Film Preview: Baywatch (2017)

Page Revisions:

(December 11, 2016) Original
(February 12, 2017) New Link (Super Bowl Trailer)
(March 26, 2017) New Trailer (#2) / New Posters (#1-#9)
(May 14, 2017) New Trailer (#3) / New Posters (#10-#13)
(May 21, 2017) New Poster (#14)

Release Date:

May 19, 2017

Synopsis:

From IMDb: “Two unlikely prospective lifeguards vie for jobs alongside the buff bodies who patrol a beach in California.”

Poster Rating: D / C- (6) / C / C- / C+ / B- / C- / C / C-

SEE ALL POSTERS BELOW
Review: (#1) This obvious and unfunny sexual pun may be the perfect metaphor for the film. (#2-#7) These character posters tried hard to play off the sudden change in weather just before the Spring, but they are so blocky and visually bland that they lose much of the intended momentum. (#8) This is the same visual motif as the character posters and it doesn’t work better with more characters on display. (#9) This looks like a new cue for a new set of character posters, even less impressive than the first set.

(#10) While the poster does a decent job filling space, it’s hefty use of primary colors and the unnecessary blocky lettering don’t quite put the film’s best face forward. (#11) Although this design is somewhat cheap, it’s an attempt to do something different and putting the Baywatch team into the eyes of the enemy, especially a reflection of them, makes for an interesting stylistic choice. (#12) This is probably both the best establishing poster and the worst they’ve done as it puts the characters in a stoic heroic pose and puts them in the line of danger. It’s still a bit cheesy, but this is a comedy so that’s only natural. (#13) This isn’t a bad design, though it feels a bit too posed and controlled for a comedy with so many uncontrollable elements.

(#14) This is another part of the set of character posters previously reviewed (#2 through #7).

Trailer Rating: C- / B- / B

SEE ALL TRAILERS BELOW
Review: (#1) All the jiggly, bouncy cheesiness of the original series is here; however, they’ve added something far more insidious. This looks an awful lot like 21 Jump Street, with mismatched partners and all. What’s worse is that the film bares little structural resemblance to the show upon which the film was based. The trailer is neither fun nor exciting.

(#2) This new trailer gives us more details about the events in the film and a few more lightly humorous moments. That isn’t sufficient to build a film on and it still seems like an ill-advised pursuit, but this trailer is at least more compelling, especially in terms of bring people to the theater.

(#3) This is a film that always needed to sell itself to the same folk who loved 21 Jump Street. Now that they’ve established themselves on their own, it doesn’t have to look like the exact same movie, which this trailer does fairly well.