The Watch at times very much reminded me of the ‘burbs you know. Although Ben Stiller’s character’s high standards and attention to detail was no match for Tom Hanks’s bug eyed, high octane, over the top performance. The ‘burbs also had Corey Feldman in the background, shooting out asides; it was wittier and funnier than this.
Okay, let’s look at this, the Watch is a film that either should have a lot more money spent on it or a lot less. There was money spent of special effects, aliens and alien technology. More attention, and therefore more time and money should have devoted to the script and the direction. Then though that doesn’t answer the question as to why I never seem to be able to believe Vince Vaughan at all.
Ben Stiller did well in being really annoying and really get under your skin. He plays a guy that really wants to be loved, but he really tries to hard, make of that as you will. Jonah Hill plays a psychopath with very tidy hair; I didn’t really get his character either, although I could believe that he lived with his mother. Richard Ayoade played an Englishman who you wanted to hear speak more because he’s got such a marvellous voice. Vince Vaughan played an overprotective father who was almost as annoying as Ben Stiller.
Now the four of them form a neighbourhood watch after a security guard in the store Stiller manages is gruesomely killed. They decide that they can patrol the town and catch his murderer. Guess what, when they do this the Police turn out hating them. They soon discover that there are aliens in their sleepy town.
The film doesn’t achieve anything that it sets out to do and neither does it satisfy fans of certain genres. It’s not that funny, it’s not that gruesome, it has minimal amounts of Sci-Fi and Ben Stiller’s not that great in it. Still it made me forget the trailers for the Sweeney.
