Nightwatch is a fantasy action film of the horror variety. It offers the familiar tale of good vs evil, which in this case are the warriors of light and the warriors of darkness. Back in the Medieval age, the two forces fought one another and found that they were equal. If the war was not stopped both would perish.

So it is, that the two heads of light and dark formed an agreement not to start a school ground fight. The Nightwatch is formed to keep the balance between the two, or at least ensure the agreement is kept in check.

Anton visits an old lady who offers her services as a witch. He’s having a bad time since his fiancee left him for another man, money is the root of all evil and the way to a woman’s heart. Anton also discovers from the witch that his financee is also to have a child, and that child is not his.

Foolish in his understanding of all things dark and brooding, he decides to go along with the plan, not thinking much would come of the whole ordeal. It’s only when the death of the child comes into play that Anton disappears into a darkness, and watches as the witch writhes in fury, before him appearing two individuals dressed in overalls pinning the feisty old witch down to the floor. From this moment on, Anton’s life changes as he becomes an Other and chooses the warriors of light as his chosen path.

Nghtwatch continues to offer a story of good vs evil, with much of it feeling disjointed and confused at times. It’s imaginative in it’s approach as a vampire movie, and there’s very little out there that offers something as fresh as Nightwatch, but the original ideas are just not cohesive enough to offer a thouroughly entertaining piece of entertainment.

It feels half done, lost in a sea of great ideas but lacking that finesse in execution. It’s true the film is part of a planned trilogy, but does that mean an individual film should not be judged on its own merits and simply as a collective? I think it would be grossly unfair to pay for a film only to find that your satisfaction is not guaranteed unless you watch all three films.

The performances vary from character to character, with the main focus being on Anton, who you barely understand most of the time. He’s a Nightwatch warrior of light, with all the fighting skills of a baboon with two left feet and its arms attached to its forehead. All in all though, I found most of the acting to be fairly unconvincing, and sometimes even embarassing to watch.

There are a couple of side stories which interweave their penniless ideas into the foray of the main story, with issues of damnation affecting the world around the damned and so on. Again, these are more interesting and inventive ideas from the screenwriters, but once more the execution is often labourious and tiresome to watch unfold. It’s less entertaining than watching the neighbours kid pee all over your car as an act of rebellion.

I have not read the book by Sergei Lukyanenko, but it’s certainly made me curious to seek out a translation as it may offer a far better and more rigid set of ideas that flow together rather than feeling like a cut and paste job half of the time.

Visually the film is set mostly in the dark, special effects are limited to gore effects, some vanishing and other subtle special effects. This is perhaps where Nightwatch can be most credited, along with the ideas, that it isn’t a big show off in terms of offering overblown special effects and going for effect rather than “wow” factor.

With a bit more effort, polishing and some better narrative flow, Nightwatch could have been a really entertaining and original film. As it stands it’s original, but flawed in many ways, and therefore retains simply an average status.

Verdict: Filled with originality, but too flawed to be good. Worth a watch