It is difficult to imagine what sort of film Akiva Schaffer and his producers thought they were making before completing this baleful comedy, garlanded with stars you may think are guaranteed to make you laugh.
It starts well enough with Ben Stiller parading himself as a complacent senior manager at Costco, the superstore, and proudly announcing that everything in the friendly little town of Glenview, Ohio, is just wonderful. How could anyone wish to get away to the disorganised excitements of New York?
Vince Vaughn, Jonah Hill and Richard Ayoade form the seemingly unnecessary local Neighbourhood Watch with him but have to spring into action when a Costco co-worker gets done in by something nasty that leaves a trail of green goo behind it.
The band of brothers, not totally unlike the Hardy boys, then have their work cut out to save the situation, taking on would-be conquerors from a distant world. The result is largely mirthless, and about as terrifying as a bloater. The screenplay alone stifles laughter in the throat.
You don’t have to be cynical to want to leave halfway through, green goo or no.
Cert 15, 101 mins
