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From Russia with Blood

Billed as the Russian "Matrix", "Night Watch (Nochnoy Dozor)" was an instant hit in Russia, becoming that country's highest grossing film of all time. Dipping for the first time into the fantasy genre, Russian cinema was hungry and, judging by the grosses, they took to it like the Wachowski Brothers to slow-mo. As you'd expect, the inevitable sequel, "Day Watch (Dnevnoy Dozor)" (the capper, "Dusk Watch", is forthcoming) is bursting with everything that made the first one what it was. Frenetic camera work, absurdly dense plotlines and lots and lots of action. For what it's worth, "Day Watch" is never boring. But it's as confused and confusing as the first, and then some.

Director Timur Bekmambetov reassembles most of his cast for this sequel, including of course Konstantin Khabensky as deshevled anti-hero Anton Gorodetsky. Mr. Khabensky certainly looks the part - borrowing a lot of Rick Deckard's wardrobe from "Blade Runner", but as was the case in "Night Watch", Anton is too much the passive protagonist - often standing slack-jawed as chaos erupts around him. Mariya Poroshina returns as Svetlana - after what would seem like a stunning Hollywood make-over - taking on a larger role as one of two Great Others (there's one Light and one Dark, natch).

If you remember nothing else from "Night Watch", you probably have a few great visuals in mind. Glowing red eyes, flocks of black birds, vampires visualizing the veins of a victim. "Day Watch", being a sequel, delivers more of the same and then some. At any given point in the film, Mr. Bekmambetov's camera is doing something interesting. Whether it's diving into the mysterious, mosquito-filled "Gloom" or driving a truck through the body of a larger truck. Even the subtitles have a playful mind of their own, pulsating and colorizing in reaction to on-screen events.

But like the first film, the script (co-adapted by Mr. Bekmambetov from the novel by Sergei Lukyanenko) stubbornly refuses to remain in focus. Just as you think you have a hold of the plot, it spins in another direction. As "Day Watch" begins, we get a noisy opening flashback sequence which fills us in on a few key factoids about the series. Then we're introduced to the mystical "Chalk of Fate" which allows the holder to rewrite past mistakes (I can't make this stuff up). As you'd expect, the forces of Light and Dark would just love to get their hands on that magical writing implement. "Day Watch" also takes us a bit further into the inner workings of the Night/Day Watchers. It seems that they monitor the traffic of supernatural beings in Moscow (like they did for aliens in "Men in Black") while also training new members of the team (like a vampiric Hogwarts).

Taken on its own, none of this is particularly problematic. But the ultimate downfall of the series is that it steadfastly refuses to define its own rules. We know there are vampires and witches in this world, but they also appear to be able to do magic. And worse yet, new powers materialize at the whim of the plot. That's just not fair. And worse yet, it's lazy. For the first time I actually find myself looking forward to an American remake of a foreign film. More than any films I can remember, the "Watch" series would benefit from being distilled down to its barest essence - the way only a Hollywood remake can. Of course, then we'd have the "Matrix". Not that there's anything wrong with that.