The new Ghostbusters Movie

[Skye Prower 386]

So I saw it last night.

And surprisingly, it was actually really good.  Given it was a nostalgia cash grab with a poorly thought out gimmick that’s pretty amazing.  Even more so after those awful trailers too.  Whoever was behind those should be fired!

The cast is both great, and has excellent chemistry together with lots of the comedy coming from their banter, which is how it should be.  Special mention to Chris Hemsworth who seems to be having a whale of a time taking the mickey out of himself.  Unlike you might expect from a movie featuring Ghosts, jump scares are notable by their absence.  Not one features.  Instead the film tends to go for slow reveals or the unsettling, until the finale.

Of course, it’s far from perfect.  Some of the humour is kinda crude (which might not be a problem depending on your tastes) but two of those crude early jokes (the vomiting ghost and when Abby get fired) go on way too long, beginning very uncomfortable very quickly.  Plus, with the film wanting to have a big finale with the four Ghostbusters alone against an army of ghost, it creates a few logic and plot holes.

The worst ones being:

While it’s clear the Ghostbusters equipment can harm and trap ghosts, it makes no sense that it is able to seemingly ‘kill’ them, and it’s not explained what the heck happens when you ‘kill’ a ghost. 

And when the big bad uses his powers to paralyse a massive group of soldiers, its never said why he doesn’t just paralyse the Ghostbusters in the same way.  I can think of a few reasons that would make sense in context, but none are given.

Aside from those however, the film is still good fun.  Comparing to the original three Ghostbuster films, er, sorry, 2 films and one game, it is definitely more of a comedy this time around.  While not as good as the original, I would say it is better in two respects.  First, it find a much better balance between the four leads in terms of presence and scenes as opposed to the 3 + 1 of the original.  And second, the montage for going from unknown crackpots to celebrataries in the original was a little weak and awkward, something the reboot avoids.  I would place the reboot squarely between Ghostbusters 1 and 2, about on par with Ghostbusters 3… er… I mean, Ghostbusters: The video game.

In summary, Ghostbusters is a surprisingly decent Hollywood reboot.  Is it great?  No.  Is it good?  Hell yes!  Would I recommend it?  Yes, but keep in mind humour is subjective, so your options could well vary.  And if the trailers made you think ‘this looks crap’ give it a chance anyway!  I almost didn’t see it cause of them.

And finally, if you are one of those who decided not to see it, or ranted about it cause ‘eww, girls’, just grow up!

 

[Device 6]

I've been a huge Ghostbusters fan since I was little so I've been really wanting to see this. I'm glad to hear you liked it and I'll report back once I finally get to see it.

Also, Ghostbusters: The video game is amazing. Just sayin'

[Skye Prower 386]

I hope you like it to!  Just go in with an open mind.

And hell yes it is!  I replayed it just a couple of months ago.  But looking at it from just a story POV, well, it works great as a game, not so great had it been a movie, if that makes sense.