Day Watch
To appreciate "Day Watch," you pretty much have to accept that the film is going to make very little sense.This horror-fantasy is every bit as overplotted and nearly as incoherent as its predecessor, the brain-busting, 2004 art-house hit "Night Watch." But it's more action-oriented and has a lot more welcome humor.
As a result, this Russian import feels looser, loopier and less serious than the first film, which makes it a lot more fun and a lot more watchable.
"Day Watch" picks up the story after the end of "Night Watch." Once again, a fragile balance has been struck between the forces of light (the Night Watch) and darkness (the Day Watch).
One of the men responsible for maintaining that balance is Anton (Konstantin Khabensky). He's training a new Night Watch recruit named Svetlana (Mariya Poroshina) and is trying to watch over his son, Yegor (Dmitry Martynov), who has gone over to the Day Watch side.
As you might guess, Anton's allegiances are torn. He's falling in love with Svetlana, which doesn't exactly thrill Yegor. And with the great powers Svetlana and Yegor possess, if the two were to clash, it could usher in the Apocalypse.
With all the Night Watch and Day Watch talk, the plot is already a bit confusing. But co-screenwriter/director Timur Bekmambetov and novelist Sergei Lukyanenko throw in some nonsense about the Chalk of Fate, a mythical relic that can supposedly rewrite history.
"Day Watch" is rated R for strong scenes of horror violence and other violent action (vampiric attacks, stabbings, vehicular and explosive mayhem, and violence against women), some gore, scattered profanity and sexually suggestive language, brief drug content (references and use of hypodermic needles), a brief sex scene, brief, partial female nudity, and a scene of torture. Running time: 126 minutes.
E-MAIL: jeff@desnews.com