Movie Review: Baywatch (+video)

Zac Efron as Matt Brody in the film Baywatch and Dwayne Johnson as Mitch Buchanan.

A marginal box office success that I did not enjoy whatsoever. Though the lady next to me seemed to enjoy it so much, she nearly choked on her superfluous supply of popcorn. There really is no accounting for taste, is there?

The film has nearly raked in $120 million, though on a $70m budget it doesn't seem so wonderful.

Directed by Seth Gordon, this remake of the 1990s television series is little more than boobs on the beach - though one thing I did like was there as no female nudity, whereas there were a few sets of bollocks thrown in, whether needed or not.

There is good chemistry between Mitch (Dwayne Johnson) and Brody (Zac Efron), however the best performance can be found in relative newcomer Kelly Rohrbach, who plays CJ.

Her relationship with Ronnie (Jon Bass) is perhaps the best and most entertaining in the film.

The SFX and CGI is dreadful throughout, particularly during the boat explosion scene - the whole film falls down as Gordon tries to push the film into the genre of comic crime-caper.

David Hasselhoff, who is still big in Germany, and Dame Pammy make cameo appearances. Awful. Utterly redundant and ridiculous.

Quite beyond this, it is predictable within its plot, and Priyanka Chopra does nothing as the Bond-esque villain. There were a few moments where I laughed, which is always nice, but to give it anything beyond 1.5 would be unkind to the film industry.

Baywatch
Comedy, 116mins, R13