Review of The Watch (2012) by Dawdlingpoet — 28 Nov 2021

This was written by Seth Rogen, which should give a clue as to the type of comedy and content it contains - adolescent comedy with sex references and strong language at times. It centres on a few main characters who appear to be going through something of a mid-life crisis, finding themselves at a loose end, with apparently little to do, dreaming of coming to their neighbourhoods rescue and being respected as hero figures. Unsurprisingly its pretty predictable stuff - there is comedy, with some amusing scenes but for the most part it was pretty unmemorable. If I had to compare it to a film, another sci-fi comedy, I'd have to go with Men In Black, due to the similar sort of special effects used. The film, to me anyway, was spoilt by quite how unnecessarily lewd it was. I don't mind some strong language and sex references in a film, im not a complete prude in that respect but in this film I felt that the plot was very thin (as in anorexic model size zero thin) and it really didn't hold my attention. There is definitely a farcical element to it and I imagine it would (or moreso likely does) entertain some people, there are some funny(ish) scenes and I suppose it'd be fair to say that it has a sort of graphic novel come alive feel, or aspect, to it, which would seem pretty cool to, at a guess, without meaning to unnecessarily generalise, teen boys (teen in age and mind). Genre wise, this film is primarily a mix of science fiction and comedy (with it, as I say, having somewhat of a farcical element to it, plot wise) but it also has drama elements to it. Thematically speaking, this film covers/includes paranoia, parenting (being a parent to teenage kids), being respected in your local community and identity.

One aspect of the plot I found especially cringey was when a certain character was discovered to be involved in the apparent alien invasion, due to who he is - I felt it was perhaps a bit crass but obviously I wouldn't want to elaborate too much on this, so as not to provide unnecessary spoilers. Cast wise, I was unsurprised to find Vince Vaughn playing one of the main characters, as I've noticed he tends to appear in these types of lewd films. He plays Bob, one of the members of the Neighbourhood Watch scheme - a bit of a vain boaster. Ben Stiller plays the main character, Evan - a rather unremarkable guy, a bit of a bumbling fool but a well meaning one with marital issues. Jonah Hill also appears, playing the youngest member, Franklin. Finally, Richard Ayoade (of British sitcom The IT Crowd fame) plays Jamarcus - he is pretty deadpan, quite matter-of-fact.

I quite liked the ending, as the special effects were quite good, it was quite dramatic and fairly amusing in a way, plus the use of muzack/background music worked quite well.

Unsurprisingly, no, I wouldn't recommend it. It features some decent special effects and the ending is fairly impressive but overall it really isn't very memorable and it was a bit too lewd for my personal taste (I should have known better going by the credits but there you go(!)). Some may enjoy this more than I did, so I've gone for a 3 star rating but personally I wouldn't say its worth spending money to see.