Review: New Ghostbusters Delivers Flawed Paranormal Thrills
By Christopher Ortiz · July 25, 2016
From the anti-women blog posts to the racist tweets directed towards Leslie Jones as of late, the new Ghostbusters has already recieved an incredibly negative reception solely for its new all-female Ghostbuster squad. This publicity has been both unfortunate and hilarious; the shattered egos roaring on social media because a group of strong women are good at science cause one to both laugh at the absurd insecurity of sexist fanboys whilst crying for the future of gender equality. Fortunately, Paul Feig’s reboot (or remake; it’s debatable) of the classic comedy delivers fresh new franchise potential that most fans of cheesy supernatural B-comedies and Melissa McCarthy would welcome, despite a flawed first film that could have been great.
Kristin Wiig stars as Erin Gilbert, a physics professor who discovers the book on the paranormal she co-wrote with her best friend, Abby (Melissa McCarthy) is on the market and could jeopardize her chances of scoring tenure. Upon confronting her, however, they, along with the wonderful borderline-surfer-girl Holtzman (Kate McKinnon) end up investigating a ghost sighting at a mansion where, in the film’s opening sequence, the ghost of its former owner made an unwelcome return. After a series of failures trying to convince their bosses and the public that, finally, ghosts are real, they eventually work for themselves. The fourth member of the squad comes with Patty, an outspoken MTA employee providing plenty of the humor the trailers suggest. They’ll need her guts and resources because signs of a “ghost” apocalypse spring up all over New York City, and it’s up to these four badass women to use their proton-charged weaponry and wits to save it.
It’s a pretty straightforward, cheesy and fun experience that ultra-hateful man babies on the Internet cannot deny. The main cast, including Chris Hemsworth’s Kevin, their dimwitted receptionist hired because he was eye-candy, are all familiar characters with a gender switch. In 2016, it feels like a fresh ensemble. Ghostbusters is also a family-friendly Action Comedy with only minimal language and suggestive themes, so that’s another plus against the hate because it’s hard to argue with a child who can enjoy it for what it is rather than look for reasons to hate it. Regardless of the gender of the ghostbusters, what really matters is if there’s a satisfying story at play. Ghostbusters mostly succeeds in that area, with outstanding visual effects, very natural, strong chemistry between all four leads and the cheesy, larger-than-life action sequences that all merit future sequels thanks to the foundation it lays for them.
Its flaws, though, keep it from being great. When it comes to pacing, Ghostbusters has an inconsistent tone because of a bloated script that doesn’t have a high amount of laughs to offer. While the four leads each have their moments, they are sparse rather than consistent. Trimming the edges would have tightened the flow of the action and drama, plus the dialogue was in dire need of more wit at times. There are moments of smooth plot-progression in expository scenes in the first Act when we’re getting to know Erin and Abby but sluggish pacing during scenes when Feig wants Melissa McCarthy to steal the scene with her trademark gutsy, explicit humor again and again and again, dragging dialogue scenes and hurting the overall humor of the film, especially since McCarthy, while about as fun as usual, isn’t given the wittiest, funniest material here anyway.
Also, even if Ghostbusters is a family-friendly Action-Comedy, the few moments of juvenile humor like poop and fart jokes feel out of place and unfunny, killing the fun when they do. While co-star Kate McKinnon is wonderfully strange, mysterious and comedic throughout the entire film, sometimes the juvenile humor falls flat because of the lines themselves, not the delivery. It can’t be argued, though, that these jokes have no place in a film like this because sometimes it becomes clear the filmmakers didn’t know what kind of film it was. Sometimes cheesy family adventure, sometimes grown-up comedy-scifi, and much an homage to the original classic, Ghostbusters’ own identity issues cause the uneven pacing the entire second act undergoes.
But to mull over these weaknesses is overanalyzing what is simply a fun movie for all ages just as the original Ghostbusters was in 1984. There are also some hilarious cameos longtime fans won’t want to miss, and again, the visual effects are outstanding. The ghost particles are ultra-crisp and their colors vivid and beautiful, perfectly keeping the goofy look of the original’s ghosts. Seeing New York overwhelmed with them almost makes it hard to feel sorry for it, since photographers can score millions of dollars with the fodder they’re given here.
Call it whatever you may – reboot, remake, spin on the original formula, or long-awaited sequel – all accurately describe this year’s Ghostbusters to some degree. Managing to pay homage to the original comedy classic (a little too much, perhaps) while successfully starting a fresh new franchise, this new all-female squad proves they're ready to tackle paranormal monstrosities bigger than all five Paranormal Activity films combined. More importantly, the new team proves more than enough to allow the audience to connect, care about and laugh with them from beginning to end. Considering the way the film wraps up, the expected sequels will feature deeper relationships, hilarious one-liners and city-sprawling action sequences, so long as they learn from the flaws that kept this one from being great.
