Night Watch

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Year:	2004
Country of origin:	Russia
Director:	Timur Bekmambetov
Genre:	Fantasy horror
Starring:	Konstantin Khabensky, Vladimir Menshov,
Rating:	3/5
IMDB link:	http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0403358/
Tagline:	All That Stands Between Light And Darkness Is The Night Watch.
Favourite line:	N/A - Subtitled

Style over substance is a phrase that springs immediately to mind here.
This is the tale of good versus evil, the immortal war which is the stuff of so much genre material.

In dark days past, two warring factions -the light and the dark - fought each other in a furious battle that reached heaven itself. One of their leaders realised that the armies were so evenly matched that the only way their warring would end was when everybody was dead, so he froze the battle and negotiated a peace: The Dark would control the night and be called The Night Watch, The Light would control the day and be called The Day Watch. Skip to present day Moscow, and we learn that the races are still around, living amongst us. Their prophecy states that they will live in relative harmony until the arrival of The Great Other, and the side that he picks, be it dark or light, will vanquish their opposites. And it seems that the actions of one man - Anton Gorodestksy - might just have initiated The Great Others' arrival.

I have to confess, this is the first Russian movie I have seen, and a mixed bag it was too.
The plot itself was reasonable, but the execution of many scenes was shambolic.
The action sequences were superb, well directed and, at times, bloody. One stunt in particular stands out as a speeding truck somersaults over a pedestrian - brilliantly shot and the first time I've seen anything like it, and coming up with something original in a car chase is quite something.
The problem overall though, is this feels more like a sequence of set pieces strung together than a fully formed movie. The director is clearly massively influenced by The Matrix and, whilst that is understandable, the apeing of that movie soon becomes tiresome.
It's enjoyable and frustrating in equal measure and, worryingly, felt much longer than its 2 hour running time.
Interesting, then, but not one I'll be reaching for again in a hurry.