Aleksei Chadov, Dmitry Martynov, Galina Tyunina

A man (Khabensky) who serves in the war between the forces of Light and Dark comes into possession of a device that can restore life to Moscow, which was nearly destroyed by an apocalyptic event.

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70% liked it

8,603 ratings

Critics

62% liked it

93 critics

R, 2 hrs. 12 min.

Directed by: Timur Bekmambetov

Release Date: December 31, 2006

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DVD Release Date: October 30, 2007

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Flixster Reviews (3,561)


  • November 1, 2009
    The sequel to Russian vampire movie Nightwatch, Daywatch continues the battle between the forces of light and darkness for supremacy on Earth. At least I think that's what it's about because it's so confusing it's quite difficult to tell. Not that it's complicated, it's such a mi...( read more)sh-mash of unrelated and random ideas that it just makes little sense; in fact it's quite obvious that the script writer was just making it up as he went along, throwing everything he thought sounded "cool" into the mix with absolutely no thought to narrative, structure or even plain logic. This can be sometimes be successfully papered over by impressive action sequences, and there are some nice visual moments here, but that's all they are. Moments. Probably barely enough to scrape together into a flashy trailer. We never see any "battles", the action merely concerned with fast cars and property destruction and are just thrown in at random intervals with little affect on or relevance to the story. Add to this attempts at humour that are embarrassingly unfunny and you have a tediously overlong, self-indulgent mess of a film that fails to deliver on every level.
  • September 20, 2009
    There was a point around the beginning of Day Watch where I thought it might actually be better than its predecessor, Night Watch. The impressive but over-the-top scene with the car barrel-assing along the front of that hotel, the interestingly upgraded special effects and the fo...( read more)xy, raven-coiffed Alicia all had me open-minded and ready to enjoy it. Then that droning, monotonous and boring story kicked it. I honestly feel that this movie as an hour too long and if the effects weren't so good I'd say it should be used as torture. Believe it or not, a second viewing makes Day Watch even more nonsensical and painful to watch.
  • August 30, 2009
    This film was just disappointing. The special effects were very nice - but the story was too contrived to keep my mind from wandering ... and wondering when the movie would end.
  • January 21, 2009
    "The second chapter in the epic fantasy trilogy"

    The apocalyptic sci-fi thriller Day Watch (AKA vevnoy Dozor: Mel Sudbi, 2006) constitutes the second installment in a planned supernatural trilogy by Russian fantasist director Timur Bekmambetov. As preceded by 2004's block...( read more)buster Night Watch and followed by Dusk Watch, this sophomore film picks up on the byzantine tale of a world where, centuries ago, the powers of light (representing goodness) and the powers of darkness (representing evil) called a truce. Each side set up a law enforcement team to guard and monitor the other's activities - the powers of darkness established and controlled the Day Watch, while the powers of light established and controlled the Night Watch. Day Watch opens in the 14th Century, where Tamerlan, a Mongol warrior, acquires an implement called "The Chalk of Destiny," that can be used to guide the course of history. Eons later (in the present day), the Day Watch and the Night Watch are ongoing. Two Warriors of Light, Anton Gorodensky (Konstantin Khabensky) and his protégé/partner-in-training, Svetlana (Maria Poroshina) quietly develop feelings for one another as they patrol the Night Watch together. As the story progresses, the pair must respond to a distress call from an octogenarian victim of a vampiric attack - an attack committed (as it turns out) by Anton's 12-year-old son Egor (Dima Martinov) - now a Warrior of Darkness.Anton must suddenly wrestle with two conflicting desires - the need to protect his offspring by destroying incriminating evidence, and his own desire to remain loyal to the Night Watch. Several additional subplots then unfold concurrently, including that of Egor learning to practice evil from his mentor, Zavulon (Viktor Verzhbitsky), that of Anton "body swapping" with associate Olga (Galina Tyunina), and that of the relationship between a vampiric child, Kostya (Aleksei Chadov) and his dad (Valery Zolotukhin), who works as a butcher.

    Review
    This movie has some of the most impressive visuals of any movie I have ever seen. It has a supernatural storyline that has great potential. It has some very funny moments in it, and some decent action. Unfortunately, this movie is gratuitously surreal. A good example is the Parrot. At a late point in the movie, the master of the Dark ones sends a henchmen after the hero. The henchmen is a parrot that morphs into a human. OK. Why the hell is this guy a parrot? And why did he have a plastic toy car that became real? At the birthday party near the end of the movie, why does the crowd clap and cheer after every muttered half sentence from our injured hero? There is a lot of stuff that happens in this movie where you never quite know why the things that happen are happening. This may be due to many factors. Maybe because its subtitled. Maybe because its the 2nd part of a trilogy where I never saw the first part. But I think it is because there is a lot of stuff that happens on screen that is not really relevant to the plot. Despite these flaws, this movie is absolutely worth watching, simply for the stunning visuals. I enjoyed this movie, but it really feels like a 3 hour movie compressed into 2 hours.
  • December 7, 2008
    "Why does the wind blow? It wipes the tracks where we have passed. So that no one can tell, whether we still exist."

    Timur Bekmambetov's Day Watch is the sequel to the big-budget Russian hit film Night Watch. The sequel picks up the storyline one year lat...( read more)er from the original . The forces of Light and Dark are engaged in a civil war as each side attempts to control a device that will tilt the balance and destroy the other side completely. Stuck in the middle is Anton, a Light Agent (played by Konstantin Khabensky) whose son is a Dark Agent and whose love interest is a fellow Light Other.

    Bekmamtebov's brilliant visual flare is affluent in this Russian gem. It's bigger, louder, and more colorful than it's predecessor. The success of the first film is immediately seen by the increase in visual effects. The aforementioned success really opened up the budget for Bekmamtebov to blow up at least 10 huge buildings in this film!

    The acting was top-notch, especially by Khabensky and the young actor who played his son Yegor (Aleksei Chadov). The plot is fun, and if you're a fan of sci fi then it is easy to submerge yourself in the storyline.

    However, one of my few complaints is that it's not an upgrade from the original. Ultimately, any goal of a sequel is to give the audience something new or better. Yet, all this film serves to do is continue the storyline. The only differentiation that can be seen between the two films is the number of buildings that are blown up.

    The only other real complaint was that it was a bit long-winded. Coming in at about 30 minutes longer than the original with no real character depth added, this film tended to get a bit confusing and a bit boring in the middle. Long films like this tend to take themselves too seriously, and this one should not have been that long.

    What really saves this film is the climax. Day Watch has one of the most eye-popping, visually-satisfying conclusions to a sci fi film I have seen in recent years. It ties everything together, it destroys Moscow, and it was just damn cool to watch. It was a memorable Armageddon battle that concluded the series perfectly.

    Don't expect too much more than what you saw in the first film. But if you enjoyed the original, then you will love Day Watch.

    "Imperfections are hidden in darkness, Yegor. And people always have their imperfections. "
  • October 25, 2009
    Not as good as NIght Watch. It was a little weird when the subtitles would move. I've never seen that before.
  • October 23, 2009
    It started out good. I had the feeling it might be even better than Night Watch, but it wasn't the case. Both films are mediocre in my opinion. Nice effects.
  • October 16, 2009
    Thoroughly enjoyable. Cant wait to see NIGHT WATCH.
  • October 4, 2009
    I can't say I hated this, but I do wonder where it went wrong...

    Spoilers
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    From the beginning, Anton is completely unlikable to me. In the previous movie, he was identifiable now he's just a broody jerk. Granted, his son has just sided with the dark side but still, he on...( read more)ly knew the kid for a few hours so while I'm sure it would be frustrating to know, suddenly he's super dad.

    Svetlana is now a Light side trainee. We discover she is the powerful Other that will balance out Yegor joining the Dark side. Plot hole: The prophecy said there would be ONE powerful other that would determine the battle between the sides, and whichever side that Other chose to join, that side would win. But let's forget about that.

    Instead, there's male/female body switching which only seems to be a plot device for 1. laughs 2. Svetlana to unwittingly confess her love for Anton to Anton as a woman 3. a faux lesbian shower scene that really is more comedic than anything and 4. to have Zevulon know all along which body Anton was in, rendering the gender switch pointless.

    There was also other pointless plot points but you'll know them when you see them. The story was very blah compared to the first one. It was almost as if they covered 4/5ths of the story in Night Watch and felt the need to put a cushion in between Night Watch and the last 5th of the story.

    In the end, Yegor and Svetlana manage to cause the destruction of the world because they are annoying/frustrating characters like that but the above aside, it's the other characters that make the film still watchable. The ending felt like a cop out to me, but since Anton had become unlikable to me, I felt it was a good way to wrap it up.
  • October 3, 2009
    GREAT MOVIE??????><>><><><><

Critic Reviews


August 4, 2007
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer

Day Watch deploys head-spinning cinematography and cool special effects. It's a trippy affair, even if it's just about impossible to track. full review

June 14, 2007
Colin Covert, The Minneapolis Star Tribune

Spectaculars don't come much more bombastic than this goth-Russian supernatural epic. full review

June 8, 2007
Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail

It's exhausting just trying to imagine what 46-year-old director Timur Bekmambetov would do with Hollywood money. Yet, as puffed up as it is, Day Watch is redeemed by its sardonic, Slavic take on the ... full review

June 1, 2007
Kurt Loder, MTV

"Daywatch" looks huge -- Bekmambetov really knows how to marshal his limited resources. But the picture feels heavy; sitting through it is like swimming through lard. full review

May 18, 2007
Nick Schager, Slant Magazine

Aside from one stunning image of a sports car skidding along the face of a curved high-rise hotel, Night Watch fails to even equal its forebear's handful of flashy CG moments. full review

View more Day Watch (Dnevnoi Dozor) reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

Comments


  • jowelldeguzman
    May 13, 2009
    C'mon people, don't be fooled by the special effects only. Why dont you look at the story, its so boring and the reaction of casts was so wrong to each of the scene. I thought this movie was great but i was just fooled by the trailer. No offense but that's how i see it. Half star only for the efforts.
  • Aritosgold
    November 17, 2007
    Didnt care for the Sub title.other than that it was good''
  • Margarita21
    September 27, 2007
    I saw ages ago, i think 1 jan 2006:)))
  • vivalabam056
    July 5, 2007
    damn it. i have to wait for it to come out in australia when it comes out in october grrrr. i hope we see more of tiger cub and bear.
  • drblood
    June 21, 2007
    This was 100 times better than the first one and, since I really liked Night Watch too, that means that this must be fantastic! :o) Even better acting, a better story and lots more of Zhanna Friske in this one. Just don't go to see it if you want to see a horror film. It's a fantasy.
  • TheBlackKnightOnTheWhiteHorse
    June 6, 2007
    does anybody know when the third 1 is coming?
  • FelicethePiece
    May 11, 2007
    A shambolic mess. There's no strong narrative, barely any action and is so boring I wanted to turn it off. The opening scene is good, but it's all downhill from there.
  • phatchance087
    March 20, 2007
    I loved Night Watch... when is this being released in the rest of the world?
  • olgabarmina
    March 5, 2007
    The point is that.. Still, we can not turn back the time, but yes we can write our story again by correcting our actions.. Like an old Russian proverb says: "it’s better later than never"...yes, though we’d need a magic chalk of destiny and i think, yes, we can find it, and firstly inside ourselves..

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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