|
Oh, I forgot to mention...
Night Watch (Nachnoi Dozor)
A foreign film that did not seem so foreign. And not quite a film, either. Episodic would best describe it, but I am aware that this is a trilogy. Day Watch is released, and Dusk Watch (if they are going with that title?) is being made either at this time, or in the near future. Oh, and all three are based on novels, but I heard reports that the novel material was all used by the end of the second film? Can't confirm this being true, who knows.
The whole thing... and it's mythology, really confused me. I found myself paying really close attention in the beginning. I had to re-watch some parts to make sense of what was going on. It wasn't described that well. But, nearing the end, everything sort of starts to make sense. You get an idea of how things work, and I'm sure it will be expanded on in the upcoming features.
It sort of takes the really overdone, overcliched light-vs-dark theme (actually, it doesn't SORT OF, it does that exactly...) and mixes in shapeshifters and "vampires." Probably a host of other mythos as we continue.
I actually expected this to be intelligent. To have a deeper meaning, a psychological aspect. To have some amount depth. But... it was actually, really, really hollow. I wonder how the literature compares, because this does not seem like literary material.
Then again, as it is tricky being a trilogy that is so connected - like a mini-series - perhaps the big ol' revelations will come nearing the end of the third installment. In some massive twist, or explosion of intricacy that we had missed when watching the two films prior. Something that connects everything.
Oh, and that "twist" was so, so, sooo easy to predict.
It was decent, don't get me wrong. Worth a watch. I liked how they set-up the ending, with the choosing of sides. The mini-revelation of how the events we had witnessed forced him to chose that specific side, and what was done to ensure it.
The ending had a real "tune in next week to find out!" feel. It has me looking forward to the second installment, which is what it should've done. So I guess, it succeeded?
B- ish.
|