Ghostbusters, 2016.
Directed by Paul Feig.
Starring Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones, Neil Casey, Andy Garcia, Michael Kenneth Williams, Charles Dance and Chris Hemsworth.
SYNOPSIS:
Erin Gilbert, a disgraced physics teacher who grew up believing in ghosts, falls in with her estranged school friend Abby Yates and helps form the ‘Ghostbusters’, the only team able to prevent a spectral apocalypse befalling New York City…
Rarely has there been such an advance furore surrounding a movie as we’ve seen around the reboot of Ghostbusters. It was always going to be a contentious move. Two of the most beloved movies of the 1980’s (well, one at least!), synonymous blockbusters that help define that decade, which fans had long hoped may continue with a forever gestating third movie featuring original stars Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson, Harold Ramis & Sigourney Weaver. Nobody quite expected Hollywood to push the reboot button, even though frankly they should have – this has been inevitable since Murray repeatedly refused third sequel scripts, and crucially since the death of Ramis.
The biggest bone of contention however? That the reboot would be framed around women. A big question is whether geek ire would have been raised as heavily around stars who weren’t from the Judd Apatow-stable of loud, boorish American female comedy, such as Kristen Wiig and especially Melissa McCarthy. That’s debatable. And ultimately immaterial, because women or men in the lead roles don’t make a great Ghostbusters movie. The script does, and that’s largely where Paul Feig falls down in his revival.
Some may term this a reimagining but that would be a slight misnomer. The new Ghostbusters doesn’t just pay a great deal of homage to the adored original, it on the whole xeroxes it. The plot is largely identical – a disgraced scientist, Wiig’s Erin, falls in with McCarthy’s ghost busting ringleader Abby and her barking mad colleague Holtz, played by Kate McKinnon, and they–alongside Leslie Jones’ loud, black Patty, who joins the team later–have to come together and fight not just a wave of spectral terrors appearing across New York City, driven by Neil Casey’s weird acolyte Rowan, but also the unashamedly self-serving Mayor’s office looking to cast the ‘ghostbusters’, as they become known, as frauds. It’s almost entirely the same plot in many respects, just tweaked for a modern day audience. They even use the same set for Andy Garcia’s Mayor’s office as in the original movie, and craft a real estate gag out of the original fire house setting.
It’s strange therefore that it refuses to simply call itself a sequel, given how it makes concerted efforts to give all the surviving original stars a clear cameo (and if Bill Murray’s appearance isn’t a clear in-joke at the expense of his long held reticence to the project, I don’t know what is!). Quite why this just couldn’t be the next iteration of a revived brand, allowing for Venkman, Stantz et al to appear briefly as themselves, is unclear and frankly it’s a missed opportunity. Given how hard this works to emulate the original with a modern spin, that would have felt natural.
Where Feig’s version does work is when it comes to character, because all four of these leading ladies are for the most part enjoyable to hang out with. Feig & McCarthy aren’t too Feig & McCarthy, if you catch my drift; as usual Feig is a party girl fighting to escape an uptight persona & McCarthy is loud, boisterous & the de-facto leader, but neither push this too heavily and their interlinked arc of not just proving themselves & their theories to society but also indeed *to* themselves is maintained across the picture by Feig & his script with Katie Dippold, even when extended gags that don’t always work crowbar their way in. McKinnon is the strongest of the ensemble, bringing a loveable wackiness to Holtz while still underplaying the comedy slightly. It’s Jones who makes the least impression, feeling ported in many respects out of a half dozen Martin Lawrence films for the purpose of filling the Zeddemore spot (and let’s be honest, Zeddemore was always the ghostbuster you remembered least).
Surprisingly, it’s Chris Hemsworth’s secretary Kevin who steals the show; Feig, much like he did with Jason Statham in Spy, understands the comic timing of handsome action heroes playing deadpan & much as he does when Thor is played for comedy, Hemsworth is terrific playing a super ditzy male bimbo of an employee and you can tell how much fun he’s having in the role. Bonus points therefore when the ghostbusters team are shooting the shit, because that’s when the film works – it’s only when the scant, bare bones of plot churn into gear–near enough an hour in by the way–it falters and the script struggles to really carry off a barnstorming, epic New York finale without it descending into a fairly boring light show. The entire picture is also massively lacking in any kind of fear factor or the suggestion anything is at stake; never for one moment do you worry any of these guys are in danger of not saving the day, and for a film that wants to one half by a heroic spooky adventure, that’s a major problem.
By and large though, Ghostbusters does exactly what many people will have expected, and indeed does what’s on the tin. It will make you laugh (even if some gags fall flat). It looks good (even if occasionally the CGI is wobbly). It has a lot of respect for the original movie (even if there was absolutely no reason this couldn’t have been a continuation instead of a reboot). And the cast are great fun, working well as a five dynamic and chewing the scenery wherever possible. You absolutely will leave the movies with a smile on your face, but just be prepared for two things to happen. Firstly, you’ll be left unable to remember half of what happened the next day, it’s so disposable. And secondly, you’ll feel perhaps an urge to go and watch the original Ghostbusters, because much as this is a worthy reboot, it’s not even in the same dimension as that loveable classic.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Tony Black is a freelance film/TV writer & podcaster & would love you to follow him on Twitter.
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