Review of Ghostbusters (2016) by Dana F — 09 Jul 2017

I'll start out by admitting that I will never be able to give this movie a truly unbiased review, as I am one of the haters. And no, not because the studio dared to remake Ghostbusters with women. It's because they dared to remake Ghostbusters.

Period. I don't care if they remade it with Aborigines, or toddlers, or the Canadian Transgender Luge Team, or just another four dudes, it makes no difference... if ever there was sacrilege in the film industry, this is it, and it is something that I will never, ever forgive.

That being said, I really did try to watch this objectively: Does it have good writing? An engaging story? Competent acting/directing? Is it funny? And the answer to those questions, for the most part, is yes.

All four of these women are funny in their own right, but the real scene-stealers of the film are Kate McKinnon (who had a leg up, as she was playing what is essentially a combination of Egon and Venkman) and, surprisingly, Chris Hemsworth, who is a treat as the dumb-as-a-stump assistant (a fun play on the dumb secretary cliché).

The film does a good job setting up the story and characters and even provides a few laughs along the way. But it takes a serious turn in the third act and plummets into derivate action-movie-finale hell.

It's just like the original finale, but on meth. And without an awesome villain. Seriously, some schlub who has literally 5 minutes of screen time is supposed to rival Gozer the Gozerian?? Please!! Though there are many things that make this film different from (and less than) the original, what jumped out at me most was the pure malevolence of the ghosts.

In the original, they were more meddling and bothersome, but didn't actually hurt people (with of course the exception of the 2 demonic possessions). But these ghosts are out for blood, to the point that it sometimes feels like a horror film, especially the opening sequence.

It's a little off-putting for what should be a feel-good comedy (and is also a concern for those who want to watch with small children - too scary!). I could go on about how this movie is a shadow of its predecessor, but instead I will just sum it up and say that while it's not a great movie, it's not terrible either.

As much as I malign its existence, it is not an unholy beast that will destroy your childhood with its violent money-grubbing fangs. It's just your average forgettable summer comedy.