The Rock and Zac Efron Keep 'Baywatch' Afloat... Barely

Baywatch is an action comedy movie reimagination of the hit 90’s TV series of the same name.  It follows the much beloved, over-competent, super hero-esque Mitch Buchannon (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson); the down-on-his-luck but self-important, former Olympic gold medallist, rookie Matt Brody (Zac Efron); and the rest of Baywatch, an elite squad of lifeguards, as they take on a voluptuous crime lord (Priyanka Chopra) that has recently started a drug-dealing operation in the area.

Unlike the movie, the TV series was an action drama.  Now, it was indeed quite a popular show internationally back then, running for more than a decade.  But it wasn’t necessarily because it was a terrific one.  People were mostly eager to watch it because of its bikini-clad cast.  Hence, I don’t think there’s some widespread die-hard fandom existing for it that would be upset of the film’s spin on it.  Besides, the premise of Baywatch – “elite lifeguards” – easily induces snickering anyway, so why not commit fully in its goofiness by giving it a comedic tone, over-the-top characterizations, and ridiculous plot?

Unfortunately, like CHiPs, Baywatch is a failure of an attempt to 21 Jump Street an old TV show into the big screen.  It’s an objectively bad movie.  The script is stupid.  The action is unremarkable.  And the jokes are unclever and juvenile, barely worth laughing at if at all.

The only thing saving this movie from becoming total crap is the fact that it has Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Zac Efron as leads.  The Rock is simply one of the most likable actors working today, and his presence always elevates a movie.  Meanwhile, I’ve always thought that Zac Efron is a promising comedic actor.  The two of them successfully create chuckles from the weak material provided for them.

On a side note, though I didn’t watch the show, one of the things I really liked about it is its theme song, Jimi Jamison’s “I’m Always Here”, which is very catch and stirring.  I was hoping it would get to be prominently featured in the movie.  Unfortunately, it only played to accompany David Hasselhoff’s cameo.

In the end, Baywatch is watchable.  Just consider it as another opportunity to enjoy the Rock’s charisma, which should be good enough especially when you’re a fan.  From the very start, nobody expected for this to become a classic anyway.