“…because our society has rules, and one of those rules is… you can’t kill someone and take their skin! That’s not cool!”

Evan (Ben Stiller) is a very organized and meticulous guy, and over the past decade he has worked his way up the chain to become Senior Manager of the Glenview, Ohio Costco. He loves his job and loves his community, and while he has loads of acquaintances, he doesn’t really have any friends.

One night, the Costco night watchman is brutally murdered. The police, led by the incompetent Sgt. Bressman (Will Forte), blame the murder on their lack of resources and say it is the citizens’ fault. So at a football game, Evan appeals to the community to form a neighborhood watch. However, only three people respond to his call, and Evan soon realizes they have ulterior motives. Bob (Vince Vaughn), a married construction manager with a wife and teenage daughter, wants to use the meetings as time for Guy’s Night. Franklin (Jonah Hill), a high school drop-out who failed the police academy’s physical, written and mental exams, wants to be a part of a vigilante squad. And Brit Jamarcus (Richard Ayoade) wants to meet single scared and helpless woman.

As the guys investigate the murder, they find the police hindering them at every step, and the body count starts to rise. Once they discover that their murderer may in fact be an alien, their mission then becomes to save the Earth.

While overall, I enjoyed this film, I don’t think it lived up to its full potential. This is probably due to the constantly shifting tone throughout the film. The film runs the gamut—from dark, horror film-style shots when the alien is attacking and killing folks, to a pure comedy scenes with the guys sitting around a room cracking jokes, to teenage parties and an orgy scene, to a Hangover-style picture montage and a dramatic scene with Evan talking to Bob about how he and his wife Abby (Rosemarie DeWitt) have been struggling to have a baby.

Part of this may be due to the director, Akiva Schaffer, who is best known for his SNL digital shorts. Perhaps the tone is so drastically different from scene-to-scene because he is used to working on these 3-5 min projects and not a feature film. It would have been nice if they had stuck with an action-comedy throughout the film as I think that really worked well for the final act.

As for the comedy in the film, most of it is crude and involves a lot of cursing. One of the featurettes on this Blu-ray discusses just that—how they earned their R rating by allowing the characters to react how “real people would react.” While I can understand that to a degree, it just seemed a bit excessive at times, and some of it just felt like it was there for shock value (such as the orgy scene). Fans of Jonah Hill and Vince Vaughn will get the same kind of comedy they are used to. Their characters are pretty much the same generic characters you will find in any of their films. Jonah Hill almost felt like he was still doing his character from 21 Jump Street. I think Ben Stiller was a bit under-used as more of the straight man of the group. It was great to see more of Richard Ayoade, who I’d only seen in the UK series The IT Crowd. I found his dry, deadpan humor to be hilarious. Although I wish they would have given him a bit more to do as much of his comedy was centered around his character misunderstanding American phrases.

I did find myself laughing out loud several times throughout the film. However, sometimes these were few and far between. I would have preferred a more consistent comedy, like the final act where the action and comedy all came together at a rapid pace. While The Watch may not be my favorite comedy film of the year, I still think it’s worth checking out.

What’s Included:

Film (1:41:57)
Blu-ray:

• 1080p / Widescreen 2.35:1
• Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1, English Descriptive Audio 5.1, Spanish DD 5.1, French DD 5.1
• English SDH, Spanish subtitles

DVD + Digital Copy (iTunes):

• 480p / Widescreen 2.35:1
• Audio: English DD 5.1, English Descriptive Audio 5.1, Spanish DD Surround 2.0, French DD Surround 2.0
• English SDH, Spanish subtitles

Ultraviolet Digital Copy for Vudu or Flixster

Extras:

• Deleted Scenes (24:39)
  Twelve deleted and extended scenes—entertaining but nothing that felt like it was missing from the final film: Costco Opening Sequence Extended, Eulogy/Phone Call, Abby Car, Kidnapping Evan, Passing Out Jackets Extended, Investigating Football Field, Car Crash Extended, Chelsea in Garage, Bressman Visits Evan, Franklin & Bob in Car, Teen Party 1 Extended, Teen Party 2 Extended
• Gag Reel (3:41)
  Alternate and flubbed lines, and the cast cracking up. Not as good as other Gag Reels I have seen. Too much time was spent on alternate takes—which is already the focus of the next featurette.
• Jonah Alternate Takes (5:39)
  Director Akiva Shaffer talks about how he gave Jonah Hill the chance to do lines on his own after they filmed what was written. Here we get to see some of those alternate takes that weren’t used in the film.
• Watchmakers (12:16)
  Behind the scenes feature with the cast and creators. They talk about the casting of the film and the chemistry between the actors, including Doug Jones, the man in the alien costume. Also discussed are the stunts, the benefits of their R-rating and the choice of Akiva as the director.
• Alien Invasions & You (1:48)
  Interview with the cast and creators as to how they would react in an alien invasion.
• Casting the Alien (5:24)
  Hilarious interview with the actual alien from the film, and the cast and crew’s feeling about this alien actor.
• Theatrical Trailer (2:27)
• Sneak Peek (6:08)
  Trailers for The Blu-ray Experience, Chasing Mavericks, and 10 Years

Final Thoughts:

I was a little disappointed by the picture quality in the initial scenes of the film—it was quite dark and grainy. However, after those scenes, this seemed to clear up and the rest of the film looked great. No complaints with the sound mix of the film—dialogue was clear and the sound effects brings the viewer into the film.

The extras on this set are pretty satisfying—there are some interesting making-of featurettes, and lots of deleted/extended scenes. The gag reel wasn’t as funny as I would have expected given the cast, but I’m happy it was included. I just wish they had also recorded an audio commentary with this comedic cast.

Overall, despite its tonal flaws, I found the film entertaining with some really funny comedic moments. Fans of Vince Vaughn and Jonah Hill should not be disappointed. I think it’s worth checking out.