By Colm McCall
This controversial reboot of the beloved franchise became YouTube's most disliked movie trailer ever. I would be lying if I said I hadn't contributed to the insane amount of negative hype the trailer had spawned. I'm usually not a negative person, but to see this classic remade is quite similar to somebody tarnishing a fond childhood memory. But as a reviewer, I feel it was essential to keep an open mind when going to see any new release. 1984's original is held in a special place in many filmgoers hearts and the sequel released in 1989 wasn't half bad either. When it was revealed that this new venture wasn't going to be a direct sequel to the second, but rather a complete retelling, people started to have their doubts. To add fuel to the fire, it was then made known that the entire Ghostbuster team would be female. This sent the internet into a state of overdrive. Not even Bill Murray's advocacy could shield the project from the intense backlash. I'm all for women to succeed in cinema, especially behind the camera, but I don't see the necessity of making some sort of political statement particularly when it involves a brand and franchise that many people hold so dear. But had this movie been called anything else I strongly believe people would see it in a far different light.
The story which is penned by director Paul Feig (Bridesmaids 2011) and Katie Dippold (The Heat) follows three female scientists and one street savvy New Yorker as they combine to tackle the growing paranormal activity in The Big Apple. The director reunites Bridesmaids actresses Melissa McCarthy (St. Vincent 2014) and Kristen Wiig (The Secret Life of Walter Mitty 2013), along with casting SNL luminaries Leslie Jones and kate McKinnon in the title roles. Of course, no would-be chick flick would be complete without some senseless form of eye candy, which comes in the annoying form of Chris Hemsworth (Thor 2011) as the Ghostbusters' clueless but handsome secretary. His role really reminded me of Rachel Green's assistant Tag Jones in the seventh season of Friends! Casting directors probably were revisiting their Friends box sets when they were holding auditions because the character wasn't necessary and they probably had to pay him a truckload of cash to participate.
Unlike the first two movies, this film isn't scary or dark in the slightest. Nor is it really funny for that matter. There were two instances where the script cleverly referenced Jaws (1975) and Ghost (1990), which admittedly had me laughing very loudly. But other than that, the majority of the attempted humour was lame and quite childish. Likewise with the character chemistry; everything just seemed so blatantly forced. In my opinion, Wiig does turn in a solid performance and comes across as genuinely likable but she is let down by both her co-stars and the substandard script.
To say this movie is awful would be somewhat excessive. Yet its redeeming qualities are still quite sparse. Several original cast members make welcome cameos- much to my excitement. But a poor picture isn't going to be saved by nostalgia alone. To add insult to injury, the theme song has also been updated by Fall Out Boy and Missy Elliot who put Ray Parker Jr's cheesetastic masterpiece to shame. Frankly, Jedward's cover on the 2009 X Factor was better.
Overall, this movie is not as bad as most pessimists were anticipating, but it probably isn't that far off either. The flaws can't be attributed to its majority female casting but rather because of lazy filmmaking. Overindulgent use of unrealistic CGI and a weak script are issues which can't be ignored. In years to come when people discuss Ghostbusters, they'll recall the exploits of Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts and Rick Moranis. This inferior follow-up will just be a mere footnote in the history of the franchise.
Ghostbusters (2016) scores 4.5/10 on the MACmeter.
