If there is something strange, in your neighbourhood... who you gonna call?
After a suitably scary intro, the Ray Parker Jr. tune kicks in and you are strapped in ready for action - but the theme is practically faded out after about four seconds and gets straight into the movie. Kristen Wiig (Bridesmaids) is Erin Gilbert (the Peter Venkman of the team) who is desperate to be taken serious as a scientist and is getting a job as a lecturer at a school. However childhood friend Abby Yates (Melissa McCarthy) is carrying on their mutual childhood interest in ghosts and the paranormal. Both ladies have gone their separate ways - Abby researching at a local educational establishment and Erin at the respectable university. When a book they wrote years ago surfaces online, Erin finds that Abby has been selling it to make money without Erin's knowledge. Obviously miffed at this, but more concerned about the damage to her reputation, she goes and confronts Abby. When she gets there she finds her researching equipment alongside eccentric Jillian Holtzmann (Kate McKinnon) who kind of plays the Egon Spengler character with a bit more madness/sass. Jillian has a hairstyle that really reminds me of Egon in The Real Ghostbusters cartoon - which may be purposeful or maybe not, but is a nice touch if so.
Meanwhile some loner blokey has decided to create armageddon by creating a portal to call ghosts to New York to "pester" humans. First, a ghost is seen in the subway by Patty Tolan (Leslie Jones) and she runs away from it - and goes to the Ghostbusters to see if they can help and ends up becoming a Ghostbuster herself. They employ hapless Kevin (Chris Hemsworth) who is more attractive than intelligent - which is clearly a gender swap dig at the way women are portrayed in the movies for their attractiveness and not brains. However, which every way you look at it, he has some of the best comedic moments and makes the movie funnier that it otherwise would have been.
Ghostbusters has been hit with a lot of criticism and the danger of reviewing this movie is that when anyone has said anything about this, especially bad, it's been taken as people being sexist. What's more, is that the first teaser trailer was one of the most divisive and disliked trailers EVER on YouTube. Even I worried about it - it was awful. I was sad.
But, the second one was much better, and made me less concerned. But the fan speculation was rife. All women ghostbusters, rubbish jokes, bad CGI - reasons people have gave for their dislikes. I think it was doomed from the start, and didn't have the best chance. Then.... there was a review embargo until release. This was not looking good. But I've seen it. And here's what I think.
The last line of the movie, Erin says something like, "It's not terrible, is it?" and my response would be no, it isn't. Although it's difficult to move it to another part of your mind, if you don't link this to the previous Ghostbusters movies (like this movie doesn't link to the others) then it's actually pretty good.
There are elements that are poor - some of the story is a bit iffy, and I think if they made reference to the previous movies it might feel like more of a part of the franchise. With the exception of cameos of cast and characters (the former not being the characters they are known for) then there are no clues that the other Ghostbusters ever existed. There's a lot of nods to the original - the hearse for Ecto-1, the PKE meters and equipment (though it's been verily updated) and some scenes that echo from the 1984 version. In fact the only truly same thing is the theme song. I mentioned earlier that this is on for about 4 seconds. Don't worry though, the soundtrack itself has 4 different versions on it, and we hear three versions throughout the movie.
I really liked this movie, and it could have been so much worse. The ghosts were decent and it was a fun movie to watch. It was trying to be a comedy though... but it was mainly at the expense of others or through crude jokes. When it tries to be funny, I think it fails, but there is some genuine amusing moments, mainly with Chris Hemsworth's character and his lack of intelligence. Some may say that it's a bit offensive, but I'm not here to judge that.
So, to sum it up I would say that, leave the original Ghostbusters behind, go in and watch this as these ladies have their time at being Ghostbusters and you will enjoy it. It's a fun movie, with some amusing moments, and will pass the time. But, if you force it to stand up against Ivan Reitman's masterpiece from 1984, it may struggle.
Ghostbusters is out at all good cinemas from 11th July in the UK and 15th July in the US.
After a suitably scary intro, the Ray Parker Jr. tune kicks in and you are strapped in ready for action - but the theme is practically faded out after about four seconds and gets straight into the movie. Kristen Wiig (Bridesmaids) is Erin Gilbert (the Peter Venkman of the team) who is desperate to be taken serious as a scientist and is getting a job as a lecturer at a school. However childhood friend Abby Yates (Melissa McCarthy) is carrying on their mutual childhood interest in ghosts and the paranormal. Both ladies have gone their separate ways - Abby researching at a local educational establishment and Erin at the respectable university. When a book they wrote years ago surfaces online, Erin finds that Abby has been selling it to make money without Erin's knowledge. Obviously miffed at this, but more concerned about the damage to her reputation, she goes and confronts Abby. When she gets there she finds her researching equipment alongside eccentric Jillian Holtzmann (Kate McKinnon) who kind of plays the Egon Spengler character with a bit more madness/sass. Jillian has a hairstyle that really reminds me of Egon in The Real Ghostbusters cartoon - which may be purposeful or maybe not, but is a nice touch if so.
Meanwhile some loner blokey has decided to create armageddon by creating a portal to call ghosts to New York to "pester" humans. First, a ghost is seen in the subway by Patty Tolan (Leslie Jones) and she runs away from it - and goes to the Ghostbusters to see if they can help and ends up becoming a Ghostbuster herself. They employ hapless Kevin (Chris Hemsworth) who is more attractive than intelligent - which is clearly a gender swap dig at the way women are portrayed in the movies for their attractiveness and not brains. However, which every way you look at it, he has some of the best comedic moments and makes the movie funnier that it otherwise would have been.
Ghostbusters has been hit with a lot of criticism and the danger of reviewing this movie is that when anyone has said anything about this, especially bad, it's been taken as people being sexist. What's more, is that the first teaser trailer was one of the most divisive and disliked trailers EVER on YouTube. Even I worried about it - it was awful. I was sad.
But, the second one was much better, and made me less concerned. But the fan speculation was rife. All women ghostbusters, rubbish jokes, bad CGI - reasons people have gave for their dislikes. I think it was doomed from the start, and didn't have the best chance. Then.... there was a review embargo until release. This was not looking good. But I've seen it. And here's what I think.
The last line of the movie, Erin says something like, "It's not terrible, is it?" and my response would be no, it isn't. Although it's difficult to move it to another part of your mind, if you don't link this to the previous Ghostbusters movies (like this movie doesn't link to the others) then it's actually pretty good.
There are elements that are poor - some of the story is a bit iffy, and I think if they made reference to the previous movies it might feel like more of a part of the franchise. With the exception of cameos of cast and characters (the former not being the characters they are known for) then there are no clues that the other Ghostbusters ever existed. There's a lot of nods to the original - the hearse for Ecto-1, the PKE meters and equipment (though it's been verily updated) and some scenes that echo from the 1984 version. In fact the only truly same thing is the theme song. I mentioned earlier that this is on for about 4 seconds. Don't worry though, the soundtrack itself has 4 different versions on it, and we hear three versions throughout the movie.
I really liked this movie, and it could have been so much worse. The ghosts were decent and it was a fun movie to watch. It was trying to be a comedy though... but it was mainly at the expense of others or through crude jokes. When it tries to be funny, I think it fails, but there is some genuine amusing moments, mainly with Chris Hemsworth's character and his lack of intelligence. Some may say that it's a bit offensive, but I'm not here to judge that.
So, to sum it up I would say that, leave the original Ghostbusters behind, go in and watch this as these ladies have their time at being Ghostbusters and you will enjoy it. It's a fun movie, with some amusing moments, and will pass the time. But, if you force it to stand up against Ivan Reitman's masterpiece from 1984, it may struggle.
Ghostbusters is out at all good cinemas from 11th July in the UK and 15th July in the US.
POPSCORE: 7.5/10
What am I talking about? Ghostbusters (2016) movie
Where can I find out more? http://www.ghostbusters.com/ AND http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/ghostbusters/
If you liked this try: Ghostbusters (1984), Ghostbusters II, Haunted Mansion, Casper and Scary Movie series of movies, possibly Bridesmaids and Spy for similar cast and humour
Where can I find out more? http://www.ghostbusters.com/ AND http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/ghostbusters/
If you liked this try: Ghostbusters (1984), Ghostbusters II, Haunted Mansion, Casper and Scary Movie series of movies, possibly Bridesmaids and Spy for similar cast and humour
Anything else?
Some of the original Ghostbusters (1984) cast have cameo's in this movie including Annie Potts (who played Janine Melnitz), Dan Ackroyd (Ray Stantz), Ernie Hudson (Winston Zeddemore), Sigourney Weaver (Dana Barratt) and Bill Murray (Peter Venkman). Sadly none of them, except Ackroyd, have any link to their previous characters as they all play different characters in this. Ackroyd mentions about ghost classification - but it's not clear if he is Ray Stantz or not.
Like the actors, some ghosts make cameos from the other movies including Slimer and the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.
There's a lot of references to the original movie's scenes including moments like the banging on a window in a restaurant, pulling tablecloths from a table and being in the mayors office.
Like the actors, some ghosts make cameos from the other movies including Slimer and the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.
There's a lot of references to the original movie's scenes including moments like the banging on a window in a restaurant, pulling tablecloths from a table and being in the mayors office.
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