Film

Neighborhood Watch (2012)

Director: Akiva Schaffer

Synopsis

Call it the ‘Attack the Block’ effect: all of a sudden, lots of movies seem to involve ordinary folks uncovering alien plots to conquer the world (see also: ‘Jack the Giant Killer’). This time, it’s a gang of suburban dads who stumble over an impending alien invasion. The pedigree here is solid, if unspectacular: Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg penned the script, ‘SNL’ alumnus Akiva Schaffer directs, and the cast is stuffed with the serviceable likes of Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Jonah Hill, Billy Crudup and, oddly, our own Richard Ayoade, who should surely be busy directing his follow-up to ‘Submarine’ right about now. This could very easily go either way: if all involved bring their A-game, expect non-stop one-liners and sci-fi flavoured slapstick, a ‘The ’Burbs’ for our times. If not, it’ll just be another forgettable mid-range Hollywood comedy.