“The Watch” stars Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Jonah Hill, and Richard Ayoade as a group of guys who put together a neighborhood watch after there is a murder at the Costco Stiller manages. While searching for the murderer the group stumbles onto something big: their town is under alien invasion. It’s up to these 4 misfits to put a stop to the aliens and save the planet.

This alien shot himself after the 100th dick joke.

I’ll admit that I went into The Watch not expecting a whole lot, and not to my surprise I got exactly that. There are certainly funny, even hilarious parts in this movie, but they don’t carry the movie far enough. Almost every joke is raunchy just for the sake of being raunchy. I for one usually love some good potty humor and can enjoy jokes “below the belt”, but the movie takes those jokes and beats them into the ground.

There were some aspects of the film though that I enjoyed, namely the characters. Vince Vaughn as an over protective dad who just wants to let loose and have a good time had some of the funniest parts in the movie. Skinny Jonah Hill played a wannabe tough guy and he pretty much nailed it, I think he has 21 Jump Street to thank for that performance. Richard Ayoade brought some fresh blood to the equation with his British tone.

Notice I didn’t talk about Stiller’s performance in the previous paragraph? Stiller wasn’t nearly as funny as the other characters in this movie. While watching the movie I kept thinking Stiller didn’t quite fit into it as well as he should, he didn’t pull off the everyman character. I then learned that Seth Rogen had written the lead role with Will Ferrell in mind. That could have worked better.

After finishing the movie I said out loud, “That was dumb,” and the people watching with me agreed. However, we did enjoy ourselves throughout the movie. When the jokes land they are hilarious, but there are far too many misses throughout the film. If you’re a fan of Stiller, Vaughn, or Hill then you will like this movie. However, if you value real comedy then you should probably pass on this one.