Night Watch seems to be one of those love it or hate it films, and it is easy to see why. For this viewer, it has a fair bit to redeem it but has too many flaws as well to make it good enough, very similar pros and cons for 2007's Wolfhound actually. Night Watch is an excellently made film, the scenery is sumptuous with a dark edge as well, the CGI is well-defined and used appropriately and most of the photography is skilfully done. The music score is terrific as well, it has some beautiful parts, some stirring parts and some haunting parts, and these are used in a way that is effective for each scene and doesn't across as repetitive or jarring. The acting is also quite good, Konstantin Khabensky's lead performance in particular is great and the supporting do a good job in making the most of what they have. The script is a mix here, some of it is literate and thoughtful but there are too many other instances where it sounds awkward and underwritten. Most of the photography is fine, but that is not the case with the action sequences where it is very claustrophobic-feeling and too much like watching a hurriedly-edited music video. The action doesn't really have as much drive or tension as it ought to, it's performed competently but rather stodgily choreographed. The characters are sketched very thinly, we know what types of characters they are but often that's pretty much it. The story is the biggest problem with Night Watch, a good idea but the storytelling is far too rushed and confused with too many things left unexplained or underdeveloped. If the pace had slowed down, things would have been more comprehensible, less choppy and better developed. While the ending is also a let down, it was here where Night Watch felt the most rushed and it felt unfinished and anti-climatic too. Overall, a mixed bag here and this is coming from a Russian fantasy fanatic who hasn't read the book(and you don't necessarily have had to to either like or dislike the film) and judged Night Watch on its own terms. 5/10 Bethany Cox
Review of Night Watch
