The Watch review
Worth watching IMO.
I know I’m definitely going against most of the other reviewers out there and my own general inclination by saying I kind of liked this film. It had it’s issues for sure, and if I were less favorably inclined towards the cast might have taken a more severe approach to the review, but in general I found it fun and entertaining.
I have seen a number of other reviews liken it to a sci fi Tower Heist and I think that is where the line gets drawn. If you enjoyed Tower Heist the odds are you’ll enjoy this film. If you did not enjoy Tower Heist then no amount of humor will make this film watchable for you.
That’s not to say some of the gripes I’m reading are not legitimate, because they are. This film is infested with plot holes, extremely low brow humor, and story points delivered in bulk from Cliche’s ‘R Us. To say this movie is derivative of other films is like saying a footprint is derivative of a shoe. If you are looking for new ideas, great script, compelling story, or great special effects keep on walking. However, if you like rated R humor that does not rely on excrement jokes and enjoy Ben Stiller than by all means stop by and sit a spell (101 minutes, to be exact).
This film is the quintessential (a less upbeat reviewer might say regurgitated) alien invasion film (Mars Attacks image courtesy of the Movie T Shirt category). Evan (Ben Stiller-Tower Heist, Tropic Thunder, Zoolander) is the manager of the local Costco and loves the podunk town he lives in. The night security guard is horrifically murdered and he takes it on himself to form a neighborhood watch. He is joined by a few flowers of the cliche character garden: Bob (Vince Vaughn-Wedding Crasher, Dodgeball, Mr. and Mrs. Smith), a suburbanite dad with a high school mentality and a 16 year old daughter with whom he fights all the time; Franklin (Jonah Hill-21 Jump Street, Superbad, Moneyball), a sociopathic gun nut who dreams of being a cop; and Jamarcus (Richard Ayoade-mainly the I.T. Crowd and if you haven’t watched it yet go ahead and stop calling yourself a nerd) a recent transplant from the UK who wants to be more involved in the community.
The boys start patrolling and trouble arises between Evan, who wants to find the murderer, and Bob who wants to just treat it like boys night out. A series of oddball incidents lead them to the inevitable conclusion that they are being invaded by aliens and that some of them walk among them in human form.
Honestly, that’s pretty much it. The rest of the film is more or less comedic filler. They find an alien device that is pretty cool. Stuff gets blown up, cliche’s get ground like cayenne pepper, and the low brow humor takes a side trip down Stupid Lane in the last 10 minutes. The end.
The stars. I was honestly laughing, and so was most of the audience. Two stars. I am a fan of pretty much every main character actor in here, especially Richard Avoade. I thought they all delivered a decent performance. One star. A couple of the recurring gags were worth the effort. One star. Overall a fun time watching. Two stars. Total: seven stars.
The black holes. Either the writers have collectively never seen an alien invasion film and really thought they were coming up with something new and cool, or they just didn’t really give a damn. One black hole. Some oddball plot holes and continuity issues, as well as the inevitable alien issue of the aliens being unkillable death warriors at the beginning and then falling over to a Super Soaker at the end. One black hole. Cliche-a-rama, and I’m not just talking about alien invasion cliche’s. One black hole. When the alien weakness is revealed it is so painfully obvious that Seth Rogan and the rest of the writers were stoned when they thought of it I could smell the pot smoke. One black hole for literally dropping face first into the gutter. The special effects seemed to waver back and fourth between decent CGI and rubber suit a go go. One black hole. Total: five black holes.
So a final total of two stars. Not the best movie I’ve seen, but at least I didn’t want to drown myself afterward. In fact the last couple months have not been too bad for films. Most of the are at least mediocre. Should you see it? Sure, if you liked Tower Heist and Attack the Block, which is what this movie is the illegitimate offspring of. However, this movie gains nothing for being in a big theater so consider Netflix (in fact, I can pretty much guarantee this film’s viewing success if you have the forethought to arrange for alcohol and/or wacky tobaccy before watching it). Date movie? Meh. Not a lot really going on to get her excited, if you know what I mean. Too nerdy and goofy by half. Bathroom break? Nothing in this film really requires viewing to maintain the story continuity, but if I were to pick a moment I’d say the time Evan’s wife tries to seduce him with candles and a teddy. Not a lot of story happening there.
Thanks for reading, and I apologize for not getting more reviews out there. I have been super busy with Comic Con and now I have to get ready for the huge Star Trek convention I am attending in Las Vegas. On a side note, if you happen to live in Vegas and are or know a cute nerd girl who wants to earn some money working at my booth August 8th-12th (2012) feel free to email me at [email protected] (you can also email me with movie questions or suggestions). If you have comments about this review or movie feel free to post them here, and be sure to follow me on Twitter @NerdKungFu. Talk to you soon.
Dave
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