2005/07/26 : Fantasia : Stop the Bitch Campaign (I and II) and Night Watch |
With a budget of 4 million dollars, you'd expect Night Watch's special effects to be cheesy, at best. A hollywood producer with a similar budget wouldn't be able to make a 5 minutes short, much less a 2 hours special effects extravaganza. Director Timur Bekmambetov succeeds at making this low budget feature feel like a multi-million dollars hollywood film. However, that is the only saving grace of this movie. It all feels rather familiar : stock vampires (known as Dark Others) square off against equally generic shapeshifters (known as Light Others) in something that could've been lifted straight out of Underworld or Blade. The characters are bland, uninspired and have a feeling of interchangeability. The plot is confused and lacks focus, the death metal soundtrack is mostly irritating and the uselessly stylish subtitles are hard to follow. I had high hopes for this one, but it turned out to be this year's biggest disappointment. 5/10.(0 comments)