So as I said in my last review, Truthbringer gave me two DVD’s to watch. This is the other one, Nightwatch. I had heard of Nightwatch but it had mixed reviews so I actually never got around to seeing it. Some of you may be asking, “What the hell is Nightwatch?” This is NOT the 1997 movie starring Ewin MacGregor where he cuts his hand off at the end. This is the 2004 Russian movie that is the former commies’ attempt at The Matrix, X-Men and Star Wars all rolled into one. It has mixed results.
The movie begins telling us that for hundreds of years Dark Others and Light Others have been warring with each other. What the hell are Others? Well, apparently they are everyone that is not human. Witches, warlocks, vampires, etc… See what I mean when they’re trying to be like the good ol’ USofA? This is X-Men meets Star Wars. Humans with powers who are either drawn to the light side (of da Schwartz) or the dark side (of da Schwartz).
In the Middle Ages, a huge Others battle takes place. Upon seeing that both sides are being slaughtered, the leaders of the two sides strike a truce. The rules are simple, Dark Others can still reek havoc, but only with a license from the Nightwatch. The Nightwatch is a secret police force of Light Others who take down any Dark Others who are not playing within the rules. What exactly the rules are is never really clearly laid out except one. Neither side can influence any new Other (usually powers start to show themselves around puberty. See what I mean by copying X-Men?) to be Light or Dark. All Others must choose what side they want to be on.
OK, so all of that comes out in the first fifteen minutes. Sort of…That’s my real problem with this film. Maybe it was the translation from Sputnik to English, or maybe not having grown up suppressed by the Gestapo, but it took a lot of rewinding and filling in the blanks on my own to figure out what the fuck was happening in this film.
Finally we fast-forward to modern day Ruskieland to our actual story. Anton finds out his impregnated wife is having an affair. He goes to a Dark Other (a witch) and pays her to cast a spell which will terminate the baby. The witch attempts to do this, but the Nightwatch stops her in the process. The baby lives, the witch is arrested and low and behold Anton discovers he is an Other. He is a vampire and naturally he chooses the side of Light.
Anton joins the Nightwatch and in his detective work, he uncovers the prophecy that an Other will be born more powerful than any Other before him. This Other will destroy the truce and whichever side he chooses will have an advantage over the other. (Again, haven’t we heard this plot before?)
Anton discovers the “chosen one” is actually his son whom he did not know was even still alive. His son hates him for abandoning him and at the end of the film, the son chooses the Dark Others.
So, why is this like the Matrix? Well two reasons. First are the fight scenes. They have all been “Matri-fied” with slow-mo and wild kung fu moves. Secondly, the Others can enter an alternate universe where humans cannot see them. Very much like when Keanu and the gang go in and out of the Matrix.
Here’s my favorite screen shot. In a gang bustin’ chase scene, the Light Others almost run down the leader of the Dark Others. But he causes their truck to FLIP OVER HIM. It was cooler than anything in the second Matrix’ supposed be all/end all chase scene:
Finally, just like Star Wars, The X-Men and The Matrix, Nightwatch is actually going to be a trilogy. In fact, Daywatch (the second part of the trilogy) will be released here in the Stars and Stripes later this year.
So, what did I think of the start? Well, it was a start. I must admit, a whole bunch of shit did not make sense. I’m hoping that with the next few films things will start to fall into place. The basic premise is very cool and the fight scenes are pretty bad ass. I’ll give these commie pinkos a chance to wow me with the other 2 films.
So what’s on the DVD:
The DVD has some deleted scenes and an extended ending from the film. It’s not much to write home about.
There is also a commentary, but since the director is from Vodkaland, he’s kind of hard to understand and just keeps saying things like, “I vike dis shoot rit her.”
The best part is the sneak peek at the sequel which again, gives me hope this will play out to be a bad ass story.
FINAL ANALYSIS:
Since America kicks so much ass, if our former allies/former enemy wants to copy us and try to make a cool trilogy of their own, let ‘em give it a try. Just like they were the second to make it to the moon, they can be the second to corner the sci-fi/fantasy trilogy market.
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