Baywatch
Gone are the days of enjoying a show that I grew up watching. Baywatch once started as a decent dramatized sitcom for life near the water. With the downward spiral of the actors and the franchise, we are left with today’s adaptation of a crass and uneventful film to hit the big screen.
Baywatch tries to live up to the likes of 21 Jump Street remake, but falls terribly short. There are a few laugh out loud moments that help the film along, but the laughter is buried in a struggling plot driven by cheap effects and thrills.
Mitch Buchannon (Dwayne Johnson) is a tough as nails Baywatch Lieutenant that takes his job seriously. Valued as the guardian of the bay, Mitch has over 500 saves that earns him the right to call the shots. He runs a tough operation and demands perfection. Matt Brody (Zac Efron) is a washed up Olympic gold medallist that has nothing left at the bottom of his barrel other than the chip on his shoulder. Matt and Mitch clash like two titan’s, but must find resolve to protect the bay from mishaps, murder, and mayhem.
Flaka (an amped up version of meth) keeps showing up at numerous crime scene’s and Baywatch tends to neglect the fact that they have no jurisdiction in the matter. They keep pushing onward with their street wise intuition to put a stop to it all. Victoria Leeds (Prianka Chopra) is the highly suspicious evil villain in the story and she is highly protected as she holds numerous people of power in the palm of her hand.
Summer (Alexandra Daddario), CJ (Kelly Rohrbach), and Ronnie (Jon Bass) complete the baywatch crew. CJ and Ronnie offer some humorous interaction and bring a few laughs throughout the film.
And that is basically it…
Hasselhoff and Pamela Anderson make an appearance as one would anticipate. Dwayne Johnson offers a barrage of one liner throwbacks. Awkward moments make you scratch your head at times and laugh at others. Acting was decent, just wish they had better lines to work with expanding from the 100+ F bombs throughout.
Redeeming value is only found in the growth in character of Matt Brody. Moving beyond his selfish indulgence, he must learn how to work and become a valued member of a team. Stop living in the past and build a better future.
Driven by shock value, Baywatch is for mature audiences only. And if you like movies, Baywatch is one that you can certainly go without…
Rating: R13 Violence, offensive language & sexual themes.
FILMGUIDE rating:
