Review of Day Watch (2006) by Roy F — 29 Jun 2008

Russia's answer to "Blade", "Hellboy", and "Ghost-Busters".

Sequel to Russian action/horror/fantasy madness "Nightwatch", is much better than the original. The special effects are beautiful and original and on par with Hollywood, men on horseback ...(read more)riding through walls, and cars driving across skyscrapers, to name a few flourishes. Also the birthday party scene at the end where the dance floor, becomes a battlefield, was nicely done as well.

The story pits two groups of "Others"(a general name for non human biengs living in secret on Earth), half of whome would like to rule over humans(Daywatch), and the other who would co-exist(Nightwatch). That's the backdrop anyway, for a muder mystery, and occult police procedural, about the search for chalk which can re-write fate.

The sexual ambiguity and gender bending of this film was also pretty surprising, especially for an action adventure series of this sort yet it worked in the anything goes universe that is Daywatch, and actually helped progress the story and it's characters. The ending left me confused as to how the third film is going to tie in(there's some time-travel, reality altering here), but I'm interested to find out. (Without the first film the story may seem difficult to understand, though this is a better film, it's worth it to start from the first.).