We know that we are getting to the dregs of what Netflix has to offer when I finally give in and watch something that obviously stupid as Baywatch. I tend to look at Dwayne Johnson's catalogue of films with morbid curiosity rather than a sense of expectations of greatness and this is one of the few films of his that I hadn't seen yet. It was late, I was tired of searching and searching through the ever-decreasing-in-quality ranks of what Netflix has to show me, and finally decided "fuck it..... I guess I'm watching Baywatch"
If you accept it for what it is, this is actually pretty entertaining.
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Being somewhat familiar with the original TV show from the 90's and beyond would probably help you a bit in understanding why a lot of this is and should be funny. It was a time before people could get HD porn on demand and having a bunch of very attractive people running in slow-motion in very tightly fitting swimsuits was a formula for success, I guess. The stories were almost as absurd as believing that only extremely attractive people are allowed or somehow qualified to be lifeguards in California.
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In the TV show the lifeguards would overstep their bounds as far as their law-enforcement responsibilities were concerned and this is continually addressed in the movie as well but in a more tongue-in-cheek type of way. The Baywatch people ignore the warnings of the police and just like in the TV show, they eventually end up being a lot more effective than actual law-enforcement is in regards to whatever the particular criminal activities happen to be at the time.
We need to build a story around this though as well so in addition to this obvious happening, there are also tryouts for who is going to be the newest set of Baywatch employees. Zac Efron got on a shitload of steroids and really worked hard to get his physique even close to the Rock's and I have to say that even though I am not all about drug use, he used them well because dude is ripped. In fact, everyone who works for Baywatch, as you would expect, is in extremely good shape and of course, very good looking. All except for the one dude who obviously doesn't fit in with the physiques of the others and is there for comic relief. This isn't terribly necessary because the entire movie is a joke.
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If you watch Baywatch and find yourself saying "this is completely ridiculous!" on a regular basis, you need to relax and realize that this is entirely the point. Nobody really understands why the TV show stayed as popular as it was for as long as it did because other than bouncing boobs, there was nothing to the show at all. Most of the cast couldn't act at all and yes, I definitely include David Hasselhoff and Pamela Anderson in this critique. If anything, they set the bar so low in that show that nobody else really needed to be good at acting either and well, maybe that was the idea from the start.
I did like that they threw a cameo to both of them and even made fun of Pamela because her only involvement is when she walks into the room in super-slow-mo but everyone else is moving at regular speed.
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two very rich legends of bad acting
If you never saw the TV show I think this can still be enjoyed. There's going to be a few references that you aren't going to get but since the plot is almost completely irrelevant in this movie, I don't think you'll be missing out on much if a few jokes go over your head.
Should I watch it?
If you ever find yourself like I am and you are basically out of everything good to watch that exists on Netflix this could be a way to take up 90 minutes of your life with some laughs and an easy to follow story. There's plenty of action and plenty of eye-candy for he girls and boys. I'm gonna spoil the entire movie when I tell you that the people of Baywatch end up saving the day in the end... I bet you didn't see that coming.
Give it a bit of time and clean the living room while it is on. This isn't something I can see anyone wasting money on in the theaters but $180 million worth of people did thus continuing the prove the Dwayne Johnson can be in literally anything and it will make money.
That being said, this is by no means a good movie and some people may not appreciate how bad it is. I'll leave this in the "middle ground" territory. I appreciated it for what it is but can understand that many people would absolutely hate it.
