Nochnoy dozor 2004

Peter Debruge, Miami Herald: Night Watch works better as a demo reel for the state of Russian effects work than as a first installment in an epic trilogy. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: Although it doesn't have Kate Beckinsale, her guns ablazin', vamped out in the latest vampire-slaying couture, Night Watch is vastly more fun than the similar-themed Underworld pics. Read more

Jeff Shannon, Seattle Times: If [Director] Bekmambetov had any skill in actually telling a story, his kitchen-sink trilogy would be something to celebrate. It presently qualifies as a dubious achievement. Read more

Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune: Even though you couldn't call it a great science fiction movie, on the level of Tarkovsky's Solaris and Stalker it's often a great, heart-pumping, blow-you- to-the walls movie experience. Read more

David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: For a good hour and change, the film is a big toy box that teases you out of the Gloom. Read more

Bob Longino, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Clarity may be lost, but rare is the movie that grabs viewers by their throats and never lets go. Bekmambetov's Night Watch is one of the grabbers. Read more

Nathan Rabin, AV Club: The filmmakers don't seem to realize that if a movie with a mythology this groan-inducingly convoluted doesn't have a sense of humor about itself, the laughs are going to come anyway. They just won't be of the intentional variety. Read more

Kerry Lengel, Arizona Republic: The faux mythology may be cheesy, the grandiose plot stretched thin and full of holes, but underneath the recycled story and style is a hint of something troubling and real. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: Night Watch is shabby chic, with hints of Russia's great silent-cinema past. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: To appreciate Night Watch, you have to accept it as one of those chaotic cartoon movies that refuse to completely add up. Read more

Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader: The punchy, nonstop visual effects crowd out coherent storytelling. Read more

Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle: What a rabid beast is Night Watch. What a pungent Russian fantasy-horror cheeseathon. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: As opposed to the dreary domestic dramas that are [Russian] cinema's stock in trade, this one is a full-stops-out fantasia that is often disgustingly gloppy and looks as if it was birthed by the Wachowski brothers and Quentin Tarantino. Read more

Michael Booth, Denver Post: Night Watch was one of the most popular movies ever released in Russia. That just proves there's no accounting for taste, in film or in human sacrifice. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: Unfortunately, by Hollywood standards, Night Watch is about three Wookies and two Neos short of convincing. All the gobbledygook is in place, but the special effects are minimal and somewhat frustrating. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: A fractious fiasco: whiplash camera movement set to raging blasts of death metal, a story so incoherent it made me wish I was watching, instead, the collected outtakes from Van Helsing. Read more

Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press: The original plan was to remake Night Watch in English, and then thought was given to dubbing it. Thankfully both ideas were scuttled, as the film's Russian-ness and its allusions to post-communist fears and frustrations add greatly to its appeal. Read more

Ella Taylor, L.A. Weekly: In the final act, the movie dons a more human face and commits to an absorbing tale of crime and punishment. Read more

Lisa Rose, Newark Star-Ledger: Night Watch is narratively confused if visually robust. The picture doesn't work as a standalone story but it sets the stage for a potentially interesting second chapter. Read more

Jack Mathews, New York Daily News: To learn the actual outcome of the epic battle, we'll have to wait for Leg 2, Day Watch, which has already been shot, and Leg 3, Dusk Watch, which will be produced in English by Fox. Wake me when they're here. Read more

Stephen Holden, New York Times: A box-office phenomenon in Russia, the convoluted horror fantasy Night Watch might be described as Star Wars Meets the Vampires in Moscow. Read more

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: It has a refreshing Old World take on a never-ending fantasy war between vampires and the forces of 'light.' Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: The film has the twin virtues of being bold and dizzying, but it features a cramped and chaotic narrative that concludes with a climax that doesn't justify the build-up. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: I confess to a flagging interest in the struggle between the forces of Light and Darkness. It's like Super Sunday in a sport I do not follow, like tetherball. Read more

Ruthe Stein, San Francisco Chronicle: A wildly entertaining fantasy thriller that propels Russian cinema into the 21st century. Read more

Stephen Metcalf, Slate: If Night Watch is energetic, it is also frenetic; if neatly plotted, it is also too open-ended, a set-up for the remaining two installments of a trilogy. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: Though Night Watch is impressive at creating atmosphere, the movie is an impenetrable narrative tangle with plot strands running in every direction. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: While the movie's inspirations might be glam-Hollywood action fantasies, Night Watch fairly wallows in damp, post-Soviet decay. Read more

Time Out: An ambitious, flawed and ultimately frustrating fantasy/horror movie from Russia. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: Ultimately, it's a formulaic, predictable take on a Hollywood staple: the vampire horror film. That's a pretty tired genre, no matter what language it's told in. Read more

Leslie Felperin, Variety: The Russians are coming -- hungry for blood! Read more

J. Hoberman, Village Voice: No hyper-designed ersatz futurism for Bekmambetov. Night Watch is knowingly frugal and proudly cruddy. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: The film lives up to its hype with a style, swagger and substance that will appeal not just to the fanboys (and girls) but to their uninitiated friends as well. Read more