It is sorely tempting to bill Day Watch as Russia's answer to The Matrix, but despite the film's impressive energy and vision it is too incoherent to deserve the title.

The premise is that the population of Moscow is peppered with vampires - both good and evil - who live in an uneasy truce. It is the job of the Day Watch to patrol the streets and make sure the blood-sucking does not get out of hand.

Like all sci-fi, it is set in a world with different rules to our own. The problem here is that these rules, if they are explained at all, are made clear only after they become relevant to the characters' fates.

The film is, therefore, stuffed with deus ex machina moments. The hero, played by a dogged but charismatic Konstantin Khabensky, will be running for his life when suddenly he makes a miraculous escape by leaping into an advertising billboard, which, it turns out, acts as a portal to a train station.

Or the good guys will be bracing themselves for a head-on collision with a speeding truck only for their vehicle to turn out to be pretty much invincible.

Or all will apparently be lost only for a character to deploy a hitherto unused gadget that freezes time, allowing the hero to save the world.

And the conclusion, although neat, falls into the "... and it was all a dream" category that my creative writing teacher cautioned me against using when I was nine.

Despite natty special effects and charming Russian quirks, it would have been a tall order to suspend disbelief for 90 minutes, let alone the 140 minutes shown here. It is an interesting cultural experience, but as a film it is deeply flawed.

The visual effects are superb, using state of the art CGI with true artistry to create an original and interesting new look.

Unfortunately the characters are all clichés: a troubled loner cop haunted by his past, his doormat girlfriend, the crusty chief of police, the sexy bad girl, the aristocratic villain, etc.

The problem is not so much that the film makers populated the film with clichés, but that they don't do anything with them. They all play their predictable roles with predictable dialog and that's all.

Another major problem with that there is a lot of fighting, done with magic, but they never explain the magic powers, so you never know what is going on. Sometimes getting punched is bad, sometimes getting hit by a bus doesn't seem to hurt the guy. Sometimes they can shoot magic at each other, and sometimes they can't. It's visually stunning, but you don't know who is winning or losing or who is dangerous and who isn't. It's like watching a sport where you don't know the rules.

The first movie had many of the same problems, but it also had some interesting scenes, like the vampire girl in traffic and the first time the main character encounters magic. "Day Watch" has one interesting scene, the opening one set in the past, but it's bland from then on.

A tale of the modern, the effect that it can make, on traditions and behaviours, that over years have formed a brake, as barriers are broken, with walls cascading down, lines are crossed, words go unspoken, the Armageddon clock counts down.

We all need to chalk, express our magic on a wall, the things that we regret, the things that make us trip and fall, a little piece of chalk, helps to clear the confused air, brings us back realties, removes anxiety and despair.

Watching me, watching you, watching who? In these times of surveillance, not a lot you can do, just acknowledge they're watching, continually notching, recording the things and the times that you do.