Director: Seth Gordan
Release Date: 2017
Running Time: 1hr 52 minutes
Genre: Crime
Rating: 15
Format: Sky Cinema
Synopsis:
Devoted lifeguard Mitch Buchannon butts heads with a brash new recruit, as they uncover a criminal plot that threatens the future of the bay.
What possessed director Seth Gordon to base a movie on the hit tv show "Baywatch", is anyone's business. I'd recommend upon viewing that you don't go in expecting the same thing. In Emerald Bay, Mitch Buchannon (Johnson) and his incredible team of beautifully tanned lifeguards protect the bay. This Summer two new determined recruits will join their team, as well as a challenging former Olympic swimmer, who are all put to the test to prove their skills. Things soon begin to change though when a synthetic street drug begins to make its way into the bay. The Baywatch team must work together undercover to track down the culprit.
The comic timing is remarkably good, considering Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron are not comically trained actors. The problem however is the storyline, according to Dwayne Johnson, it is a film that was reportedly not made for critics. With all due respect to Mr Johnson, I'd imagine he was thinking along the lines, it's so bad, it's good! To say it's a disaster is honestly an understatement. Why Seth Gordon felt the need to use a ridiculous amount of foul language is anyone's guess. Does it add more humour to the storyline? Not really, no. Lifeguards all around the world will be turning in their graves at the mere thought that this is how they are being portrayed on screen. I don't honestly know whether to laugh or to be embarrassed for the filmmakers.
Dwayne Johnson is the only actor to deliver a strong performance, although Efron and Johnson are hilariously funny together, Efron's performance is rather poor in comparison. Was it really necessary to have Pamela Anderson and David Hasselhoff make an appearance in the film? The storyline would have worked excellently if there had been a real feeling of drama in the story, unfortunately it was difficult to take anything seriously with so many cheesy one liners. Alexandra Daddario offers a good performance Summer Quinn, although she doesn't offer much to the storyline. The story skips back and forth to primarily being a film about Mike Brody (Efron) and Mitch Buchannon (Johnson)
The catchy and contemporary soundtrack works surprisingly well, I respect Seth Gordon's choice not to use the original theme. If I'm honest, it would have been a step too far. Although the story works surprisingly well as a comedy, it would have worked better as a drama. Audiences are naturally going to compare it to the original show. It's a shame the special effects looked so poor, it only added to the numerous amount of things wrong with the movie. It is what it is, it's good for a laugh!
3/5 stars
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