Plot
In addition to running the local wholesale supermarket, Evan Troutwig (Stiller) is an enthusiastic community member who organises a number of clubs. After learning that a fellow employee has been murdered, however, Evan forms a neighbourhood watch group to protect his quiet suburban town and find the killer. Though the trio of misfits – Bob (Vaughn), Franklin (Hill) and Jamarcus (Ayoade) he recruits are initially more interested in having fun, once they discover an alien threat it’s up to The Watch to save the day…
Review
Not nearly as worthless or completely without merit as many of the one-star reviews are suggesting, The Watch is a reasonably watchable hybrid of sci-fi, comedy and (to a lesser degree) horror. Okay, so the use of (clearly) improvised patter means that many of the lines fall flat, but there are still a few laughs here and there (such as Franklin’s question after finding green goop “Had he just won a Nickelodeon Kids Choice Award?”). Clearly tasked with doing their own thing, each of the leads provides their usual shtick in varying degrees of staleness. Ben Stiller displays his uptight straight-man persona, Vince Vaughn brings his tired motormouth man-child and Richard Ayoade offers his eccentric Brit. Jonah Hill fares best with his usual matter-of-fact delivery, but too often the movie relies on broad sex gags. As for the ‘They’re among us!’ alien invasion plot, it cribs from the likes of Invasion Of The Body Snatchers, Attack The Block and The ‘Burbs, but at least the District 9-ish creatures are actually there, with veteran suit man Doug Jones bringing them to life.
Verdict
Not nearly as worthless or completely without merit as many of the one-star reviews are suggesting, The Watch is a reasonably watchable hybrid of sci-fi, comedy and (to a lesser degree) horror.
