Review of Ghostbusters (2016) by Jeff D — 01 Dec 2016

Review:

I'm really in two minds about this film, because it didn't look too bad and the chemistry between the characters was brilliant but the jokes were silly and the fact that there was ghosts flying around New York, didn't seem to surprise anyone. I did miss Dan Aykroyd and Bill Murray, who were perfect for the first movie but Kate McKinnon (Jillian Holtzmann) played the geeky role quite well and I did chuckle at a couple of Leslie Jones (Patty Tolan) witty lines. I think the main problem is that we have seen many movies with Melissa McCarthy (Abby Yates) and Kristen Wiig (Erin Gilbert) playing these comedic roles, so there lines wasn't surprising and the sense of humour wasn't that great. The storyline was pretty straight forward! Basically, Erin wrote a ghost book with Abby, which Erin wanted taken off shelves because her reputation got tarnished when the book was released but Abby still believed in the book, so she kept the book on shelves. When Erin finds out that the book is still being published, she hunts down Abby to tell her to stop any more copies being released. Whilst visiting her at her lab, Abby takes on a job, which was given to Erin from someone who read there book, and she is soon convinced that ghosts really do exist. After a few more sightings, Erin's book is sighted by her boss, Harold Filmore (Charles Dance), who fires her because he is worried that the book will damage the reputation of the highly rated school. Erin then joins forces with Abby and Jillian to fight against ghosts in the city. Patty also comes on board after calling the Ghostbusters, when she sights a ghost on the underground. Personally, I wouldn't have released this movie without the original cast, because they are what made the first movie so great. It still wasn't a bad attempt in reprising the Ghostbuster brand, in terms of entertainment and a great original concept but the writers need to push the barriers with the ghosts and the humour. Average!

Round-Up:

The person that actually surprised me in this film was Chris Hemsworth (Kevin), who was a unusual choice to play his role but he done it extremely well. Its still hard to look at him and not think of Thor but he has shown that he has skills to cover every genre. Anyway, this movie was directed by Paul Feig, who brought you Bridesmaids, which explains why he cast McCarthy and Wiig, The Heat and Spy, which also starred McCarthy in the lead. As he has directed McCarthy and Wiig before, it's hard to change there style of comedy, which has made them a hefty profit at the box office. That was the main problem with this movie, because we have seen this style of comedy many times before from the cast, which is why audiences around the world, wasn't surprised with the outcome. Now that the director used a lot of the classic aspects of the original film, it will be good to see were he takes the sequel, if there is going to be one. I just hope that he takes more risks because this film seemed a bit safe to me.

Budget: $145million.

Worldwide Gross: $230million.

I recommend this movie to people who are into their action/fantasy/comedies, starring Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones, Kate McKinnon, Chris Hemsworth, Charles Dance, Ed Begley Jr., Michael Kenneth Williams, Andy Garcia, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver and Elizabeth Perkins. 4/10.