Release date: July 27, 2012 

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This flick has about as much focus as a kid with ADHD in a room full of colours and boobs. The Watch, previously titled Neighbourhood Watch is your typical sci-fi comedy filled with laughs, bangs and “WTF’s!?”

Written by such comedic genii (writer’s note: That’s right- genii. Plural of genius) Seth Rogan, Evan Goldberg and *ahem* Jared Stern, The Watch is directed by Akiva Schaffer who’s got a lot of SNL cred to his name. Starring in this thang is Ben “Just For Men hair colouring” Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Jonah “Eating Healthier” Hill, Richard “I got nothing, sorry” Ayoade, Rosemarie “Multiple personalities that should still be on air” DeWitt and Will “Give me 10 lines and I’ll win an Oscar” Forte.

The Watch is about control freak and all-round good guy Evan Trautwig (Stiller) starting a neighbourhood watch with a band of misfits after a security guard is murdered at the local Costco. (SHAMELESS PRODUCT PLACEMENT ALERT) Of which Evan is a manager. What follows is a fuster-cluck of Sci-fi and hilarity!

WHAT WORKED:

– The music. Hot dizamn! This film has got some rocking tunes that just put you in a happy mood. They don’t shy about it. This movie is a good time, and I’d like for it to DJ my next party. Sorry Uncle Vernon.

– The jokes. They might not be spaced out well throughout, but hot damn when they land, they hit right. I had a solidly sore knee from the slapping I gave it. There have been too many times where a comedy is just a good movie, that keeps me entertained but doesn’t have be laughing. I’m looking at you Superbad.

– The special effects. Not much to say other than they must have blown their budget there. Top notch.

WHAT DIDN’T WORK:

– Stiller. I’m sorry buddy. But he just felt so forced in this one. After seeing his heartfelt performance in Tower Heist, I felt he phoned this one in.

– Vaughn. He didn’t phone this one in. I just feel like he plays the same character in every film. Now this might not be his fault, but how many times can you play the sleaze-ball with a heart of gold?

– The pacing. This is kind of related to the jokes. This film is a good time, But like any party it falls a little stale somewhere near the 3/4 mark. The reveal is obvious, but it plays like they think the audience is stupid, when they should have cut out 10 minutes, or added seven minutes of “picture party” fun.

– The foley work. Holy crap. Useless sound effects for random objects. I KNOW IT’S A CELL PHONE. I CAN SEE IT. Even some of the walking sounds were off. Maybe they hired a crappy foley artist when they realized they had blown their budget on the visual effects.

THE LOWDOWN:

– This is a good time. No doubt about it. You have a crew of heavyweight comedic actors, a premise that’s been done before with an extraterrestrial spice that makes it feel new and shiny. It’s a funny flick until it’s lul about 70 minutes in, But after that it’s jam-packed with action. It’s got laughs. It’s got great music. It’s even got boobies. Go see this flick as it will rock your socks.

The Watch is So Damn Stupid, It’s Awesome.