This new Ghostbusters movie may have worked if they had done one simple thing. Made it a "passing of the torch" continuation of the previous films with the surviving members of the old team training a new younger team to take over the business. But instead Paul Feig decided to sweep the originals under the rug in favor of his own retelling. The result was "Bridesmaids with Proton Packs", and that is most certainly not a compliment. In order to understand why this movie fails, it's best to look at each individual element. Starting with:
The Cast
The cast is unimpressive, to say the least. The breakout star is Kate McKinnon, who's character, a wacky engineer named Holtzmann, has gained somewhat of a cult following. While I did get a few chuckles out of the character here and there, her schtick did get old after awhile. Kristen Wiig can be funny in the right roles, but sadly this was not one of those roles. She often seemed uninterested like she did not want to be there, and honestly I wouldn't blame her. Melissa McCarthy was the same character she usually plays, and I personally have never found her funny. This was no exception. Leslie Jones, much like McKinnon, did get some chuckles from me at times, but as most could already tell from the trailers, she was basically just the "loud black woman" stereotype. The worst performance without a doubt was (unfortunately) provided by Chris Hemsworth as the brain dead receptionist, Kevin. I was really hoping, based on the trailers, that he might possibly be the best thing in the movie, but he was quite honestly the worst, not that I particularly hold Hemsworth accountable. His character was written poorly, and many of the things he did made me cringe more than laugh.
The Villain
The villain of this movie is a hotel handyman named Rowan, who his seeking revenge on humanity for having been bullied his whole life. He builds a device which brings spirits into our world, and he intends to wreak havoc with those spirits. Needless to say, Rowan is an extremely weak villain, especially when compared to the villains of the previous Ghostbusters films. The original film had Gozer, a powerful Sumerian god whose ultimate goal was the destruction of humanity. The second film had Vigo, a Carpathian warlock who intended to be reborn in order to seek world domination. These were both strong, developed villains, whereas Rowan just comes off as laughable, especially toward the climax, but more on that later.
The Visual Effects
The effects were cheesy and cartoonish. Words cannot be minced here. The various ghosts we see are unimpressive, and they all contain a strange hue of neon blue or green. Many have compared the effects to the ghosts in the live action Scooby Doo movies, but even that is giving it too much credit. In the original movies, the effects were done with puppets and the ghosts were made to look spectral as if they were really there on the set. Most of the original's effects still look great today, whereas in the reboot they already looked dated from day 1.
The Plot
*There will be spoilers in this section, but since I do not recommend this movie to my worst enemy, feel free to read ahead. Otherwise, stop right here. You have been warned.*
The movie follows the same basic plot outline of the original, but not done nearly as well. Three of the characters start off as normal paranormal scientist who are called upon to investigate the hauntings of an old mansion where a tour guide was recently spooked. Before that, we get some unfunny jokes about wonton soup and queefing. Eventually we get to the mansion, where they look at the ghost in a scene very reminiscent of the library scene, only instead of getting scared off by a sudden transformation, one of them gets barfed on with slime. They end up losing there jobs at the university to go into business for themselves. They take up headquarters in an apartment above a Chinese restaurant, where Holtzmann works on some new equipment. They try testing out their new equipment at a subway station where they try to catch a convict ghost, but the equipment doesn't work and the ghost gets away. The MTA worker who called them, played by Leslie Jones, joins the team as a fourth member due to her knowledge of the city's history. She also gets them a car, which is a hearse from her uncle's funeral home. They also hire an idiotic receptionist named Kevin. They get their first real call from a concert hall where they end up battling a dragon ghost (yeah, it's THAT ridiculous) during a metal concert. They capture the ghost, and we get a random Ozzy Osbourne cameo. This was around the point in the original where they had captured Slimer and become heroes overnight, followed by a montage of them catching ghosts all over the city. Here we get know such cameo as they only intend to study the ghost. Eventually they find out about Rowan and that he is the one responsible for bringing the ghosts into our world. Before he can be taken by the police, he electrocutes himself on his machine, killing himself. He becomes a ghost which eventually possesses Kevin, who then goes to reactivate the machine. Eventually, the city is being overrun by ghosts, and the Ghostbusters must get to work. What follows is a sequence of some rather dull action, and a display of all sorts of different weaponry that Holtzmann was somehow able to afford to develop. These include sidearm guns, ghost grenades, a ghost gauntlet, and (I kid you not) a ghost CHIPPER. Eventually they confront Rowan, who gives up possessing Kevin, and then turns into (get ready, because this is really gonna hurt) a giant version of the ghost from the Ghostbusters logo. I won't go into any further detail, but it gets really ridiculous, especially the way they defeat him.
The Bottom Line
Ghostbusters 2016 is a mess from start to finish. It should be worth noting that I have seen both the theatrical cut and the extended cut, and they are both terrible. The extended cut just has some altered dialogue and a ridiculous dance sequence involving the army. It does nothing to improve on the film, what little there was to improve anyway. Paul Feig clearly made this film with the intent to cater to people who like HIS films, and honestly I have not been a fan of his works. He clearly gave no consideration to fans of the franchise, and he and McCarthy even went so far as to insult the fans. That is not how you win an audience. This movie lacks everything that made the original a classic. Witty humor? Gone. Lovable characters? Gone. Believable chemistry among the actors? Gone. On top of that, it is played out as a straight up comedy. There are no attempts to be scary or taken seriously when necessary, unlike the original which had moments that can actually be terrifying to first time viewers. I didn't even mention the cameos, which honestly there isn't much to say about. The surviving cast members from the original make cameos as different characters than we are used to seeing them as, and they all seem forced and don't do much other than attempt to provide fan service (and fail miserably). There is even a bust of Harold Ramis at one point, and a tribute to him in the credits. But honestly, I think he was just rolling in his grave. This movie killed any chance the Ghostbusters franchise had of making a comeback, but we still have the originals to go back to at any time. Just cross the streams on this awful reboot. I give it one star, but that's just being generous. But hey, it is one more star than I gave "Jack & Jill", so it has that going for it.
The Cast
The cast is unimpressive, to say the least. The breakout star is Kate McKinnon, who's character, a wacky engineer named Holtzmann, has gained somewhat of a cult following. While I did get a few chuckles out of the character here and there, her schtick did get old after awhile. Kristen Wiig can be funny in the right roles, but sadly this was not one of those roles. She often seemed uninterested like she did not want to be there, and honestly I wouldn't blame her. Melissa McCarthy was the same character she usually plays, and I personally have never found her funny. This was no exception. Leslie Jones, much like McKinnon, did get some chuckles from me at times, but as most could already tell from the trailers, she was basically just the "loud black woman" stereotype. The worst performance without a doubt was (unfortunately) provided by Chris Hemsworth as the brain dead receptionist, Kevin. I was really hoping, based on the trailers, that he might possibly be the best thing in the movie, but he was quite honestly the worst, not that I particularly hold Hemsworth accountable. His character was written poorly, and many of the things he did made me cringe more than laugh.
The Villain
The villain of this movie is a hotel handyman named Rowan, who his seeking revenge on humanity for having been bullied his whole life. He builds a device which brings spirits into our world, and he intends to wreak havoc with those spirits. Needless to say, Rowan is an extremely weak villain, especially when compared to the villains of the previous Ghostbusters films. The original film had Gozer, a powerful Sumerian god whose ultimate goal was the destruction of humanity. The second film had Vigo, a Carpathian warlock who intended to be reborn in order to seek world domination. These were both strong, developed villains, whereas Rowan just comes off as laughable, especially toward the climax, but more on that later.
The Visual Effects
The effects were cheesy and cartoonish. Words cannot be minced here. The various ghosts we see are unimpressive, and they all contain a strange hue of neon blue or green. Many have compared the effects to the ghosts in the live action Scooby Doo movies, but even that is giving it too much credit. In the original movies, the effects were done with puppets and the ghosts were made to look spectral as if they were really there on the set. Most of the original's effects still look great today, whereas in the reboot they already looked dated from day 1.
The Plot
*There will be spoilers in this section, but since I do not recommend this movie to my worst enemy, feel free to read ahead. Otherwise, stop right here. You have been warned.*
The movie follows the same basic plot outline of the original, but not done nearly as well. Three of the characters start off as normal paranormal scientist who are called upon to investigate the hauntings of an old mansion where a tour guide was recently spooked. Before that, we get some unfunny jokes about wonton soup and queefing. Eventually we get to the mansion, where they look at the ghost in a scene very reminiscent of the library scene, only instead of getting scared off by a sudden transformation, one of them gets barfed on with slime. They end up losing there jobs at the university to go into business for themselves. They take up headquarters in an apartment above a Chinese restaurant, where Holtzmann works on some new equipment. They try testing out their new equipment at a subway station where they try to catch a convict ghost, but the equipment doesn't work and the ghost gets away. The MTA worker who called them, played by Leslie Jones, joins the team as a fourth member due to her knowledge of the city's history. She also gets them a car, which is a hearse from her uncle's funeral home. They also hire an idiotic receptionist named Kevin. They get their first real call from a concert hall where they end up battling a dragon ghost (yeah, it's THAT ridiculous) during a metal concert. They capture the ghost, and we get a random Ozzy Osbourne cameo. This was around the point in the original where they had captured Slimer and become heroes overnight, followed by a montage of them catching ghosts all over the city. Here we get know such cameo as they only intend to study the ghost. Eventually they find out about Rowan and that he is the one responsible for bringing the ghosts into our world. Before he can be taken by the police, he electrocutes himself on his machine, killing himself. He becomes a ghost which eventually possesses Kevin, who then goes to reactivate the machine. Eventually, the city is being overrun by ghosts, and the Ghostbusters must get to work. What follows is a sequence of some rather dull action, and a display of all sorts of different weaponry that Holtzmann was somehow able to afford to develop. These include sidearm guns, ghost grenades, a ghost gauntlet, and (I kid you not) a ghost CHIPPER. Eventually they confront Rowan, who gives up possessing Kevin, and then turns into (get ready, because this is really gonna hurt) a giant version of the ghost from the Ghostbusters logo. I won't go into any further detail, but it gets really ridiculous, especially the way they defeat him.
The Bottom Line
Ghostbusters 2016 is a mess from start to finish. It should be worth noting that I have seen both the theatrical cut and the extended cut, and they are both terrible. The extended cut just has some altered dialogue and a ridiculous dance sequence involving the army. It does nothing to improve on the film, what little there was to improve anyway. Paul Feig clearly made this film with the intent to cater to people who like HIS films, and honestly I have not been a fan of his works. He clearly gave no consideration to fans of the franchise, and he and McCarthy even went so far as to insult the fans. That is not how you win an audience. This movie lacks everything that made the original a classic. Witty humor? Gone. Lovable characters? Gone. Believable chemistry among the actors? Gone. On top of that, it is played out as a straight up comedy. There are no attempts to be scary or taken seriously when necessary, unlike the original which had moments that can actually be terrifying to first time viewers. I didn't even mention the cameos, which honestly there isn't much to say about. The surviving cast members from the original make cameos as different characters than we are used to seeing them as, and they all seem forced and don't do much other than attempt to provide fan service (and fail miserably). There is even a bust of Harold Ramis at one point, and a tribute to him in the credits. But honestly, I think he was just rolling in his grave. This movie killed any chance the Ghostbusters franchise had of making a comeback, but we still have the originals to go back to at any time. Just cross the streams on this awful reboot. I give it one star, but that's just being generous. But hey, it is one more star than I gave "Jack & Jill", so it has that going for it.
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