hybrid moviemaking

Nightwatch

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I'm not huge into Russian cinema. I don't go out intentionally seeking some masterpiece of Russian filmmaking with the intent on seeing some potential Best Foreign Feature Oscar winning movie. Granted, Nightwatch isn't an Oscar calibre film, but it is really friggin cool!

The back story is long and hard to get into to recap, but here's a quick summary: Light and Dark forces have been at war for years. When a truce is called, the two sides police each other to make sure they aren't being killed without the other side knowing. The Light side seems to be filled with psychics and shapeshifters, while the Dark side seems to be mostly vampires. There is an ancient prophecy that says there will be one who will come and choose a side and the war between Light and Dark will begin again, with the chosen one swaying the balance of the war.

This movie plays out like a cross between The Matrix and Underworld, and the directing shows. There a lots of bullet-time sequences, but they look good... not like the ones in House of the Dead. There are lots of similarities between this one and the other two mentioned above, but it isn't necessairily a bad thing. Granted, I liked The Matrix, but if it didn't exist, and this movie did, this one would have found a huge market.

It ends up that Nightwatch is the first of a trilogy, with Daywatch and Duskwatch to follow. Personally, I can't wait for the next two to come out. A very cool movie! Check it out. Great story. Cool special effects. Good acting. Great directing. See it!

Side Note: Even though this is a Russian movie, it is dubbed by english-speaking Russian actors, so the voices work... even though they don't match up with the lips.