Baywatch is an American drama film revolving around a crew of devoted lifeguards who go beyond-the-line to secure the future of a bay. Directed by Seth Gordon, the film is based on an American TV series ‘Baywatch’ which featured David Hasselhoff. It stars Dwayne Johnson, Zac Efron, Alexandra Daddario, Priyanka Chopra and Kelly Rohrbach in the lead roles. Being Priyanka Chopra’s Hollywood debut, the movie was massively promoted and managed to create quite a buzz in India. Did it manage to live up to the hype? Was PeeCee successful to make a mark as a Hollywood ‘Khalnayika’?
Review
What to say about the movie, unfortunately it was based on a TV series which wasn’t much popular either. The American drama series ‘Baywatch’ that lasted for more than a decade, was watched by most of the people to see hot girls running down the beach. The plot of the TV series, just like the movie was inconsequential as well as infantile. One can clearly infer where the movie got its inspiration from. With the very start of the movie, the audience has a hunch that it’s going to be the same-old ghisa-pita swimsuit-girls-running-on-the-beach drama. I whispered a prayer, secretly wishing that the movie isn’t what I was thinking. But prayers are hardly heard, sometimes. The filmmakers are desperately tried to make ‘Baywatch’ a hilarious one, but yeah, they managed to tickle a rib but for otherwise reasons. One will laugh their senses off thinking how on Earth the scriptwriter though that these cliched sultry jokes can initiate even a giggle.
I was still amidst the struggle to grab a single droplet of sense from the plot of the movie, that I saw the word ‘INTERMISSION’ written in red on the screen. The audience, as optimistic sometimes we can be, might still expect the second half to make some sense. But the movie is full of disappointment at every single frame. One can construe how the end is going to be in the first half itself. The hero who never dies, the bad guys who always suck at aiming in gunfire, the subdued lead (here talking about Zac Efron) who tries to act superman only to be beaten in the hands of baddies. The end is all well, just like any other superhero movie, with nothing new to produce. Sometimes, all is NOT well, that ends well. We need to move over those hackneyed happy ‘THE END’. Let’s show some gumption in movies, maybe?
Acting
PeeCee lovers might have an adrenaline rush to see their favourite actress on the big screen once again. This movie will only extinguish your charm for sure. Priyanka Chopra, despite being an effortless actor, gets very few sequences in the film, owing to the fact that she’s the leading bad lady of ‘Baywatch’. As the critics of the west have already mentioned, the gorgeous actress remains underused and trampled by the weight of baseless script and lack of story. It deserves a mention here, that Priyanka Chopra was gazillion times better as a villain in ‘Aitraaz’ where the actress gets an open field to display her acting prowess.
Being a Bollywood buff, one might expect to see more of Priyanka Chopra on the screen but all you get is Dwayne Johnson flaunting his ripped body and Zac Efron shadowed by the machoism of Mitch Buchanon. Dwayne Johnson, though a great actor, couldn't save the film which is nothing but a shipwreck destined to hit a massive iceberg. Zac Efron, otherwise enjoyable, gets very little to do in the film. In concise, the star cast of the movie had little to do apart from showing off their ripped-bodies and sun-kissed skins. Thanks to the script that lacked depth!
Watch the review here:
To watch or not?
Lovers of Pamela Anderson might catch a glimpse of the sultry actress for few seconds. But even those few seconds aren’t worth the 120 minutes of palpitating headache. Indians should refrain watching the film on big screens and we can thank censor board for that. Many of the scenes from the movie has been efficiently scissored owing to the ‘Sanskars’. Watch the film only if you’re a die-hard PeeCee fan who can’t see beyond the actress.
For a storyline that lacked substance and jokes that got on our nerves, the movie deserves 1 star!
