From the far reaches of the Milky Way Galaxy, It's Retro Nerd Girl with a film review for you.
Today I'll be reviewing the movie Ghostbusters released in 2016.
Starring:
Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones.
Directed by:
Paul Feig
Genre:
Action, Comedy, Fantasy
Rating:
PG-13
Budget:
$144,000,000 (estimated)
IMDb Rating is currently:
5.4
My Rating:
7.8
The Synopsis is:
This is the 2016 gender swapped reboot of the 1984 classic movie Ghostbusters about 3 scientists who start up a ghost capturing business. Along with a civilian, they actually end up saving New York City.
Enjoyment:
There was a general boost of excitement to all when it was announced that filmmakers were working on a new ghostbusters movie and many expected it to be a continuation of the ghostbusters story we all knew and loved.
To be honest, I didn’t like the trailers and any of the hype behind this movie. So, I stayed away from it.
As a fan of the 1984 and 1989 ghostbusters movies and the animated Tv series, I thought it was too early to remake the film because the original was so good. It’s not too outdated yet.
With all of the negative press and terrible trailers, I was expecting the 2016 reboot to be pretty awful, especially after watching so many angry reviews panning the film from older fans both male and female.
I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised that I liked the film and every time I see the film, I like it just a bit more and more.
It has massive flaws, continuity errors and I will go into them all, but on the most part, I feel that it’s a decent movie. When people say this is the worst movie ever, I can only suppose they haven't seen a lot of movies or their expectations were so high, that the reality devastated them.
It’s got a plot and story structure, some funny parts, good action, and vibrant visual effects.
I’ve seen some pretty bad films and this is definitely not one of them in my opinion.
And maybe my rating is a little high compared to other reviews on this film, but I really admire the work that was put into the film and I appreciate it for the things I thought were well done.
Pacing:
At 1h 56min I’m not a fan of the pacing. It’s way too long.
Paul Feig revealed in an interview with 'Den of Geek',that the first cut of the movie was 4 hours and 15 minutes long. And that might have been the problem right there. The film feels heavily improvised and underwritten.
Story:
After the financial success of Ghostbusters in 1984 and the follow up in 1989 there had always been talks of making a 3rd film hinging on the premise that the cast of the original ghostbusters and director Ivan Reitman return.
And this was due to the way the fans had become endeared to the characters of Peter Venkman, Raymond Stantz, Egon Spengler, and Winston Zeddmore. No one could imagine a sequel without any of the team members.
During the 1990s, Dan Aykroyd came up with some concepts for a third Ghostbusters film which involved traveling to an alternate, hellish version of New York City.
It was scrapped for being too expensive to make with a proposed $150m budget. That sounds as if it would have been pretty cool and around the same cost as it would to make this film.
Other proposals and scripts came and everyone was pretty much willing to try to make at least one of them work, except for Bill Murray who was so disappointed in Ghostbusters 2, that he refused to do another movie unless the script met his standards.
Some rumors had even emerged that he was simply tired of playing the character, Peter Venkman and said that he would only return as the character if he came back as a ghost.
Why didn't anyone write this, because that sounds pretty interesting… and even funny.
Another thing that may have played a part in this was the 21 year old rift between Bill and Harold Ramis over the film Groundhog Day released in 1993.
Bill Murray did however, reprise his role as Venkman in the 2009 video game, as did all the team for what some people consider to be the unofficial 3rd Ghostbusters movie since it takes place two years after the second film ends.
After 25 years of development, what really killed Ghostbusters 3 was when Ivan Reitman announced two weeks after the passing of Harold Ramis in early 2014 that he would not direct another Ghostbusters film and the prospect of a 3 film in the series became a class 5 vapor itself.
RIP Ghostbusters 3, we’ll always love you.
With this vastly profitable franchise in the hands of Sony the prospect of reviving Ghostbusters became center stage, but this time with a pitch from director Paul Feig, they decided to reboot the series with all new characters.
Later, they decided that the cast of Ghostbusters would be gender swapped, which created both pandemonium and excitement among the fans.
It was not the first time the idea came to mind. Mindy Kaling mentioned the idea of an all-female remake of the film in her 2011 book "Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns)."
It’s definitely a unique spin, but unbeknownst to me, I didn’t know that some people thought that the 1984 Ghostbusters was an old boys club that portrayed the women in the film in a sexist and demeaning way.
And I completely get how you could come up with that, but I don’t think it was intentional. They weren’t taking punches at women. It’s just a fun movie some guys came up with.
This was a chance to do it differently with Paul Feig, teamed up with Katie Dippold to write the film.
To me, many of the brand new ideas are pretty awesome. I loved all of the new gadgets and scenes that were totally new story elements and ideas.
I also like the fact that they did not use the same character names of the 1984 film of Venkman, Spatz, Spengler, and Zeddmore.
The new ghostbusters are Erin Gilbert, Abby Yates, Jillian Holtzmann, and Patty Tolan.
I loved that.
The story structure, as I said before, is there, but I feel as if much of the dialogue was left to improvisation. Much of it is completely random for random sake, trying too hard to be funny.
Another aspect of the story that I felt was at fault were the areas of unoriginality. This was also one of the main gripes about ghostbusters two that fans hated. Unfortunately, the very same plot points are in this film too.
For instance,
- Paranormal activity is getting out of control in NYC.
- 4 ghostbusters assemble.
- The ghostbusters are in the news.
- The ghostbusters see the mayor.
- Slimer is floating around eating random food.
- There is an oversized character walking through NYC.
- Everyone loves the ghostbusters at the end.
It’s just so predictable and boring now. This is what we can look forward to for every ghostbusters movie? We’re just adding fancier special effects and more comedy but no world building. The franchise isn’t expanding… it’s in the spin cycle, recycling the same stuff over and over again.
What made the 1984 ghostbusters a great story was that there were tons surprises in the film. No one had ever seen a giant godzilla like monster that was adorable looking, terrorizing the city scape before. No one had ever seen a ghost like slimer before, or imagined that containing ghosts were possible.
These were all new concepts for 1984 that are commonplace for us now.
The story needed to veer away from story formula of the first two films and create brand new locations and scenarios for the ghostbusters to surprise the audience again.
The film is very self aware addressing many issues of the fans who were against the remake from the start, right into story.
At two instances the ghostbusters make references to negative comments on YouTube, where in real life the film received the most negative response.
When Patty is sitting down at the booth waiting to be noticed by the ghostbusters she mentions that the 4th cataclysm sounds like a franchise nobody wanted.
And, the famous ghostbusters logo becomes the monster at the end of the film as the ghostbusters symbolically fight the legacy of the franchise in order to create a new identity.
Whether I liked it or not I have to admire the small detailed callbacks to the earlier versions of ghostbusters.
Abby’s futuristic communicator looks a lot like the helmet Louis Tully wears after he becomes the key master in 1984.
Patty sees a ghost in the train station and Winston is rushed by a ghost train in the 1989 film. Not only is Patty Winston’s counterpart in the film, the actor who played him, Ernie Hudson plays her uncle in this film.
When Abby demands that Rowan shows himself, he asks "What form would you prefer I take?" and in 1984, Gozer gives the Ghostbusters the choice to "Choose the form of their destructor."
Ecto 1 passes the new york public library, where the 1984 movie opens up.
At one point Erin proclaims: "Books can't fly and neither can babies", which both happened in 1984 and the sequel Ghostbusters II (1989).
There are several shots of Columbia University in the film as was also featured in the 1984 film.
The Ghostbusters (1984) Stay Puft Marshmallow Man is the main monster, but here cameos as a terrorizing balloon ghost of Thanksgiving Day parades from the past in this film.
In some of the posters featuring Holtzman, on her proton pack is the number 2206. This is the same number as Dana Barrett's apartment in Ghostbusters (1984).
During the climax, the number 1984 is seen on Jillian Holtzmann's Proton pack. 1984 the year the original Ghostbusters (1984) was released in theaters. It is also the year in which Kate McKinnon was born.
Holtzmann eats Pringles potato chips and Venkman has an open bag of Wise chips in 1984.
During the big fight at the end there is an advertisement that says, "That's a big" and showing a Twinkie, a reference to Spengler's 35 feet long, 600 pound metaphor in (1984) and the direct quote by Winston Zeddmore.
The containment unit shown near the end of the movie shows a "D. Barrett" and a "V. Clortho" on its monitor for Dana Barrett and Vinz Clortho who were both characters in 1984.
Annie Potts appears as a desk clerk at the Mercado Hotel saying her famous line from 1984, "What do you want..."
Dan Aykroyd appears in the movie as a taxi driver and calls the ghosts class 5 floating vapors which is a nod to the 1984 film.
Other pop culture references include the fact that the Mercado Hotel is the same hotel used in the TV series American Horror Story (2011).
The Slimer was a tribute to the late John Belushi, but his girlfriend, Slimerette is modeled after Belushi's character's girlfriend from Animal House (1978).
The Dean of Higgins university is named Thomas Shanks, which was one of John Candy's characters in SCTV (1976), coincidently, the actor playing the obnoxious dean is Steve Higgins, mainly known for his work on Saturday Night Live (1975), Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (2009) and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
When the Ghostbusters' first proton pack fails in the subway station, the sound is of the Millennium Falcon hyperdrive failing in Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980).
When Erin storms in the restaurant to warn the mayor that the city is in danger, she tells him don’t be like th mayor in Jaws released in 1975
When the Ghostbusters are fighting Rowan the ghost at the Mercado hotel Holtzmann sings "Come out, come out wherever you are." paying homage to Glinda the good witch from the The Wizard of Oz (1939).
What most viewers don’t realise is that there are quite a few bonus materials hidden in the film.
The classroom equations on Erin Gilbert’s board spells out [Pa/RA(NO+RM)alS+UD1ies/Lab]com, a formula you can enter on Google which will redirect you to the official Ghostbusters website.
The film features a book called Ghosts from Our Past which became a real life book written by "ghostwriter" Andrew Shaffer. And within the book it references many hilariously fake books as well.
I thought those bonuses were really fun for the fans.
Challenge:
The challenge in this move as in the original movie, are the ghosts.
The first ghost appearance mimics the 1984 library scene and merges venkman’s hotel slimming scene in one. It takes place in the Aldridge Mansion on the upper west side and the ghost is of the murderous Gertrude Aldridge, whose creation was based on Lizzie Borden who was on trial for the axe murders of her father and stepmother.
Gertrude is definitely a menacing ghost with a simple premise to terrorize the living.
The next is a ghost first seen by one of the ghostbusters , Patty before joining the team and while working for the MTA. He is and unnamed electrocuted inmate. He’s not as much of a threat than he is pretty much a wandering soul, until the end when all of the ghosts attack New York City.
The last ghost with a major plot point is the dragon ghost that the ghostbusters encounter at an Ozzy Osborne rock concert. He is the one and only ghost that the ghostbusters manage to capture for a short time.
He kinda reminds me of the bat gremlin in Gremlins 2 released in 1990. There is something comically grimacing about his face.
This dragon is probably my favorite ghost because he’s so different and through him, the filmmakers convey something brand new such as his possession of a mannequin.
I thought that was creative and it was a little unfortunate that this ghost was not a vehicle for more comedy because there was a lot of potential there.
This character could have been considered the new slimmer, because the concert capture of this ghost is the updated version of slimmer’s capture scene in 1984.
The main baddie in the film is a janitor at the Marcado Hotel, by the name of Rowan. He is using special devices to open miniature portals to let individual ghosts into the living world.
The ghost sightings are deliberately on the path of one of New York City’s ley lines that intersect at his workplace and possibly living quarters in the basement of the hotel.
There is where he builds a master machine to open a portal that will allow ghosts to enter our world through mirrors.
That’s actually a significant challenge in the story that creates a lot of tension, but where the idea loses it’s awesomeness, is when we discover why the villain is doing what he is doing.
It is implied that Rowan is somehow able to see ghosts and in this dimension of reality that the film is set in, no one believes that there are ghosts so he is constantly ostracised by society and all of the people around him.
Some people say that it is a weak motive for wanting to enact his plan to release ghosts into the world and cleanse the earth of the living during what he calls the 4th cataclysm.
I both agree and disagree. We know people can be driven to hate humanity, especially when they are constantly bullied or misunderstood.
But I also think that Rowan is not on screen enough for us to understand why he is, now what clearly looks to be insane… or maybe driven insane by his visions and the reason why he has these visions aren’t explained in the film either.
His mantra is charge the lines, create the vortex, break the barrier.
Part of Rowan's plan to destroy the world is to die and become a ghost so he can lead the ghost army. As a ghost he possesses Abby and then Kevin.
While in Kevin’s body Rowan provides a lot of comedy. However, he is not himself. He seems like an evil version of Kevin mugging for the camera and a big fan of disco.
To be honest, Rowan’s character is surrounded by a lot of really great ideas, however, Rowan doesn’t feel menacing, he is just pesky to the protagonist.
Another pretty small challenge in the film is the character of Martin Heiss, a famous ghost debunker.
He antagonises the ghostbusters until a ghost throws him out of their office window. Most people who watched the film were outraged because they believed that he was killed off the film, but according to the movie tie-in-book, he is only severely injured, which I thought was an interesting bit of information, the film left out.
He is simply another annoyance to the ghostbusters, that had to effect on the outcome of the film.
Empathy:
My empathy for the protagonists was very lukewarm because i didn’t feel as if they were rational characters, except for Patty Tolan. However, ultimately, I did grow to like them.
The first ghostbuster we connect with is Erin Gilbert. She is the one that the film focuses in the most. She is given the backstory of being extremely smart, an MIT graduate, the winner of prestigious awards and about to be tenured at Columbia University.
The character name Erin Gilbert is in fact a combination of two characters played by Julia Roberts. Erin Brockovich (2000), and Elizabeth Gilbert, the author that Roberts played in Eat Pray Love (2010). By the way, Gilbert's book is also mentioned in the movie as well by the mayor’s assistant during a press interview.
The owner of a haunted mansion finds Erin because he thinks she might be the only person able to help him based on the fact that she co-wrote a book with Abby Yates about ghosts called Ghosts of our Past.
Erin wants nothing to do with the book and anything to do with ghosts because, in this strange universe, if you believe in ghosts, you’re a crazy person.
It’s really different from our present reality where it’s pretty much accepted that there is a possibility that ghosts exists and many people, even celebrities have publicly shared their experiences with ghosts, so we really have to suspend our disbelief a lot for this plot line, because like Rowan, Erin has had experiences trying to share her ghost encounter and being teased and rejected. The kids at school called her ghost girl.
Ghost girl is a recurring name the ghostbusters adopt when they are being dismissed by the press.
Erin being the witness to a ghost mirrors that of Ray who was witnessed to a massive underwater sponge vibration that convinced him of paranormal activities.
There is a running theme that Erin steps in slime more than once indicating the presence of a ghost. She even mentions the last time she trips on some that the slime is trying to get her.
She is uptight, she is socially awkward and inappropriate, and she makes terrible decisions rashly. Some of a that is reasonable, but all of it together makes her incredibly vapid and as a scientists she has no credibility.
The mayor’s assistant even mentions she's too stupid to be a scientist during the restaurant scene.
Erin is set up as one of the leaders on the team even though there is no official title for what she does in the team in the film.
Even still, Erin is likable and has a character arch embracing her truth and becoming a hero. At the end of the film Abby says “not bad ghost girl,” and Erin says “thank you and I probably take that title.”
During the film she makes the connection between the ghost hauntings and the ley lines. She is the one who figures out Rowan's plan through his book. And she saves the the other ghostbusters more than once.
Abby L. Yates is the next ghostbuster and the co-author of the book Ghost From Our Past. She was the only person who believed Erin’s ghost story as a little girl, but at some point, Erin abandoned the Abby and the book they worked on together.
Abby, in need of a mini-fridge decides to unscrupulously publish the book without Erin’s permission and this is what unites the two again.
I didn’t like Abby in the beginning because she was pretty much in the wrong for publishing the book and didn’t seem to care much about anyone but herself, and is much more concerned about her wonton soup.
And I get it. She was bitter that Erin left her high and dry, but the exchange is hard to watch.
For me, she becomes more likeable when she’s not being obnoxious and quickly, they become a team.
She doesn’t have a job title either, but she seems to be the one that is the organizer, taking care of bills, the flyers, arranging interviews, calling in suspicious findings to higher ups.
The next ghostbuster we are introduced to is Jillian
Holtzmann, the inventor of the ghostbusters’ technology. She is a direct compliment to Egon Spengler… and in fact looks a lot like a version of the character as seen in the television series, The Real Ghostbusters (1986)
When we meet Holtzman, she is hamming it up for the camera and every time you see her, she is working in some strange facial contortion or reaction. Her wacky scientist schick was one of the aspects of the film that was either loved by audiences or hated.
She and Abby have a special relationship that you can really see on screen.
I kinda liked her character right away, but I didn’t understand her character until I saw her toast at the end of the film. And I had to see that a few times to gage the significant impact, wherein she reveals that she feels as if she has finally found her family in the ghostbusters. It was then to me that her character made sense.
She’s a loner who is like Erin, damaged and extremely socially awkward. So her wacky persona is a shield to protect her from being truly seen. If you notice her body language after the toast, she is humbling, her arms close to her body, head down, unlike her usual outlandish, foot up on the table demeanor.
Even Patty who is sitting next to her says, “Now that was real.” validating that this was the first glimpse we have of the real Holtzmann.
I really liked that kind of complexity in her character, but it takes multiple viewings to really notice that, but it’s definitely there.
Patty Tolan is the last ghostbuster to join the team. She’s an MTA worker who encounters Rowan and a ghost in the subway. After consulting with the ghostbusters, she enthusiastically joins them.
Besides giving them a hand with their work, she provides the jumpsuits, ecto 1, offers the solution that saves the city to use the reactor on the ecto 1, and her supplies her amazing knowledge of New York City history to the team making her a valuable asset.
So every ghostbuster visibly contributes to the story and I really enjoyed that a lot.
Of all of the characters in the film, Patty was praised by many older reviewers and critics for being grounded and rational. As well, I agree. She really anchors the film in as much reality as we can believe.
And I think it’s important to note how proud she is to be a ghostbuster by the end.
Kevin Beckman is the ghostbusters’ house receptionist that is so dumb that he’s not familiar with human existence. And that, to me, is the most unlikeable part of his character. I know a lot of people especially kids, really got a chuckle at the humor he provides, by thinking that his eyes are the tools he uses to hear with and not understanding the concept of glass in a fish tank.
A running theme with him is that he mispronounces things constantly. For instance, he tells the ghostbusters that a goat (instead of a ghost) is loose at the Stonebrook Theatre. It’s a joke that hits or misses at times.
I kept asking myself, why is he acting this way. And it is never explained. He’s just a caricature like all of the other socially awkward people in this film.
The likeable part of his character is that he is pretty much having fun with whatever he is doing and he’s unpredictable. I just felt he was missing the heart behind the reason he does what he does.
The ghostbusters are brought to Mayor Bradley’s office, wherein the mayor instructs them that he is aware of the existence of ghosts and the Department of Homeland Security is working on the problem. And both parties want the team to keep their activities quiet from the public.
There are several instances where the mayor’s secretary, Jennifer Lynch makes public statements discrediting the ghostbusters as fakes.
She is yet another over the top character, but somehow she does get a few chuckles from me.
Technical:
Technically I felt that the film has a certain style that is really appealing to children and you can see all of the hard work that was put into the film.
It took 6 companies complete 1,700 visual effects shots and various practical effects were also used to give the actors reference points for the ghosts in the scenes.
The actual design of the ghosts seem to have split audiences as well. Some people loved them and others felt they looked too much like Scooby Doo movie ghosts released in 2002 and 2004, and also a little reminiscent of Disney’s Haunted House movie in 2003.
There are a lot of similarities to the ghost in this film and Scooby Doo especially. We have a ghost projectile vomiting the same way.
This film’s ghost have this bright blue or green glow to them that seems extremely eye catching and really looks a lot different than more realistic horror films that portray ghost in an almost black and white creepy look which has a really chilling visual.
It really feels like these ghosts were made to appeal to kids more than adults.This film was clearly looking to go for pure fantasy and not realism so this seems right in line with everything else that is going on.
I also believe that people wanted the filmmakers to make the ghosts look a lot more like the original film made them with soft purples and more transparency.
I must say that I do prefer the look of the 1984 ghost, but I didn’t mind the new look.
Most people enjoyed seeing slimmer in the film, but he’s not the same. He went through a little redesign with more facial definition and a dental makeover giving him a perfect smile.
The look of the composite scenes gave the scenes a lot of scale and fun. And the last battle scene was a lot like an amusement park attraction scene.
The sets and backgrounds were really packed with lots of details and eye candy. The rooms are filled with lots of details about the characters and I love seeing all of the technical equipment in the labs. There is where the attention to reality is mostly paid.
I especially loved Rowan’s lair. I thought it was really cool with all of the mirrors and the ghost effect in them. I just love the visuals for that and much of the other expansive visual scenes.
Even though the movie is set New York City, most of the filming was done in and around Boston. But the few shots filmed in NYC were gorgeous. I think in one shot I saw the street and apartment building where I grew up and four buildings i used to work in the upper west side.
The score is pretty good and there were many wonderful little stingers to provide spooky and mysterious moments when needed.
The soundtrack was good when used in the film. The original theme song were given several modern remakes and they weren’t too bad in my opinion. I think it’s too much pressure to try recapture the magic of the 1984 film and have everyone like them.
In the case of technicality, the loose continuity and many flubs in the film to make you question the editing and writing.
The tour guide gets burned on the hand while grabbing a hot door handle, gets thrown to the wall, a chair is broken on his head and is barely hanging off the ledge of the stairs and the next time we see him he’s totally fine. Not a single bruise.
After Erin introduces Abby and Holtzmann to the Mansion owner, why does Erin still accompany them inside the mansion. It sets off a series of events that create the ghostbusters but we never know why she sticks around when she previously states, she’s not interested in ghosts anymore.
I loved how Patty helps the ghostbusters, but I wish Patty had a defined reason to leave her job at the MTA to join the ghostbusters. Sure it’s cool to be a ghostbuster and it’s implied, but the film could have explained why she was so enthusiastic to leave a paying job for one she… or have one of the characters ask why she would want to work with them. That to me is a realistic response when she asks to join the team.
When showing all of the ghostbusters the hearst which would later become ecto 1, how did Patty know that Holtzman liked dead bodies, when they had only recently met.
One of Kevin’s jokes involves thinking that he hears with his eyes. However, he proves he knows what listening is when he asks which one of the pictures makes him look like a doctor, him playing saxophone or him listening to the saxophone.
The ghostbusters all have their protons pointed at the dragon ghost when it is inside the mannequin, so why does it get away?
Why doesn’t Patty’s proton pack break when she hits the floor on her back at the concert hall.
Erin takes Rowan’s book, but that is evidence which should be in the hands of the police.
Rowans lair is left alone shortly after he dies and the investigators leave everything intact, a highly unlikely situation.
In this universe Erin can’t reach the other ghostbusters to tell them Rowan’s plan, perhaps in this universe there’s YouTube, but no cell phones.
A news reporter tells the public exactly where the mayor is eating and it is not guarded by security.
When Rowan is possessing Kevin he doesn’t drop the Australian accent. But when inside Abby, her language is noticeably different.
There is a scene where Martin Heiss is thrown out of a window and what could possibly be the same day or the next day, the window is broken again by Rowan’s possession of Abby as he tries to kill Holtzman. When did they have time to fix the window? That’s not your average window, it would take a few days or even weeks to get it replaced for the design alone.
Why are parade balloons ghosts? How is that possible. I am actually willing to believe whatever they say the reason is, but they don’t.
How did Erin get suited up and find the rest of the team so fast and easily?
If Rowan can control humans, why can’t he control the ghostbusters?
One thing that bothered me was the ghost fighting rules and how there weren’t any. At first the goal was to contain a ghost, which they did. Then it seems that they can just kill the ghosts with the proton rays?
At the end, they build a containment unit. Why build a containment unit when you could just kill the ghosts? Is it possible to kill ghosts or is it a temporary vaporization?
Is any of this humane treatment of ghosts? Are all of them bad? Do ghosts have private parts to feel pain in those areas?
These are real questions about the ghostbusting fantasy I wish were in the film to really enhance the enjoyment for the audience.
I know that this is a fantasy, but we still need to believe it could actually happen.
All of the destruction is reversed and Abby and Erin’s hair turns white without an explanation. It looks as if it is temporary too, which is even more perplexing.
The mayor's secretary seems very anxious and eager to help the ghostbusters…. Why? Did something happen to her? Why is she acting so scared at the end.
Performances:
Following the tradition of the original film’s cast with Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd being members of the Saturday Night Live, Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones, Kate McKinnon, and Cecily Strong have been Saturday Night Live cast members. Melissa McCarthy has also hosted the show four times. So that same SNL comedy style is really drenched within the film.
I actually thought that the main actors did a great job with what they had of a script and direction. There is a lot of pressure when you have to make scenes funny that really should have simply been written funny.
You can see clearly that these ladies are willing to do whatever it takes to make this film a success.
I liked Melissa’s performance in the film and I think some of her best scenes were cut from it. She is on record saying she is a big fan of the franchise especially the animated TV show.
She is very dedicated and passionate about the film as she is often seen swinging upside down from wires, hurdling herself around the set (perhaps that was her stunt double) and there is a scene that was cut where she had ooze pouring from every orifice of her head.
She’s an incredible physical actress and comedian and I think that this project failed to allow her a chance to show off her serious acting chops. The heart behind the antics.
It seemed like a match made in heaven pairing Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig since they previously costarred in Bridesmaids (2011), also directed by Paul Feig.
Kristen Wiig and Kate Mckinnon were excellent and I feel that they both had the task of being the socially awkward ones with all of the oddball shtick.
The role of Patty Tolan, played by Leslie Jones was originally written for Melissa McCarthy, which would have been interesting. I think Leslie Jones did well and I am actually glad of that because many people thought she would be the worst actor due to the poor composition of the trailers.
There were also a lot of comments about her playing a stereotype of a black female, loud and sassy. I’m not a fan of the stereotype, but I am a fan of people being who they are, even if it is a stereotype.
In this case, that is Leslie Jones’ actual persona. It’s the honesty of the performance that tells the other characters that what they are doing is ridiculous.
And many people loved that about her and so do I.
It was such a joy to see Chris Hemsworth in this kind of fun role as Kevin. Never have I ever seen him smile so much. Whether we understand his character or like his character or not, he looks like he is having a blast! I really want to see him do more stuff like this now.
I found Andy Garcia and Cecily strong to be especially entertaining.
We’ve got the main cast of the ghostbusters back to make cameos except Rick Moranis who has retired from acting.
And to be honest, they were all fine in the film. Their cameos were short and we didn’t get time to bond with them. So there isn’t much to judge about their performances really.
There were lots of cool cameos in the film from, Zach Woods, Ed Begley Jr., Charles Dance, Harold Filmore, the co-writer Katie Dippold, Michael McDonald, Ozzy Osbourne, Toby Huss, and Matt Walsh.
Paul Feig makes vocal cameo in the film as the voice on the other end of the walkie talkie that insults Rowan and orders him to go clean bathrooms.
Daniel Ramis, son of Harold Ramis has a very small role as a Metal Head outside the Stonebrook Theatre and interacts with Rowan.
Here’s a shot of Daniel with his dad back in the day being a ghostbuster. How adorable!
And they also made sure to recruit some cameos of famous NYC news reporters, which I got a special chuckle seeing from my home town. What a nice touch.
Best:
There are so many awesome things about this film that I personally enjoyed.
I loved the scary opening scene. That was pretty cool.
You can see a bust of Harold just outside of Erin's university office near the beginning of the film and I really love how tastefully his cameo was.
I really enjoyed the moments that the ghostbusters are serious and using their smarts to uncover information.
The additions of ley lines to the film. I thought it was used wonderfully and made me research what they really are.
I know that a lot of people didn’t like this but I love all of the technical paranormal babble that I really felt was reminiscent of the first film.
I really love all of the new technology. It was fantastic all of the creative tools they designed for the film.
I really liked Rowans illustrations. It’s just a nice little way to learn a little bit about him and get inside his brain. I just wanted to know more about him and the deeper reason why he wanted to destroy the world….
I loved Abby’s possession scene. It was very energetic and lots of good action. There’s a lot of tension in that scene and for a minute, you wonder if they are gonna make it. I loved the spinning neck special effect reminiscent of the exorcist released in 1973. As remember the first film payed homage to that film too with Dana’s levitation sequence.
And i really liked Holtzmann’s solo fighting scene reminiscent of the slow mo 300 Leonidas fight scene. In that scene you can actually hear one of the zingers from the machine sound effects from the original live action TV series of the ghostbusters from 1975.
There was a lot more action in this film than in any other ghostbusters film or TV franchise and that was really exciting and new. I really loved that a lot about the film.
The ending:
I liked the ending. It’s a good happy ending with lots of bonus end credit material which some people think is only relegated to marvel movies, but’s been around for a very long time in cinema.
That was a fun part of the movie that explained the reason why the army was frozen in a Saturday night fever pose.
Wish List:
So let me begin by saying that again, I really do like the film, but it think that there are some things that could have really enhanced the film.
I wished Erin was a smarter character. She has an MIT degree, but she’s not intelligent and that is what angers me about her.
A great example of her monumental stupidity is when she releases the ghostbusters’ prized captured dragon ghost to prove to Martin Heiss that they are not fakes she was completely selfish, immature and irrational and no scientist would risk the discovery and in danger themselves, their team and their equipment in order to prove something to an absolute stranger.
I wish the film played up her uptight persona she had more in the beginning of the film. Perhaps a concern for safety, because she starts out that way, for instance when urges Holtzmann to stop recklessly starting fires while dancing.
That personality trait is swapped for social awkwardness and sheer foolishness when Kevin is introduced.
She’s willing to drink a cup of coffee that Kevin literally spit into. It is a little funny but unfortunately it reinforces the fact that Erin is possibly not sane.
I wished all of the characters were smarter. People complain that the men in the film are incompetent and I think that even the heroes seem very dumb to me.
When the ladies are confronted by Rowan, there is a chance that he could change his mind. Abby begins to try to explain all of the things that is worth living for in the world and all she can think of is soup? It’s so frustrating to see a scene like that.
I think Kevin is interesting and has a great fun energy, but he doesn’t have a character trait other than being sadly stupid… and that wears on you after a while.
I wished Kevin seemed stupid, but because he sees things in a different way, which provides some wisdom or genius at unexpected times. Suddenly, he becomes a complex character with more depth and has the potential to radiate more plot points for the story.
In the film, Rowan is a janitor, but he has a certificate for a Hughes Medal on his wall which is an actual award for original discovery in the physical sciences, electricity and magnetism. And not to mention his technology and plans are amazing and by far for me, some of the best material in the film.
I wish there was an explanation as to what happened to Rowan between getting the medal and becoming the janitor. It seems like the making of some excellent storytelling that was sorely missed in the film.
I really wish that the story was the centerpiece of the film and not the jokes. The jokes are OK, but many of them feel as if they are not believable responses to these incredible situations.
For example, there is a scene where Martin Heiss has just been thrown out of the window of the Ghostbusters Office. A cop is questioning the ladies about what happened. The ghostbusters are trying to tell him that a ghost threw Martin out of the window and the cop doesn't believe them and references the movie Ghost released in 1990.
Abby, feeling frustrated that he doesn’t believe them, goes on a tangent ranting about Patrick Swayze movies, to emphasize how ridiculous his comment was in light of the situation.
For me this joke works. And that is where the edit should have occurred… in the middle of the improv when it was funny.
But then Erin interrupts twice to riff on the joke which stops the story because why would you want to stop explaining a serious situation in which a man was thrown out of the window to a cop to randomly talk about movies? The joke then suddenly extends its welcome and it’s not funny anymore.
I also thought it would have been cool to know why Patty knows so much about the city buildings. Did she learn it in school? Was she self taught?
I personally didn’t like the cameos and callbacks to the 1984 film at all. If you’re going to use the cast of the original film, why not make their original characters a part of the film too.
It didn’t make sense to me, to cast them as new random characters, in randomly added scenes. Their presence seemed forced and if removed from the film, not change the story.
I also wish that the film had not been filmed in a world that didn’t know anything about ghosts or the events of 1984, when it could have meant so much to the fans.
And there was a way to do it without having to do any cameos or mentioning the old characters. There is a scene where the ghostbusters were brought to the mayor’s office after catching a ghost in public and the ghostbusters are being asked to put the proverbial “cat back in the bag”.
I thought and wished that they just said, “hey the cat’s been out of the bag before. Do you think you’re the first ghostbusters.” And I think that was an opportunity to actually give a nod to the original without having to do anything else.
Imagine if they could have taken and idea like that and ran with it such as showing pictures of ghostbusters through time going as far back to ancient Egypt. The possibilities are endless.
Now for a little behind the scenes wishes...
I wish that the movie’s YouTube videos were actually YouTube videos that were posted prior to the trailers. I think that movie studios currently fail to realize that YouTube is not just a marketing tool for trailers, and a cool insert for your film, but an excellent soft promotional way to get the super fans excited.
People could have wrote real comments and they could have used real comments in the film.
And lastly, I wish that the trailers did not give away so much of the story. It didn’t give away the details, but I wish we could have had more surprises in the film.
Summary:
The marketing for this film was extremely heavy handed. They spent over $70 million in marketing costs including bringing out the 1984 cast to support the film with interviews and promotion spots.
There were promotional events and statues, merchandise went on a blitz with ecto coolers, toys, twinkies and so much more. I think fans and kids alike really got a kick out of all of the hoopla.
The fans got the first look at the movie with the first trailer which was a total disaster. Firstly, it referred to the 1984 film misleading audiences to believe that it was a sequel and not a reboot.
Secondly, people were disappointed by the jokes, mostly delivered by actress Leslie Jones, who received a terrible backlash of internet bullying due to it.
The trailer got a lot of dislikes on YouTube and many utterly hateful comments ranging from death threats to racist and anti-feminist statements. You know, your typical YouTube comments for videos with millions of views. Besides that the dislikes on the video outnumbered the likes disproportionately.
The studio’s response was disturbing to fans as awful comments and even general unfavorable comments were actually being deleted, silencing the voice of the people.
The internet then went into a rage and unfortunately the unfairly actors went under fire…
And this created a defense for the film of being a social justice anti-feminist platform. Girls rule and so on. And that is fine, but it also made it seem that all of the people who didn’t like the trailer were against it because the team was all-female. And people, women, and men alike were angered even more which set up a negative precedent for the movie before it’s release.
If the studio and actors had to do it again, they’d probably just ignore the hate, instead of responding because it caused much more trouble than it solved.
Besides the negative press, there were some good things that the cast did such as visiting the sick, reaching out to young kids, and there was a tribute in the end credits to a Ghostbusters fan who died before the the release of the film.
The film may not be a hit to the fans who remember and love the first movie. This film doesn’t hold a candle, but kids…. Kids love this movie, especially the little ones, because this film was really meant to entertain them and it shows. It was nominated for 5 Kid’s Choice Awards in 2017 and won 3 of them. Chris Hemsworth won best actor in Ghostbusters, Melissa McCarthy won best actress for Ghostbusters, and Ghostbusters 2016 won the favorite film award.
Already there are tons of cosplays, fan fiction, and fan sites for the new ghostbusters of 2016. There are simply always going to be fans of the franchise and I really welcome that. It’s just a bunch of people having fun playing make believe.
We all weren't meant to like everything everyone else likes. We were all made to be different. And it’s totally ok however you feel about the ghostbusters 2016 because it’s your very own opinion.
There are tons of films that were critically panned, that I proudly still enjoy. I know that they aren’t good movies but there is something I appreciated about them them.
So for me, this film is entertaining and fun. I liked it and I’ll probably watch it again and again.
The film flopped initially, but after international ticket sales and video extended cuts, there is a possibility that a sequel could be on the horizon. If younger audiences want it, it will be made.
So, what can we expect? We’ll at the end of the credits, Patty Tolan is helping the team by listening to the electronic voice phenomena device and asks, "What's Zuul?" hinting to a possible sequel revisiting more old plot points from the 1984 film.
And I really think they should dump the idea of reviving any story lines or callbacks from the first two films going forward.
Really embrace the new identity. They should create fresh new situations, develop smart new villains, craft deeper character development, actually write a script for the cast that design comedy that only service the story and a further expand the universe.
But alas there was no Ghostbusters II for the reboot.
That sums up my review. I hope you liked it. This is Retro Nerd Girl signing off!
Take care movie lovers! I'm off to the next review!
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