Hey, have you ever seen…Night Watch?

Larisa:  I want to live.

Anton:  So live. Live. Who’s stopping you?

Larisa:  I want to be human again.

Anton:  You want to be human? Then act like a human.

If for no other reason than the stunning, and I mean stunning visuals, Night Watch is a must-see.  Even if the story sucked (it doesn’t) and the acting was terrible (it’s not) there are images in this film that you will remember for a long time, and you are guaranteed to recognize at least a couple of the effects or stylistic flares creeping (or having crept) into American cinema. 

Night Watch is a movie about the good ole’ Light versus Dark battle, except with the seemingly story-killing twist that there is currently a truce.  A shaky one, but it’s there.  Light and Dark can recruit, but they try not to step on one another’s toes.  Light patrols the night (thus they’re the Night Watch) and Dark patrols the day (Watch), to make sure each side is on it’s best behavior.  But wait…truces don’t make for good cinematic adventures!

Thus the wrench gets thrown: a boy pops up on the radar with the potential to have enough power to let one side finally break the stalemate and take over.  Things go on from there.  Still seems like a pretty cookie-cutter plotline, huh?  Don’t worry, it’s a damn good watch, I dare-say a multiple watch, and again it’s thanks in no small part to the visuals and effects work.

A few favorite gems to look out for are the black raindrops that change just before hitting the ground, some ah…animalistic tendencies, and my personal favorite: the subtitles, which are worked in as part of the movie.  When Anton is flung back towards a wall, his words go with him, breaking apart in every direction when he finally hits the wall itself.  When a boy gets a nosebleed in the swimming pool, the red subtitles turn pink and waft away like a drop of blood diluting in a water-filled bathtub.  Ah, it’s the little things…

Another thing to remember is that the director of Night Watch, Timur Bekmambetov, is also going to be directing the upcoming film 9, produced by Tim Burton and starring…well, you can read more about it here instead of me repeating myself.  Suffice to say, if you want an inkling of the kind of wonderful vision this director can bring to the upcoming CGI flick, or just want to see a brilliant creative mind at work, give Night Watch a peek.  Good times will be had.

P.S. At Cap’n Brodie’s suggestion I’m going to start leaving movie trailers at the end of these articles, but for this one it’s sort of a crime to spoil some of the breathtaking beauty of the film.  If you’re on the fence about it, watch the trailer because it will push you over onto the side of angels, but if you’re already planning on watching it, I’d recommend going into it fresh and skipping the trailer.