Well, well, well. I’ve finally got around to watching the second installment in the mostly watchable Nightwatch series, Daywatch, and I can safely say that it is far superior in many ways, but still falls short of offering satisfying entertainment that’s worthy of any real attention.

Continuing with the theme of the warriors of dark vs the warriors of light, our old friends, the Night Watch, discover the existence of a mystical chalk that can rectify any mistakes made, offering the individual a second chance to fix any problem created in the first place. This is shown in visual effect at the start where we revert back to the past and watch a rather epic little, storming scene where horse backed riders charge through a weakness in the labyrinth where the chalk and chalk keeper are held “captive”. It’s a much more convincing and spectacular opening that it’s predecessor and doesn’t look like a cheap knock off of an amateur video.

Back to reality and the present, and middle-aged Anton (Konstantin Khabensky) is back to work doing his rounds as the Nighwatch, now with a new trainee recruit in tow in the form of Svetlana (Mariya Poroshina). Svetlana seems immediately smitten with Anton, whereas Anton acts the barbaric, prehistoric Neanderthal that some men tend to revert to when they can’t reciprocate for fear of showing weakness.

Straight away our two Nightwatchers are called out to an incident involving someone drinking the very life force out of individuals. Having hit more than a few victims, Svetlana decides to call in to accept, Anton just can’t seem to handle this new recruit. After an interesting chase the involves flashes of different levels of darkness, it’s discovered that the individual breaking the Agreement between light and dark is Anton’s very own son, Yegor (Dmitri Martynov).

It soon transpires that Yegor will be punished having broken the Agreement, as an investigation comes underway. Even though he’d lost his son to the dark forces, Anton still has that fatherly instinct and decides to trash the evidence for fear of the consequences to his son, and spurred on by the manipulative hand of Zavulon (Viktor Verzhbitsky), is soon involved in a series of framed killings of Dark Ones. Zavulon wants Anton’s head, Svetlana won’t let them have it, and the Nightwatch undertake a mission to clear Anton’s name.

For all the twists and turns, Daywatch is not an entirely new prospect for the viewer. We cover old ground, but not to the point of annoyance, but much of the beginning does feel rehashed and regurgitated for a second outing. At over two hours long, you sometimes get the feeling that much of it could, and possibly should, have been edited as it served little purpose to the story on the whole.

Still, for the faults that Daywatch has, the character of Anton is always interesting to watch as he battles with the dichotomy of protecting his flesh and blood, and doing his duty under the Nightwatch. All these activities lead to events that spiral out of control, literally, and turn the latter half of the movie into a completely different offering from the beginning. It’s entertaining, but at the same time it’s disappointing. Sure, you feel for Anton as his life edges ever closer to death, and you breathe a sigh of relief for him when he discovers a way out of the predicament, but it all feels rather rushed in what is a two hour feature. Had they set the pace better from the start, it wouldn’t feel so shoddy when it ends.

There’s a lot of humour in the sequel, which was disappointingly missing in the first film. Many of the characters from the first film, including that old grot bag dark witch who starts the whole bloody nonsense, returns too, and there are enough new characters to inject both life and twists to what could have been a very tired second film in the series.

Visually the film is far, far grander than it’s brethren, offering huge special effects in the form of a Moscow apocalypse which is simply stunning to watch. It’s quite impressive how they managed to fund the film and have enough left over to save for some rather stonking action sequences. As most sequels, it’s fair to say that Daywatch is essentially a bigger, badder, and better film then the original in many ways. The one thing it probably lacked is the strength in the story that the original had, as we’re offered more than a few predictable scenarios which play out unconvincingly at times.

It’s hard to say what I really thought Daywatch without contradicting myself. I was expecting serious turmoil within Anton, having lost his son to the dark side, and I excepted a lot more from the bad guys than just another bleedin’ apocalypse. Acting is up a notch, music is repetitive and often the same as in the first film, but overall it’s a more enjoyable experience and probably worth another mark up. At least the ending wasn’t fussy and actually quite endearing.

What will surprise many, including this viewer, is that with all the loose ends tied up in the sequel, Fox pictures are essentially forcing a third film down our throats with essentially the same characters, recorded in English (due to financing) and no one quite has a clue how it’s going to work. How do you continue a film that’s ended?

Whatever happens with Duskwatch (the third film), it’s unlikely to better Daywatch in offering anything new. I’ll wait to be surprised, but I won’t hold my breath. As for Daywatch, what we have is a film with mixed results, that offers entertainment and sometimes a tired, drawn out plot which enthuses as much as it irritates. It’s more interesting, and far more refreshing than the dull horror action films that are on offer (though there’s very little horror in either of the films), but that probably isn’t much credit. Worth a watch at least the once.

Verdict: Predictable, bigger and badder sequel to the original