With an intricately clever story filled with love, hate, revenge, and chalk, and heightened by an abundance in imaginative imagery bordering on visceral assault, Day Watch manages to cement itself in the rare circle of sequels that surpasses their predecessors in quality and entertainment. And as the perfect companion piece to his previous sci-fi fantasy, Night Watch, Timur Bekmambetov succeeds magnificently. The good versus evil storyline is more prominent this time out, and with the same dark and moody atmosphere (punctuated frequently by bouts of refreshingly bizarre humor) but sporting crazier, more refined special effects and action sequences, Day quickly eclipses Night.

Futuristic Moscow is a place secretly populated by two sects of vampires (Light and Dark) that have long been honoring a shaky truce of peace. Picking up where the first film left off, Anton's (Konstantin Khabensky) son Yegor (Dmitry Martynov) has joined the side of evil, upsetting the delicate truce between the two sides, but not destroying it. Now the side of good has their own Great Other in the form of Svetlana (Mariya Poroshina), and as Anton assumes the task of training her, he also falls in love with the hopeful savior. Still desiring bloodshed, the Dark leader Zavulon (Victor Verzhbitsky) frames Anton for murder and uses Svetlana's feelings for him to create a climactic confrontation with Yegor to ignite a war that will leave the world in darkness. Luckily for the forces of good, there's a fateful piece of chalk that can save them all.

While the synopsis may leave an eyebrow raised, Day Watch manages to organize its bevy of wondrously strange concepts into a surprisingly cohesive storyline; though viewing of its predecessor is strongly recommended. A rather simplistic plot of good versus evil lies at the heart of this epic fantasy, but director Timur Bekmambetov's exponential layers of fictitious history, modern mythology, and futuristic anomalies construct a complexity that may leave anyone who blinks for a second too long scratching their head in confusion. Though both films require a suspension of disbelief as well as a rain check on most explanations of the phenomena that populates this gothic world, it's astonishingly easy to accept due to the fantastical nature of everything presented. There are several levels of attuned awareness in each force, the laws of gravity and physics rarely remain intact, and human transformation into animals is a common occurence. Once introduced to the bizarre elements and loose laws that govern the possible and blur the line of plausible, it's far more beneficial for enjoyment's sake to stop questioning any realism and just accept the oddities that reign. It is fiction after all. Like the Matrix, anything can happen so long as that character believes in it; so too can mindboggling events occur in the Day - the difference being the audience's willingness to accept it.

Though some may negatively critique the complex storytelling foundation upon which the film stands, it would be far harder to justify an ill word against the insanely creative visuals that seem nothing short of inspired. Even if fatal flashlights, using telephone wires as bullwhips, or driving cars along buildings isn't your thing, there's still pounding car chases, exploding buildings, massive battles, and a yo-yo ball of hate-fueled death to vie for your approval. Nonstop movement saturates the film (whether it's an omen or a curse is up to you to decide) and keeps the relatively long running time from halting the pace. Frenetic motion can be witnessed in everything from the camerawork, to the editing, to the subtitles. Even the slow-motion sequences barely feel like a change. The unique usage of moving and morphing captions that almost act out the very actions they represent adds to the breakneck speed, but serves as a reminder to the tragedy of reading subtitles during a movie as visual as this one. And of course said visuals provide an unpredictable display of unrelenting imagination - from a truck crashing through a semi to the hyper-kinetic speed of second level gloom, one can never be too sure what they'll see next.

Another vast improvement over its predecessor is the ample amount of quirky, bizarre humor. Dimitri Kiselev's choice of cuts combined with some truly awkward moments, and Tibur's appropriately inappropriate imagery make from some laugh-out-loud moments - something unexpected but entirely welcome from the normally macabre fantasy. Highlights include a freefall tango, a wimpy parrot-like henchman, and an unlikely body switch that inevitably leads to a shower sequence that begins in a bathtub and ends on a waterfall.

If you knew you could only make one movie before you died, you'd cram every last one of your ideas into it, whether they're good or bad. One might get the feeling that Bekmambetov was under a similar mindset as Day Watch is so jam-packed with insane concepts and ideas ranging from parallels to the Matrix, the Force, and Lord of the Rings to vampires mixed with shapeshifters mixed with jedi. What sets Day above Night is the higher success rate of this culmination of ideas; not all of them are perfect in their outcome, but far more can be categorized as innovatively unique rather than absurdly inconceivable. Basically, what works is far greater than what doesn't, a ratio much less positive in Tibur's previous chapter. And combined with a compelling time-altering love story set against the powers who seek to destroy the world, even relatively asinine concepts like a piece of chalk that can change its user's past, start to fit in with the rest of the surrealistic overtones that lace the whole affair. With all the presumably unanswerable questions raised in this futuristic Moscow, my only one is where will the third film go from here? I wouldn't expect, or want, a simple answer.

- Joel Massie