Alright, it's been a year since it came out and the dust has finally settled. I think it's now okay to talk about that Ghostbusters reboot. Full disclosure: I really liked this movie when I first saw it in theaters. The whole audience I had went along with it and I couldn't help but join in and have a decent laugh. Then, I rewatched it when it hit home video and I can say with absolute certainty... that this not a good film. No, its not because it has female leads or whatever else is fueling the hyperbolic childish nature of Internet reactionaries. With that in mind, let's see why I'm not too fond of this reboot.
For the most part, it's not particularly funny or engaging. There are a few funny lines, here and there; but, for the most part, a lot of this movie is incredibly awkward and cringeworthy. In regards to the engaging part, this is also a boring movie from a filmmaking perspective. Ignoring his smarmy and childish response to pre-release criticism, Paul Feig was not the right choice to bring this franchise into the 21st century. Feig is by no means a terrible director; however, he's very much in the vein of other modern comedy directors. The basic technical problems with Ghostbusters 2016 are similar to the problems of every other mainstream comedy out there nowadays (i.e. the direction and cinematography is flat and not particularly dynamic, the music's generic and the editing is paint-by-numbers). Except for the surprisingly fun climax, this flick looks shockingly cheap. Another problem that this shares with other modern comedies is an over-reliance on improvisation. Improvisation is always kind of a crapshoot. I'll just say this to sum up my issue with its use here and other movies: dear filmmakers, just because you hire funny people to be in your movie doesn't automatically mean your movie will be funny if you don't have the writing to back it up. My final major issue with this movie is the villain. For the sake of fairness, I do think that the idea of making the worst aspect of fandom is a clever idea...that Star Wars: The Force Awakens did first and better.
Are there positive things to say about this movie? Sure. Again, the climax is a lot of fun (especially when all the new gadgets are put to good use and, oh yeah, Slimer steals the Ecto-1 and takes it for a joy ride. Plus, some of the ghost designs are kind of nifty. Other than that, Ghostbusters 2016 is just a forgettable, two-star mess that ultimately wasn't worth all of the ink that it generated.
I'll end this with the following statement: you know its a bad sign when your reboot of a beloved 1980s comedy is one of the most politically divisive topics of discussion in one of the most heated election years in recent memory. Good job, Sony!*
*That last bit was sarcasm.
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