Here's my review of #Baywatch movie and the reason why I don't hate the film as much as someone who probably over analyzes it is that I wasn't expecting this to be any better than the long-running cheesy TV series that I did grow up watching. If you recalled, the show was basically just about attractive people in swimsuits patrolling a beach and it had the occasional soap opera romance. It produced such hot babes as Pamela Anderson, Brooke Burns, and Yasmine Bleeth. Teenage boys watched it religiously whenever they can't get their hands on a copy of the latest Playboy magazine.
With that said, this movie throws the drama out the window and cranks up the sex- crazed raunchiness that the TV version could only hint mildly. The action sequences are not well-staged, the jokes more than often don't land, but from time to time it does exactly what it's supposed to do, it entertains.
Starring Dwayne Johnson, Zac Efron, Priyanka Chopra, Alexandra Daddario, Jon Bass, Kelly Rohrbach, Ilfenesh Hadera, directed by Seth Gordon, the story is about veteran lifeguard Mitch Buchannon who finds himself butting heads with a brash new recruit, 2-time gold medalist named Matt Brody (Zac Efron) who thinks highly of himself. Meanwhile, a certain local criminal plot is operating an underground drug ring that threatens the future of the Bay.
This is a movie that from the start wants you to know that it doesn't intend on taking itself too seriously. There are scenes that I'm thinking the writers and director thought were going to be solid when they viewed them during storyboard process perhaps, but on screen, they're actually uneven and off-putting.
The whole crime investigative aspect of it is anything but smart, sure one can argue that's because these guys are lifeguards and not cops, a point which by the way keeps being hammered again and again throughout the course of this film, but what I mean is that there really is nothing clever about solving the drug ring because everything about it is obvious and out in the open. But I am a sucker for a comedy about nerd guys and hot girls falling for each other and so I find the dynamics between Jon Bass' character and Kelly Rohrbach's character to be adorable, it's like those impromptu in-between moments that I consistently look forward to.
Overall, I think people are going to want to watch this movie for the very same reason they watched the TV series, and that is: the beautiful people. Girls will come for shirtless Zac Efron and beefcake Dwayne Johnson, and guys will come for Kelly, Alexandra, Priyanka and their voluptuous bodies, I'm just keeping it real. Attractive people in swimsuits have always been the essence of "Baywatch," they are what this franchise banks on. So the story quality and the jokes may not be up to par, they're silly, they're lousy, they're ridiculous, but "Baywatch" has an unlimited supply of sex appeal.
-- Rama's Screen --
