An entertaining, albeit uneven comedic endeavor- The Watch does feel a bit half baked at times- but its good moments really do shine and make the film a rather pleasant and memorable experience to watch. I saw this film when I was like 9 or 10 years old, and not knowing any films like it at the time, I was scared out of my mind, which is super funny to me now. The Watch is a very irreverent and absurd take on films like Invasion of the Body Snatchers and The Thing- combining the brilliant (although vastly different) comedic performances of Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Jonah Hill, Richard Ayoade, Billy Crudup, Will Forte and more. Let's be honest here, this films cast is absolutely stacked. Not to mention the film was written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg and directed by member of the lonely island and director of Hot Rod Akiva Schaffer. All of which amounts to a really impressive sounding production- but the film is hardly without its flaws. The film was honestly quite panned upon its release and at times I can see why. Its humor during the first half of the film can feel incredibly tone deaf and awkward at times, trying to improvise and falling flat on many occasions. It also feels like the script doesn't have a very clear idea of where it wants to go with its interesting concept at times- and does a bit of a messy job at handling its different comedic actors and therefore different styles of comedy to go with it. With all that i just mentioned you may be wondering what possibly could save this film, and honestly the last hour of the film is pretty dang enjoyable. Yes its no Citizen Kane or even nearly as good as the similar premised films its based on, but it is really entertaining and really fun to watch and made me laugh out loud on several occasions. The cast definitely has charisma together, and the special effects are really unique and oddly well done. It's absurd realism at times can also be amusing, especially considering it takes place in Ohio, of which I grew up in myself and can see many parallels that can be a bit too close for comfort. Its cinematography is pretty dang good, it wraps up quite nicely, and it's soundtrack is honestly pretty impressive even if it can be shoehorned in there a few times. In the end, The Watch is far from the horrible film many claim it to be. It may never live up to the potential of its comedic performers and creators- but it does prove to be a fun watch and maybe that's all it needs to be.
My Rating: 6.7/10.
My Rating: 6.7/10.