Baywatch (2017)

• Directed by Seth Gordon
• Starring Dwayne Johnson, Zac Efron, Priyanka Chopra
• Written by Damian Shannon
• Comedy
• Rated R
• 116 mins.
• 25 May 2017

Synopsis

Beloved lifeguard Mitch Buchanan has to deal with a smug new recruit all while trying to track down the source of the drugs that keep washing up on his beach.

How’s the Story?

Okay look, the story is ridiculous, and I, for one, love that. The entire point of the story is to mock the 90s TV show. There’s even a line in the movie about how everything someone just said sounds like a ridiculous yet entertaining TV show. I think that they do a pretty decent job mocking the original TV show with a ridiculous and convoluted plot.

How’s the Acting?

Look, most of the acting was irrelevant and pretty ‘whatever’, but Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron have magnificent comedic timing. They were hilarious together! I have to tell you, Zac Efron is way funnier than I ever figured he would be.

How’s the Writing/Directing?

I was pleasantly surprised by the jokes. I expected a mass of sexism and boob jokes, since it’s Baywatch. Instead, it honestly wasn’t that bad. In fact, there’s more dick jokes than boob jokes. It wasn’t the most clever series of jokes by any means, but I laughed without being grievously offended at any point. I wouldn’t say this film is by any means as poorly written as some would suggest, because I laughed my ass off, as did the entire auditorium at my showing (Sunday afternoon, TONS of people), even if it isn’t the best film by any means.

How’s the Cinematography?

The cinematography is understandably pretty crappy. This is by no means a beautiful film to look at. However, there were plenty of things that were nice. I enjoyed the underwater shots. They were done pretty well.

Is It Worth Watching?

While I haven’t given this one a glowing review by any means, I did really like this movie. I won’t recommend it just because apparently everybody else on the entire internet hated this movie (not even that much hyperbole if you look at any reviews for it besides this one), but I will say if you’re like me and tend to enjoy comedies that get shit reviews and people say things like, “I saw this so you don’t have you” about them, then by all means, see this film! You will probably like it.

My family and I went and we all enjoyed it. From age 13 to 52 in that range. The entire auditorium was full of people laughing their asses off, so clearly a lot of people did like it. I enjoyed it and will definitely be watching it again whenever it makes its run on TV in the future. It’s by no means the best movie, but it’s funny, not nearly as sexist as you would expect, and shockingly diverse. There’s only about four white people in the entire movie, which is very rare these days.

If you are inclined to like comedy and want to spend an afternoon enjoying some laughs, then by all means, go see Baywatch.

My Rating: 6/10