Film Review

‘Night Watch’: Frenetic, Clever
Look at the ‘Big Question

By Alex Holachek (February 27, 2006)

I first saw Nochnoi Dozor (“Night Watch”) in a Moscow movie theater almost a year ago. My friends and I had decided to see the blockbuster film after being subjected to a city-wide publicity blitz characterized by ominous billboards portraying flocks of ravens and a serious looking guy in sunglasses and maybe a knight or two. I was skeptical that a film billed more or less as “the Russian answer to The Matrix” would be bearable, let alone entertaining. In fact, I was kind of hoping it would be cheesy enough to provide my group of friends fodder for inside jokes that would be funny for weeks on end (sad, I know). But I emerged from the 114-minute film a convert to “Night Watch’s” unique brand of frenetic storytelling, creative special effects and cleverness. So upon hearing that the movie had made its way to Washington, I jumped at the chance to see it again.

“Night Watch,” directed by Timur Bekmambetov, holds up under a second viewing, and this time I’m proud to say I actually knew what was going on. The plot is convoluted; suffice it to say that the central conflict is between the forces of light, of which our hero Anton (Konstantin Khabensky) is a member, and the forces of dark, which consist of vampires, including Anton’s next door neighbor and a Russian pop star. The truce that has kept the opposing sides from destroying each other is beginning to unravel in present day Moscow, and the future depends on which side a certain boy chooses to join. It all sounds terribly derivative here, but the fun lies in the unique way the story is told.

The Night Watch, a group of “good guys” patrolling the assorted “bad guys,” issue licenses to vampires who need a blood fix, and fill out voluminous paperwork to report infractions against the truce. The film’s nods to reality, including a scene in which Anton’s backup team is frantically driving around, trying to find him with inadequate directions (“Do you know how many number twelves were on that street?” the driver later asks him with irritation), are what anchor the movie and prevent its elaborate mythology from becoming silly.

Another point in which the film manages to keep its dignity intact is with regard to special effects. The movie looks great despite having been made on a budget that seems puny by Hollywood standards (about four million dollars, a huge sum in terms of Russian cinema). Special effects are not deployed haphazardly, and thus the movie keeps from diluting the wonder of scenes such as the one in which a bolt rattles loose from a plane and begins a long descent, finally coming to rest in a teacup. And in a particularly engaging twist, the subtitles interact with the story, fading in and out, growing and shrinking, and blinking or taking on a red hue for emphasis.

The sizeable cast, including many well-known Russian actors, works well and manages to integrate the action and comedic aspects of the film. I was especially partial to Khabensky’s character, who updates the familiar long black coat/sunglasses combo by accessorizing with a beat-up hoodie. And as for the movie’s other similarity to “The Matrix,” the inevitable Big Question (in “The Matrix” I think it was something about reality, but I’m not completely sure) here there is some low key and completely fitting rumination on what makes the good guys, who sometimes must do distasteful things in pursuit of their ends, so much inherently better than the occasionally sympathetic bad guys. But don’t worry, such matters are not pondered at the expense of vampire-fighting and trucks flipping over people’s heads and cool stuff like that. Just be prepared to leave the theater bereft of any good inside jokes.

“Night Watch” is playing at Landmark E Street Cinema in Washington, DC.