Baywatch is A Complete Waste of Time

(L-R) Jon Bass plays Ronnie, Alex Daddario plays Summer, Zac Efron plays Matt Brody, Dwayne Johnson plays Mitch Buchannon, Kelly Rohrbach plays CJ Parker, and Ilfenesh Hadera plays Stephanie Holden in BAYWATCH; the film by Paramount Pictures Montecito Picture Company, FlynnPicture Co., and Fremantle Productions. Photo credit: Frank Masi

Baywatch had so much riding on it but it just couldn’t live up to the original series.

Directed by Seth Gordon, Baywatch stars Dwayne Johnson, Zac Efron, Priyanka Chopra, Alexandra Daddario, Jon Bass, Kelly Rohrbach, Ilfenesh Hadera, with David Hasselhoff and Pamela Anderson.

The critics were not what brought down the movie.  It was just poorly executed.  No disrespect to the cast–they are all talented–but some things are just better left untouched.  Given the horrible reviews and subpar box office, it’s doubtful that a sequel will be greenlit by Paramount Pictures.  With a production budget of $69 million, it’s going to depend on what happens with the international box office as far as a sequel goes.

David Hasselhoff and Pamela Anderson originally appeared in the television series, which ran from 1989 through 2001.  Anderson’s role is nothing but an end-of-movie cameo that teases a sequel.  Hasselhoff appears in a scene after Mitch gets fired as a lifeguard.  Honestly, I thought it was a dream sequence.  I get that the producers wanted to honor the original series in some way but I hope that the cameos didn’t cost them that much money.

For all that Dwayne Johnson says about how the movie wasn’t made for critics, we’re fans first.  We just happen to have the additional duty of typing out our thoughts on a movie.  Some critics just happen to be able to have enough credibility in their name to save fans the time and money when it comes to bad movies.  Before his passing, Roger Ebert was that go-to guy for me

Baywatch opened on May 25, 2017 but you should save the money and pass on it.

Danielle Solzman

Danielle Solzman is native of Louisville, KY, and holds a BA in Public Relations from Northern Kentucky University and a MA in Media Communications from Webster University. She roots for her beloved Kentucky Wildcats, St. Louis Cardinals, Indianapolis Colts, and Boston Celtics. Living less than a mile away from Wrigley Field in Chicago, she is an active reader (sports/entertainment/history/biographies/select fiction) and involved with the Chicago improv scene. She also sees many movies and reviews them. She has previously written for Redbird Rants, Wildcat Blue Nation, and Hidden Remote/Flicksided. From April 2016 through May 2017, her film reviews can be found on Creators.

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