The Watch
2012 Directed by Akiva Schaffer
Synopsis
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Four everyday suburban guys come together as an excuse to escape their humdrum lives one night a week. But when they accidentally discover that their town has become overrun with aliens posing as ordinary suburbanites, they have no choice but to save their neighborhood - and the world - from total extermination.
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I laughed every now and then, but that isn't the point.
I am really tired of modern comedies like this. Comedy films that don't take the time to set up a joke, and are just poor excuses for funny sounding dialogue.
Let's take a look at the other 2012 comedy that also had Jonah Hill in it: 21 Jump Street. What made that film so successful? Well... it realized that funny sounding dialogue just doesn't cut it enough nowadays. You need gags. Gags that are set up that have a punchline to them. When characters say funny things, it reveals something about them, and/or furthers a joke. The funny sounding dialogue is an aside to all the other really funny…
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The Watch is an incredibly lazy comedy about a hapless neighbourhood watch and their attempts to stop an alien invasion. There have been plenty of great films over the years that have blended comedy and science fiction but sadly this is not one of them. Whilst its scenario - a mix of surburban normality and absurd alien action - had potential (particularly as it sounded like a rejected pitch from the 1980s) it is undermined by indulgent improvised jokes and generally obnoxious characters.
Ben Stiller plays the familiar uptight and emasculated Everyman; a character he has played for years now. Vince Vaughn also sticks with the tried and tested as a loudmouthed irritating arsehole - does anybody really find him…
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I think it is safe to say we can now officially speak of the Ben Stiller Story Arc™. I cannot remember when he has played something other than the slightly neurotic loser who, while suffering through various situations causing vicarious shame among the audience, becomes a better man. Here it is no different, with one notable difference. He has his foot on the brake. And the film is better for it.
This film is nothing special, it is inoffensive fluffy entertainment with some good laughs and it never outstays its welcome. It has mostly to do with the cast, who make the rather bland material go a long way. Stiller, Hill and Ayoade are all great. They just made one…
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Surprisingly dull and generally unfunny. (The trailer displayed 95% of the film's decent jokes.) Vince Vaughn only has one character. If you have seen Old School, then you have seen his character here. Ditto Ben Stiller and just about everything he's done in the last decade.
I think it wants to be an action SF comedy. They should have watched Evolution for clues on how to do this sort of thing right.
Jonah Hill generally works, especially in a running gag where he keeps trying to kiss Stiller's wife (the always appealing Rosemarie Dewitt). Also, Richard Ayoade can do no wrong.
What else good? It looks very nice, when it's not filling screens and faces with goo. Oh, and there's a great shot of Denise Richards exiting the pool in Wild Things that's projected onto about 10 tv screens at once.
Not a bad movie -- just aggressively mediocre. Disappointing.
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The Watch is the biggest mixed bag I've ever seen. The first 30 minutes were surprisingly good. Then the first alien showed up and the next 35 minutes were really bad. Then it got good again for about 10 minutes then the final 15 minutes sucked.
Jonah Hill is the only one to come out of this film well. Ben Stiller should of quit years ago and Vince Vaughn well he shouldn't ever have started. The biggest shame is Richard Ayoade who unlike his IT Crowd co-star Chris O'Dowd struggles in his first big Hollywood role. I really hope he gets another shot.
In the end The Watch is too choppy to recommend maybe just watch the first half an hour.
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"The Watch" tries hard to make the most of its blend of R-rated comedy and suburban alien-invasion science fiction. Unfortunately, the comedy feels forced and the science fiction thrills fall flat. Fans of Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, and Jonah Hill may get what they came for, and these leads, along with Richard Ayoade, do provide some laughs and charisma. It is best, however, to approach "The Watch" with very reduced expectations.
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¨There is an alien invasion happening; they are among us.¨
The Watch had an outstanding comedic cast like most summer comedies tend to, but the material failed to live up to those talents once again. I really liked these actors and was hoping the film to be a huge success, but despite laughing several times I felt this film was missing something. I found myself laughing throughout several scenes, but at the same time thinking to myself how ridiculous and predictable the plot and jokes were. The material isn't really that good, but we have excellent actors that can make a mediocre movie into a better one and this was the case. The jokes weren't as funny as the performers.…
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It was better than I thought. I DO NOT like Vince Vaughn as an actor, nor Ben Stiller, but the movie was watchable. Jonah Hill was actually the funniest part of the movie.
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This review reportedly contains spoilers. I can handle the truth.
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In retrospect, I'd like to think that THIS IS THE END was an apology.
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2 stars for Richard Ayoade. Besides that, a colossal waste of talent.
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Couldn't wait for it to end. Vince Vaughn is unbearable in this. Only redeeming quality was Will Forte's brief screen time.
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I laughed. A lot.
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It was just enjoyable to watch all these people on the same screen knowing Akiva Schaffer was the one directing them, and Rogen/Goldberg did the script despite its lackluster ability to make me laugh. I still ended up enjoying just the idea that these people made this movie more than the movie itself, if that makes me weird then so be it.
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Derber Hurmor und knallharte Splatterszenen sorgen bei Komödie für kurzweilige Unterhaltung. Mit ein paar Freunden und Bier kann man den sich ruhig mal an einem gemütlichen Abend geben.