User Reviews

A tale of the modern, the effect that it can make, on traditions and behaviours, that over years have formed a brake, as barriers are broken, with walls cascading down, lines are crossed, words go unspoken, the Armageddon clock counts down.

We all need to chalk, express our magic on a wall, the things that we regret, the things that make us trip and fall, a little piece of chalk, helps to clear the confused air, brings us back realties, removes anxiety and despair.

Watching me, watching you, watching who? In these times of surveillance, not a lot you can do, just acknowledge they're watching, continually notching, recording the things and the times that you do.

The visual effects are superb, using state of the art CGI with true artistry to create an original and interesting new look.

Unfortunately the characters are all clichés: a troubled loner cop haunted by his past, his doormat girlfriend, the crusty chief of police, the sexy bad girl, the aristocratic villain, etc.

The problem is not so much that the film makers populated the film with clichés, but that they don't do anything with them. They all play their predictable roles with predictable dialog and that's all.

Another major problem with that there is a lot of fighting, done with magic, but they never explain the magic powers, so you never know what is going on. Sometimes getting punched is bad, sometimes getting hit by a bus doesn't seem to hurt the guy. Sometimes they can shoot magic at each other, and sometimes they can't. It's visually stunning, but you don't know who is winning or losing or who is dangerous and who isn't. It's like watching a sport where you don't know the rules.

The first movie had many of the same problems, but it also had some interesting scenes, like the vampire girl in traffic and the first time the main character encounters magic. "Day Watch" has one interesting scene, the opening one set in the past, but it's bland from then on.

I saw Night Watch some time ago and I thought: Humm... What a nice movie. Interesting. Than I went to see Day Watch on the day of the premiere. Tickets had to be bought 3 hours earlier in order to get some. There was a crowd was so packed that even visiting the toilet was impossible. When the movie was starting I thought: well just the next over-talked-about movie, nothing special, BUT What I saw just left me astonished. I could never think such thing could happen. It is comparable by grandiosity to Titanic, and to StarWars by excitement, to The Matrix by plot. I have not seen such a thing yet. It combines Comedy, Action, Drama, Triller, Sci-Fy, Fantasy, Horror in such a manner that they bond without arguments. It's a MUST SEE!!!

I was really amazed after watching this movie. It's much better than the first part "Nochnoy Dozor" (Night Watch). It's a real pop-art product! If you want to know how Russians can do it you have to see it! We love cars, money, parties, extreme more than other people of this planet :) The First film of the year - the first triumph of pop-movies with a humor, glamor, cool effects and arty director's work! It was pretty cool to see pop-idols of present Russia here: Artemiy Troitskiy - chief of Playboy-Russia magazine, Boris Moiseev - fabulous gay-singer, Nikas Safronov - famous pretentious artist, Villy Tokarev - cabaret singer, Anita Tsoy - another Russian popstar and of course Zhanna Friske! 9/10

A man who serves on the light side in the war between the forces of Light and Dark comes into possession of a legendary device: a piece of chalk that can command fate. Also, continuing from the first film, Yegor continues his voyage down the path of darkness.

For those who enjoyed "Night Watch", you should find "Day Watch" just as enjoyable, if not more so. We now have a murder mystery, more vampire action, less of the weird video game subplot. There's an amazing car stunt scene (animated, but still looks good). And the conflict between good and evil reaches a peak. The characters also dress more sensibly (Zevulon, for example, dressed rather absurdly in the first film).

There are some parts that may not make sense. For example, there's a short segment where main characters exchange bodies. This presents an interesting lesbian scenario, but does nothing for the plot (since the purpose of the change was to hide from the police, but the police aren't fooled at all). Also, do make sure you remember the first film or have seen it in the recent past. You may not recall all the characters, and many of the secondary ones from "Night Watch" now take on a more prominent role. To appreciate this movie, it's good to know who they are.

What is quite interesting is where the film ends (which I cannot say): the third part could go anywhere. But do make sure you see this one, as well as "Night Watch". I haven't seen a lot of Russian films, but if this is any indication, they've got something to offer the rest of the world. I'll take this series over "Lord of the Rings" or "Harry Potter" any day.

Night Watch personally was neither a great or terrible film, if anything it was kind of a mixed bag. Its sequel Day Watch was lacking in a lot of areas and while Night Watch was far from great it was better than this. There are definitely things to like about Day Watch. Like its predecessor it is stunning to look at, it's beautifully shot and the scenery is very Russian, very like Russian fairy-tale quality. The special effects are also great, and while occasionally erratic so is the music score with its fair share of rousing and haunting moments. If there's anything also that Day Watch does better than Night Watch is that the action sequences have more energy and cohesion, some of the stunts are a wonder to behold. The acting is not very consistent though, there are no complaints about Konstantin Khabensky who's great but supporting roles could have a tendency to feel over-compensated(Viktor Verzhbitsky) or vapid(Maria Poroshina). The story is a mess, the actual structure is very dense but more of a problem was that there was almost too much going on or written in. Things often got confused or unexplained, even both, while the pacing gets tedious towards the end and the film feels thirty minutes too long, not to mention the cop-out of an ending. There is a great Russian fantasy/sci-fi atmosphere evoked, but the overlong length, drawn out pacing and messy narrative make a film devoid of wonder, thrills or genuine excitement outside of the action sequences, special effects and stunts. The characters are fantasy clichés and next to nothing is done with them, we know they are heroes and villains and that there's a conflict of light and dark(good vs.evil) but little else. The script is the same as the story, often underwritten and stilted with the humour feeling out-of-place. The direction is the kind that does a great job with the visual side of things but any of the assets that give substance are largely ignored, it's a little more refined this time around but can be both erratic and ponderous. Again, not a terrible directing job but a case of pluses and minuses. In conclusion, no problems visually and musically but the script and story are another story put together. 4/10 Bethany Cox

Well, I watched Day Watch with my American girlfriend in a St. Petersburg cinema a few hours ago, and we both enjoyed it. The relatively huge success of of the first episode obviously allowed the producers to pump more cash into this second installment, and it shows throughout the film. The CG sequences are slicker and more impressive, and so is pretty much everything else, including the consistently confident directing. Even the fact that the premise is so annoyingly weak doesn't spoil the fun as much as it did in the first film.

As a Russian though, the thing I liked best was the unmistakable Russian-ness of the movie. As far as film-making is concerned, I don't normally mean that as a compliment, but with Day Watch it is different. While it can definitely appeal to a wider international audience (my girlfriend, albeit a bit of a Russophile, is an indication of that), it is at the same time literally packed with all sorts of clever wordplay and references to various realities of Russian life, ranging from political satire to hilariously blatant product placement.

Even though I can enjoy a less obnoxious art-house film every now and then, on the whole I prefer clever commercial movies, and Day Watch falls into that category very neatly.

I recall being let down and confused by NIGHT WATCH (2004); while no less muddled, this sequel is possibly more entertaining – but, at nearly 2½ hours, it's hellishly overlong! When I watched it, I couldn't say I recalled much of the previous film's events – though some faces looked familiar enough: anyway, here once again the stage is set for the eternal struggle between Good and Evil. The catch is that the hope of the latter, a young boy, is the son of the other side's most prominent member – while they have their own 'ace' in a female student of his (with whom he naturally falls in love). The Dark Side, then, has a tenacious and stunning-looking femme fatale (decked-out with devilish hairdo); however, she's brought down by her own (unconvincing) relationship with a teenage vampire!

An amusing subplot has the hero exchange bodies with a female colleague to escape detection; similarly, blood is seen to be drained – by the villains – just as one would a typical carton of fruit juice(!) and, besides, the much-feared titular overseers emerge to be no more than ageing twin brothers. As with the first film, the production values (including plentiful and intricate special effects) are impressive for a non-Hollywood release – the prologue, denoting the history of the all-important Chalk Of Fate, is quite splendid – though the director's technical 'prowess' soon grows tiresome! Though the ending smacks of the Apocalypse, there's supposed to be a third entry yet in the series – currently being filmed under the title of TWILIGHT WATCH

After reading the book trilogy I was looking forward to these movies. As in any adaptation, not everything makes it the screen. The movie was OK, I like the supernatural subject matter so I was able to stomach watching the whole movie. What drove me crazy is the translation!!!! I speak Russian and the subtitles were totally off. I understand that some things don't translate literally but in some parts the subtitles had nothing to do with the words that the actors spoke. If anyone is in the industry, can you please enlighten us on the process of how the subtitles come about??? Do the people at FOX think that there will be no Russian speaking people watching the movie?

I must admit that before this film I was never a real fan of the Watcher series. A Russian friend of mine advised me to watch Nochnoy Dozor. I was impressed, but hardly blown away. So I went into this film expecting another worthless sequel Hollywood seems to be churning out by the dozen. But this is not Hollywood, and this is not another worthless sequel. In fact, this is surprisingly amazing. Every aspect of the original have been amplified up ten times until you can almost feel the room reverberating. We're spoilt with so much cinematic impact right from the start. The CGI landscapes are breathtaking and the epic battles are just as panoramic as something out of a LoTR film.

The cast is kept the same as the original, all still pitch-perfect in their roles. I can't imagine anyone other than Khabensky playing our helplessly flawed hero. The premise might seem overused (Light versus Dark) but the background plot is actually very unique. I love how the leaders can joke around with each other when taking time off being sworn mortal enemies. And you can tell that the film is a book adaptation by how deep the story goes. Very few aspects are covered completely, leaving you to wonder what motives have some of the characters really got, and what was decidedly cut out of the film version. The soundtrack is one of the most erratic ones I've ever heard but works perfectly for this film. One scene a romantic love score, the next some adrenaline pumping heavy metal, immediately followed by a chirpy joke song. I honestly can't say much about the script since I don't understand Russian, but I feel that there are some in-jokes that would be hilarious if only I understood them. And that's the surprising thing about the film - despite all of its mind-blowing action, there is still time for the writer to fit in some matured dry humour!

I've now been thoroughly converted into a Watcher fan. The first thing I'll do is hunt down some English copies of the books. It feels to me as if the first film is just an introduction to these characters and leads up to the second film where the action heats up. A little surprised by the conclusive ending but can't wait to see what they'll do with it in the next film!

I saw a review for this movie from a critic and the plot seemed very interesting - so I decided to go to a screening expecting something good. Well, the visuals were amazing, no doubt in that, but the story...

So I read these boards, hoping to find some answers, but apparently all the answers are in the first movie: which isn't very helpful when I just paid to go see the sequel.

I've read some of the reviews, but it seems everyone is all hyped up about this film - the exact opposite of what I've experienced. The first 10 minutes I thought were good, they sort've outlined what was going on - and then it crashed and burned into a twisted entropy of randomness (which I am guessing was explained in the first movie).

The problem I have is that the story didn't help anyone who didn't see the first movie - which is a bit humorous because no where did I see to go see the first movie before watching this movie - or at least a plot explanation in the introduction. Especially since I thought this was a stand-alone movie, but was sorely mistaken.

So all in all, I guess the point of this comment is that if you live in North America - go see the first movie before seeing this one - otherwise, if you like staring at the movie screen bewildered while your mind tries to figure out what happened 10 scenes ago - then by all means, go to this movie without seeing the first one.

Everybody who is actually reading this comment (or review) must have seen Nightwatch, which is the first part of this supposed trilogy, if you have not seen it, do not watch the movie. If you watch Nigth Watch and was a little bit disappointed and thought the movie had great potential, feel safe on watching Day Watch, but do not expect to see all the problems solved.

The story is less confusing than the first one, but I still think they could have done it better, and that's the only problems that I've been having with the two movies, that the creators have the chance to create no only a great movie, but also a great world of fantasy, and became another star wars, having people going crazy to know about this world, but they just could not do it.

Still, go and see it if you like these type of movies, see it also if you want to see something different....if not, go and see something else you are not going to miss a lot.

I watched both movies (Nightwatch & Daywatch). I really liked them both. My big problem was the translation. Now this is not the fault of the film at all, maybe even not the translators, but the English dialogue is somewhat campy... almost like badly translated Godzilla movies. It makes it hard to enjoy the awesome movies that they are. Even despite this glaring flaw for American audiences, I highly recommend this series because it simply kicks ass. Okay, I've just been informed that clear, to the point comments are not allowed, somehow you must bloviate for at leat ten lines of text, so there for I'm trying to eat up ten lines of text in order to get the relevant lines of text accepted... lets try submitting now...

Day Watch isn't that much better than its predecessor, Night Watch, about Russian supernatural forces dueling (or, more often, in a truce) over who should rule the world. Matter of fact, it probably isn't better. But somehow, this ultra-nutty, incoherent story is executed with the kind of visual panache that comes around as though in a vision of a glue huffing with a pail of Russian vodka on the side. Director Timur Bekmambetov isn't content to just, say, leave a shot on a character for longer than six seconds. Heavens no! What if someone doesn't get that little visual detail, or that close-up that speaks, um, some words? There's an interesting (well, sort of interesting in a 'bad-movie' kind of way) parallel with how the some of the action scenes are edited and some of the dialog scenes don't have much of a tempo differential. Despite the buzz-kill from the overage of imagery, there's something to his work that's... something.

Eisenstein, dear readers, he definitely is NOT. But Day Watch provides some of the silliest and just downright hysterical and harrowingly delirious surreal visions in recent epic movies. Certainly if one's seen other movies that have come out about the face-off between 'light' and 'dark' forces (The Seeker: The Dark is Rising, ding-ding-ding), this one isn't as crappy as them, which is a plus. Maybe it's just an ecstasy, no matter with the piecing together of different plot strands (i.e. Anton and son, Anton and new-girl Svetlana, the young vampire and his kooky father, Anton's son and Zavulon the cumbersome and fun head honcho of the Dark ones, the girl Alisa and her scorned past relationship ended in a flash) as something of a twist-and-shout match. But the fun isn't in plot, anyway, but in the would-be hammy performances that these guys (and you can tell from the making-of on the DVD) take so damn seriously.

Thank goodness, then, that in the midst of this 'city-fantasy' as the producer dubs it, Bekmambetov allows for some earned camp, like when Anton- in disguise as a switcheroo with another Light-one agent- reveals to Svletlana that she is really Anton, and then Svetlana gets mad (she's in the shower, by the way), and then the two have an explosive, sensual kiss as they're transposed in front of a jungle waterfall (?) Or with little things like that freaky spider-doll-head-out-of-Toy-Story-thing during the climactic birthday party. Of course, a lot of things are unintentionally funny, such as Zavulon unleashing a long, gigantic whip and lashing it in slow-motion at Anton/girl which lasts about five minutes! A lot of the mockery that I mean to impose for this movie though shouldn't excuse the fact that this director, as nutty and begging-to-break-mainstream as he is (which, with his upcoming film Wanted, he is), does have a strong vision at work. You might not agree with how it's pulled off. Matter of fact, you'll probably hate the hell out of it. I came close to just turning off the shenanigans at one or two or three points. But somehow I was drawn into the cheesy save-the-world-with-chalk plot, the brilliant little car commercial midway through as Alisa drives it along at top speed alongside the Dark One's apartment building, and the madcap visual effects that are not quite out of Hollywood but have the charm to try. And I even like Khabensky as the (anti) hero of the story, who is a waste and keeps making mistakes left and right, which ends up tying into the central conflict and conceit of the chalk. He's got a sleazy skill in portraying Anton, and we root for him against all better judgment. Kudos should also go to Verzhbitsky as the devilish Zavulon, and the hotness of Friske (Poroshina is very ineffectual, however, as the one-note Svetlana).

So strap in for a ride that isn't a total mess of apocalyptic-proportions, but definitely won't wind up on your list of favorite sequels of ever. It's a crazy Russian sci-fi flick that wants to join the big leagues, and is damned hard pressed to nearly veer into being exploitation fare.

I couldn't tell you why I returned to this saga after being immensely disappointed by Night Watch, but I did. Again I was drawn in by the same misguided hype that surrounded the first instalment.

Who are these simple, easily satisfied cinema-goers that drool over basic gimicks such as the alternative subtitles in Night Watch? What about the convoluted, silly plot, complete lack of interesting characters and vague half-formed ideas? Anyway, enough of the first movie. The second, somehow manages to plum new depths of pointlessness. Again the plot is needlessly complicated in order to direct focus from the fact that there isn't really one.

The characters can never arrest the attention due to the dialogue being translated (badly) from Russian, leaving sub-70's cop show acting. I can only surmise that it was more realistic in it's native tongue.

For a fantasy film there seem to be very little fantastical elements, but rather some vague hints that at any moment now something might happen.

The editing is by far the most insurmountable issue here though, by turns deeply serious then, suddenly, comedic. Absurd.

It's all such a waste that it's hard to tell what the directors were aiming to achieve here. Hopefully it wasn't what we ended up with.

Phew! What an imagination these boys have!! This entire experience is very dream-like in that the strangest things make sense in this universe, you can flush yourself down a toilet, or perhaps drive a car in a MOST unusual manner, or maybe slip into another dimension to escape your enemy.

This is a world where dark ones and light ones live in an uneasy truce among the unsuspecting living. Once you get your head around this world's rules it starts to make sense and it becomes an action drama like any other, yet unlike any other. And for that, you should see it- but don't expect to understand it very much at first.. it helps if you saw the first film of this series- Night Watch, but that film sucked in comparison to this one in my opinion- and maybe that was just budgetary constraints but hey- it still sucked.

The good thing about having seen Night Watch is that it will make you like this one a whole lot more because you will understand what's going on and then focus on the plot and the action- which is quite an orgy of bizarre circumstance.

So suffer through Night Watch, then watch this and I think you will get a really unique experience out of this- it's fantasy, vampires, spell-casters and a very omnipresent Russia woven into this all. It's a must see because of it's uniqueness and to be forgiven for the occasional stupidity or clumsiness in transition it presents, it has a unique beauty that needs preservation just like a Russian. :-)

I must applaud the director for creating a scene with women and high action where you would have expected to see a man. When you see the movie- you will see what I mean, and it's just one of many of the clever and confounding -dream-rules apply- plot twists this thing will throw at you with total abandon.

this sequel is a mash-up of confusing story line, you will get lost.editing that just takes you anywhere leaving you with, what just happened there. no sign of even a little bit of terror or suspense. the dialogue as well as most of the film is childish and slap stick. good effects though.

bottom line

the makers of day watch have tried way to hard to come up with anything solid that surpasses night watch (even that was a bit iffy) and have moved well away from what this film should have been (not underworld 1 or 2) to an almost Charlie Chaplin like production. if there is to be a third instalment i hope that it will be more simple more dark more sinister and by god more gritty with the same effects.

Generally, sequels are inferior to their parent counterparts. However, this is one of those great times when the sequel surpasses the quality of the first and stands on it's own bearings. The plot line was well written and the acting was absolutely fantastic! Watching in the native language with the subtitles merely added to the essence of the story.

GO SEE THIS MOVIE!

But, if you have read the books these movies are based on, please do not compare. It's as if Lukanyenko decided, "This is how I wanted it as a book, but it should be this way for the movie." They are basically separate entities. Yet, both extremely satisfying. You will not walk out of the movie saying, "The book was better than the movie," because you simply cannot equate the two. And if you haven't read the books. READ THEM! It is very interesting to see the absolute contrast of the author's ideas on paper and on film.

At least a little bit. After the first one might have been a little bit too confusing for western audiences (although still many loved the movie), this time around, it's much clearer (the plot that is) and even has an element (involving a man and a woman and vice versa) in the story, that seems to strengthen that point.

Still if you hated the first one, don't bother watching this one. You'll still not like neither the first installment, nor the second (this right here) of the trilogy (yes another one is coming, I believe it is supposed to get a Russian cinema release this year). I personally am happy, that there are other countries who successfully try to break into the mainstream cinema! This can only mean, that better movies will come out in the end!

Ironically, there is something kind of impressive about the sheer sloppiness of Day Watch (sequel to Night Watch) I would never have thought it possible for a fictional movie to be this big a wreck and still allow me to follow the plot (but barely) Day Watch is ridiculously demanding of an audience members attention and it doesn't give us anything in return. There are no thrills/chills, scares or visual splendour, but there are a few laughs.

Day Watch collapses under the weight of too much content and not enough legitimate story. Regardless of whether this is a noble adaptation of the novel, it cheats a movie goer out of a good time. I approached Day Watch hoping it would enrich the story of Night Watch, which had a cliffhanger ending. What I saw is a completely different ballgame. All the same faces are back but the performance quality is so dreadful that these feel like new people. The ending is the kind that makes the whole thing seem pointless, and by the whole thing I also mean the plot of Night Watch.

How ever much you may have loved the first, is not gonna be enough to make Day Watch a worthy investment of time. This sloppy, overlong enterprise is in desperate need of a redo.