The notion of basing a film on a pre-existing pop-culture phenomenon isn't anything new, and quite frankly should be expected each and every year to come these days. Baywatch is just the latest film to get the revamp treatment, and unlike a property like 21 Jump Street, this film doesn't quite hit the right beats to make itself memorable. Sure, everything about this film was aiming to be campy fun, while still having a dramatic tone when necessary, but that's just it, it didn't need to take itself so seriously. I laughed quite a few times throughout my viewing of Baywatch, but the movie surrounding the comedy was pretty bad, and here's why. Baywatch is a film that should've played as a straight-up comedy, because that's the only way to make anything great from this brand. While the first act of this film is fairly funny and had me chuckling on multiple occasions, it's just way too serious when the plot involving dugs and murder (excuse the expression) washes ashore. Personally, if this aspect of the film had been altered in the screenplay to be something funnier, it would've made for a much better movie. I'm not going to agree with the all of the hate this film has on it though, because I believe the cast of this film is really what held it together and kept me wishing for something better. You have people like Dwayne Johnson, Zac Efron, Alexandra Daddario, and even newcomers like Kelly Rohrbach and Jon Bass, who are giving their all in these roles in order to deliver a very fun movie for their audience. The sad part about that is their dialogue is very thin and the jokes are very hit-or-miss. The chemistry between Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron is very much present here and I thought the awkward chemistry between Kelly Rohrbach and Jon Bass was the highlight of the entire film, but it could never rise up enough for me to care about any of the stakes. Going into this film, if you think any of these characters will ever be in serious peril (which you shouldn't), then you may be one of the few to love this movie, because it's incredibly predictable. When you have a movie called Baywatch, dick jokes and boob jokes are going to be prevalent, there's no way around that fact. That being said, this film squanders that element to death, and by the hundredth time they did one, it just wasn't funny anymore. Gross out humour and vulgarity are the tactics that are used to get out of jokes that are wearing thin as well. Not only vulgarity, but the term "cheesy" is thrown out there when the entire scene is literally too cheesy for its own good. I'm sorry but this film is one big news flash that being entirely self-aware is not enough, because you have to know exactly how to be self-aware or it will just come off as lazy. Most critics have been calling this film an unfunny disaster, but it's not really as bad as they're saying. The premise itself after the first act ends? Sure, I'll give them that, because that's really what sunk my experience for me. As I said, there are quite a few occasions that had me chuckling, so that is definitely a plus toward the film, but the overall picture is far too cheesy and overly self-aware that I found myself not caring about any of the stakes they were in. With an uninspired story and jokes that wear thin pretty fast, Baywatch doesn't do much for its audience. Some people may truly get a kick out of this film, but I can see the majority being fairly torn down the middle. I didn't hate watching this movie, I just didn't care very much.