Night Watch

Part ‘Matrix’, part ‘Underworld’, part ‘Harry Potter’, this sci-fi-horror-conspiracy-thriller action flick was a domestic smash in Russia, and it’s enjoyable enough in its daft way. A secret tension between the forces of good and evil (the ‘Night Watch’ and ‘Day Watch’ respectively) has simmered beneath the surface of everyday life for centuries, held in check by an agreement not to interfere in normal people’s choices – an agreement now threatened by one man’s actions... A curious mix of contemporary Moscow life and digital jiggery-pokery, the film could, at a pinch, be taken as an oblique comment on atomised self-interest in the new Russia, but is probably best taken as an over-ambitious attempt to ape recent Hollywood genre escapades.