When a colleague is mysteriously killed, suburban do-gooder Evan (Stiller) sets up a neighbourhood watch scheme to keep an eye on his relatively quiet town. Joining the fight against crime is Bob (Vaughn), a beer-swilling man’s man; Franklin (Hill), an unhinged weapons enthusiast and wannabe copl; and Jamarcus (Ayoade), a weird looking Brit with a penchant for Asian ladies.
While the neighbourhood watch begins as a series of lazy, alcohol-fuelled lad’s nights, the group soon discover that their otherwise peaceful little town has become the target of an alien invasion, and it’s up to The Watch’ to save the planet.
Initially coming across as a kind of Ghostbusters for the 21st century, The Watch never really gathers enough momentum, nor does it create an interesting enough plot to rival the 80s classic. It instead relies on its collection of comic talent to keep things afloat.
Unfortunately, despite a brilliant cast (Ayoade being a nice addition to the American comedy clique), The Watch’s juvenile sense of humour can only keep us laughing for so long. Vaughn leads the man-boy shenanigans in typically likeable Vaughn fashion, and dick and jizz jokes are flung about in reckless fashion. But that’s about all the script has to offer. Scenes drag as the actors compete for the biggest laughs with (largely ad-libbed) one-liners, and the whole thing becomes a tangled mess of one-upmanship and nonsensical banter.
It ultimately feels like a wasted opportunity (it was co-written by Superbad’s Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg after all), and it just goes to show that sometimes a good dick joke just isn’t enough to carry an entire movie.
Overall Verdict: A disappointing jumble of juvenile gags and not much else.
Reviewer: Lee Griffiths