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| Day Watch * * * |
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| Written by Ivan Radford |
| Friday, 05 October 2007 00:00 |
 Director: Timur BekmambetovIt’s been a few years since Night Watch, Timur Bekmambetov’s mind-blowing Russian blockbuster (yes, ‘Russian’ and ‘blockbuster’ can now be put in the same sentence). But even this second run of the reel has lost none of its predecessor’s potency. Where else do subtitles wriggle, writhe and wane to the mood? Does any other city have men that can stop buses and cars that ride skyscrapers? Of course not! This is Moscow, dammit, and Timur Bekmambetov is vamping it up to 12. Despite all its original flair, however, Day Watch is perhaps a tad too ambitious. Wrapping up the sci-fi/horror trilogy in two films is a daring move, cramming a lot of events into a short timeframe. The story is simple yet apocalyptic: Anton (Khabensky) is still facing the fallout from his son, the Great Other Yegor (Martynov), choosing the Dark side over the Light. Meanwhile, Yegor’s Great Other counterpart, Svetlana (Poroshina), is Anton’s apprentice. When Yegor meets Svetlana, says the prophecy, the world will end. Needless to say, the rendezvous happens just in time for the film’s climax. On the way, we get sex changes, action sequences and the Chalk of Destiny (a mythical bit of stationary that can change the fate of the world). It may seem a tad Americanised, especially when Moscow starts to tear itself in two, but somehow Day Watch retains the idiomatic style that set Night Watch apart from Western fodder. VERDICT Visually breathtaking with its tongue firmly in cheek, Day Watch is a hard-hitting, ambitious shot of vodka blockbusting. Did you see Night Watch? Then you must see this. |
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