true of we in the west in general, cultural bias and lack of diversity in mainstream cinema, after all we have not really had anything in the way of blockbuster movies other than hollywood for 70 years.
Overall the pace of the film was balanced between quieter, somewhat contemplative, character dialogues exploring the implications of decision, broken by high impact action scenes.
The dialogue was not fantastic but not awful. Remember subtleties can be lost in translation. I have heard far worse dialogue on hollywood films, Matrix 1, 2 and 3 and Avatar, for example. I think they all made some money?
As for the plot it is based on a three part novel (not the second book in the series which was actually called daywatch) so lacks the depth of the books due to the confines of the length of the film. This is true of most books of the film. So it can come across as having a shallow backstory. You can fix this to some extent by watching **** first.
I liked it, I recommend it for anyone who enjoys fantasy/vampire/supernatural genres.
Though overlong, there are many stunning special effects, including a car chase up the side of a building, as well as the sort of wild animated subtitles that turned up in "Night Watch."
Bursting with incident and FX, Day Watch will delight fans of its predecessor, "Night Watch," but further annoy those antipathetic to the Russkie-made supernatural franchise.
Like Russia's answer to "The Matrix" and "Lord of the Ring"s trilogies, Day Watch offers the second chapter in an epic battle between the forces of Light and Dark, the result of which is a gaping gray area where nothing much makes sense.
Day Watch. The war between Light and Darkness will begin now. A little wild and strange, but still very cool for Russian cinema. Rhinestone can see many special effects compared to the Night Watch. All the main characters (Konstantin Khabensky, Vladimir Menshov, Viktor Verzhbitsky, Galina Tyunina and others) have not lost their charm and also perfectly perform their roles. The final scenes are very cool, especially for 2006. Unfortunately, as far as we know, there are no more film adaptations of Dozors from Sergei Lukyanenko at the moment, which is a pity. I would like to see something similar, only with the technical capabilities of the current time.
Day Watch seems far more comfortable with itself and confident in what it is trying to achieve than Night Watch was. A high-octane supernatural thriller in every sense, the film is action-packed, engaging and more than a little bit weird. Once again Konstantin Khabensky is great as Anton, an unusual yet layered and compelling protagonist, and the personal emotional journey he undergoes over the course of the film's narrative is affecting. Viktor Verzhbitsky is also fantastic as Zavulon, an understated, chilling villain. Other characters and performances in Day Watch make far less of an impact, though thankfully they don't make extended appearances as the story generally remains focused on Anton, his estranged son Yegor (played by the talented young Dmitriy Martynov) and Zavulon, who seeks to corrupt the boy and use his newly discovered destructive powers for evil. Like the first film, Day Watch still becomes incredibly confusing in the film's final act, but you'll have a pretty good (if a little narratively dense and drawn out) time regardless. Director Timur Bekmambetov has really stepped things up in terms of his artistic vision, and the film's visual splendour puts even some recent high-concept American features to shame. Russia might be a country to watch in terms of blockbuster filmmaking over the next few years, even if they can't quite compete with Hollywood yet.
I can't understand how people are giving this good scores, the dialogue in the movie is 100% cringe-worthy and EXTREMELY awkward, it takes cheesy to another level. The movie itself is absolutely nonsensical, and just plain strange, it's not even a bit interesting. This is why Russia should NOT be making movies for audiences outside of Russia. Half way through it got so awkward that I decided to just give up and stop watching