There are going to be plenty of critics that turn their nose up at The Watch, the new comedy from Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Jonah Hill and new comer Richard Ayoade. However, fuck them. They're probably the same people who hate puppies and think Christmas is too commercial. The Watch isn't the most original or funny thing you will ever see, but you could also do much worse. 

The film centers around Ben Stiller as straight man and outstanding Costco Manager, Evan, who starts club after club to keep himself from actually having to interact with his wife, played by Rosemarie DeWitt. After a brutal murder of a security guard at his store he takes it upon himself to start up a neighborhood watch (George Martin didn't make the cut) to find the suspect, Enter Vaughn, Hill, and Ayoade as the token black guy now with a British accent. During their shifts on the watch they come to discover that it was not any ordinary attack. Okay, it was actually an alien attack and their town is ground zero for a massive worldwide invasion. Think 1950's invasion of the body snatchers with a 2012 twist and CGI.

Stiller and Vaughn have their moments, but if you've seen one of their performances you've seen them all. Hill basically channels Seth Rogen (one of the films writers) from Observe and Report and makes it work. The real breakout performance in the group is Ayoade. He isn't well known yet in the states and by well known I mean there probably isn't a person in America that could name one other thing he's done, but he fits seamlessly amongst the comedy veterans with his extremely dry, quick responses. He is basically a black British Jermaine Clement from Flight of the Conchords.

There are a few well known comedy names that make small appearances like Andy Samberg, a frequent collaborator of the film's director Akiva Schaffer. Will Forte has a MacGruber-esque performance as the stereotypical bumbling local cop who refuses to believe the group's outlandish claims. Even, Billy Crudup (Almost Famous, The Watchmen) shows up in a role that would seem to venture out of his comfort zone as Stiller's creepy, yet hilarious mysterious neighbor.

The film isn't groundbreaking by any means. It desperately wanted to be an Attack The Block clone for American audiences, but it fails in places where that movie succeeded. We never really find out why this group of aliens have come to earth, the script lacks any real punch, the dick jokes and gags are recycled, and the larger scale invasion never really feels like it is actually going to happen. Basically it is a giant advertisement for Costco, however, if you go in with low expectations on a lazy Sunday afternoon and don't give a shit about cows being blown up you may be surprised by what you see.

In the end it's a mostly solid, if forgettable, summer movie that provides some harmless fun.