The Watch
(2012)Got protection?
Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Jonah Hill and The IT Crowd's Richard Ayoade star in this suburban sci-fi comedy about four family men that form a neighbourhood watch in order to get time away from their families, only to discover a plot to destroy the Earth. Written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg (Superbad, Pineapple Express), from the director of Hot Rod.
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Directed by Akiva Schaffer
Starring Jonah Hill, Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Billy Crudup, Will Forte, Richard Ayoade, Nicholas Braun, Rosemarie DeWitt
Written by Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg
Flicks Review
BY Dominic Corry Flicks Writer
Benefitting greatly from the overall turdiness of Ben Stiller's last broad comic outing (Tower Heist), this won me over with its commitment to low-brow humour.... More
Big budget sci-fi comedies fail more often than they succeed, and this film didn't exactly scream 'quality' in its trailers, so I went in not expecting much. Such an approach may be neccessary to enjoy this film, but an affinity for dick jokes would help too.
Stiller plays something of an officious twerp here, the kind off the role that suits him best (see: Heavyweights; Dodgeball). Vaughn and Hill rely on well-established comedic personas. The IT Crowd and Garth Marenghi's Darkplace star (and Submarine director) Richard Ayoade's onscreen presence is less familiar, but he also does exactly what we've come to expect from him, acting-wise.
Their collective chemistry carries this film through the slow patches, and it's undeniable fun seeing them bounce off each other. The luminous Rosemarie DeWitt is underused as Stiller's wife, but this film is kind of a boys club.
The alarmingly central presence of Stiller's character's place of work ("big box" store Costco) points to mainstream cinema's increasing reliance on product placement. This may put some viewers off, but I suppose we should get used to it.
Akiva Schaffer (part of The Lonely Island trio, who cameo) displayed his affection for the pointless non-sequitur in previous directorial effort, Hot Rod, and that predilection for absurdity is a welcome presence in The Watch.
There may be plenty of studio comedies that are better than this film, but there are more that are worse.Hide
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The Watch
BY Gerd superstar
Male bonding buddy bla bla nothing new. Typical American style, pretty much like "The Hangover" but even less interesting.
BY RealityCheck superstar
The Watch
The usual aliens invading earth scenario, however made a little more silly, and real. More real than 'Mars Attacks' an 'Iron Sky' but that's not hard, an tad sillier than 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers'. If you like IT Crowd Richard Ayoade, he plays a good role, and others play themselves pretty much.
Genre : horror, comedy, open honesty communication, sci-fi
3/5 : the actors didn't really play outside what they are known for, but pretty cool new twists on alien invasion
BY griffinator nobody
Stiller, Vaughn, Hill and Ayoade all play to form - you've seen them play these roles before, what makes this film kind of work is seeing these comedy personas on screen together. If you leave any expectation of serious plot or sophisticated humour at the door then you will probably get a few laughs out of this silly sci-fi romp.
The Press Reviews
17%
of critics recommend.
Rotten Tomatoes Score. More reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Lacking the bite of 'Attack The Block', Stiller and co. are happy to fall back on their usual shtick, with director Schaffer providing barely enough juice to power the laughs. Full Review
Then there's the movie itself, which should be crazy, stupid fun but settles for just stupid. Full Review
You're unlikely to laugh much, and you may get an unexpected case of the non-art-imitates-bad-life creeps. Full Review
If you can ignore the disturbing parallels with recent events, this middle-aged, Middle-American Attack The Block raises a laugh. Full Review
It's got a cast to kill for, a Seth Rogen/Evan Goldberg script (they wrote Superbad) and a promisingly Ghostbusters-ish premise. And yet it's catastrophic. Full Review
A career low for everyone involved. Full Review
Directed by Akiva Schaffer from a screenplay by Jared Stern, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, the movie clumsily juggles two loosely connected concepts. Full Review
A lowbrow, lame-brained mash-up of buddies-on-patrol comedy and sci-fi actioner. Full Review
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