Baywatch is a movie based off the popular TV show of the same name which launched the careers of such acting talents as Yasmine Bleeth and Pam Anderson. And then those quickly died right afterwards but hey, the show ran like 11 years and little known fact, Jason Mamoa was on spin-off show Baywatch: Hawaii.
The movie is very much like the show; as in if you walk in expecting to take it seriously you're already watching it wrong. The situations people need to be rescued from are just as ridiculous and far-fetched and the main plot here gets far more convoluted and hackneyed than the average day of any real lifeguard.
And like 21 Jump Street and a bunch of lesser TV to movie adaptations, this seeks to make fun of all of it, plus all the slo-mo beach running. Does it come off as good as Jump Street? No. Do we need this? God no. I mean didn't the show basically already make fun of itself enough as it is?
But all I can say here, and I guess the only thing anyone interested in this might want to know is, it could have been so much worse. I'm not saying this is the best movie of the summer so far. I don't really even know if i'm saying this is a good movie. But it's easy enough to sit through and the laughs, while not great, are consistent.
Where the script sucks, the cast knows how to make fun of itself. The Rock is the head honcho who takes the job very seriously. Zac Efron is the selfish, cool pretty boy new trainee who clashes with him. Both have a plethora of jokes for one another that work with varying degrees of success.
There's a fat lifeguard and the movie takes the shots you would expect it to take but actor Jon Bass also does have some comedic talent here in the Josh Gadd sense of the word. Actually he may even be funnier than Josh Gadd. Point is he works the best here from a comedic perspective.
The movie gives us quite a few dick jokes but this dude actually has one embarrassing moment that may rank up there with "There's Something About Mary", just with not as good a payoff.
Hannibal Burress also gets a couple scenes for a cameo and I love when he gets those. It's time for Burress to headline a movie though.
The women aren't as funny but I guess you can say they add some nice support to that and the action. Alexandra Daddario has shown a few times she's a pretty decent actress, and the others don't just seem like stiffs there to just show off a hot body. Priyanka Chopra is also here as the villain, and she's fine.
The whole movie can really be described as fine. It's funny and doesn't take itself too seriously and the cast all seems game for it. You don't have to see, but if you do, know it's already planning on sequels.
So I go 6 out of 10 on this one. For more reviews, check me out on Youtube at- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY_IvAm1bJADConJhDCuq6A