"Ghostbusters" | MOVIE REVIEW

Hahahahaha ha... ha... ha... Oh, boy.

Paul Feig and friends present...

So, Ghosbusters was directed by Paul Feig and stars Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones, and Kate McKinnon and is a full-on reboot of the Ghostbusters franchise. Now, this movie has been neck deep in controversy ever since it was announced and the folks behind this movie just rode on that bandwagon an labeled everyone who wasn't planning on seeing this movie a misogynist.

I know I said I wasn't planning on seeing this movie, but I did anyway because I'm an asshole. The early ratings and reviews coming out were just all over the place; it had, like, 70% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 3.1 on IMDb. I've been told that the movie actually wasn't the flaming pile of shit that the trailers made it out to be, so I thought I'd give it complete benefit of the doubt and see it.

I'll just get one thing straight before going into this movie; it's average, as far as being a movie goes. On its own, it wasn't good, it wasn't bad, it just was. But there was some enjoyment to be had in this movie.

Such as...

Some parts and jokes were pretty funny, and there was this one running gag that had me laughing whenever it happened, because it was timed really well. I liked Kristen Wiig's character, as well - for me, she was the best part about this cast. And, some times, the special effects looked really good, especially when they were shooting their proton packs at stuff. I'm probably just a sucker for neon colors, but I thought the effects for the proton packs were awesome.

I gotta admit those were cool.

It was also really fun to hear the original Ghostbusters theme again, and I was dancing in my seat at the theater the moment it came on. The original Ghostbusters was and is one of my all-time favorites and the theme song is something I play on full volume when my schedule allows me to kick back and relax. So, to hear it again in a cinema was something I liked.

But, as un-horrible as this movie was, there were things that really conflicted me about this movie, which I'll discuss after I list the stuff I really disliked.

The reason I mentioned earlier that this was very average as a standalone movie is because this movie is awful as a Ghostbusters reboot. There is just so much this movie gets wrong, but I'll explain those in detail after I talk about what this movie gets wrong on its own.

Starting with.

First of all, I thought Kate McKinnon and Chris Hemsworth - whose characters a lot of people I know happen to like - were wayover the top. Kate McKinnon was supposed to be this sort-of wacky and zany character, but I just didn't buy into her. She was so difficult to understand because she would talk really fast - granted, I speak quite fast in person - but there was never a point in the movie where she adjusted. She just wasn't believable as a character. At all.

And Chris Hemsworth's character irritated me. One of my pet peeves is stupid people (as pretentious as that might sound), and I really just didn't find his character funny. He was way too stupid, and had no redeeming qualities.

No wonder he was banished from Asgard; maybe Odin foresaw this movie happening.

Second of all, the villain was useless. The only thing he was good for in the movie was moving the plot along. His motives weren't fleshed out too well, he only had one facial expression throughout the entire movie, and he was just uninspiring. There was nothing gripping about the character, and he was just boring, bland, and altogether uninspiring.

In fact, almost all the characters in the movie were poorly developed, with the exception of Kristen Wiig. You don't get any of their motivations, and there are hardly moment wherein one of them really makes you think or contemplate on who that character is as a person.

Third, the pacing in this movie was just... really off. Everything was moving way too fast and at times, it didn't feel as if the plot needed to be stretched out for as long as the movie stretched it out. There were plot points that felt as if they were rushed by, just so they could add in another joke.

I'm not even gonna talk about the shitty "modern take" on the classic Ghostbusters theme song. I won't.

Okay, so now that that's all out of the way, I'm gonna briefly discuss how this movie fails as a Ghostbusters movie.

Starting with...

The reboot is just about as subtle as that kid in McDonald's who just walks around the restaurant trying to get in everyone's business. He's loud, and oftentimes obnoxious. That's what the reboot's comedy is; loud and obnoxious. I'm not above loud comedy, and I'm not above slapstick either, but when you take a movie like Ghostbusters and change the comedic tone entirely and just beat people over the head with it, it's no longer funny. Your movie just becomes a chore to watch.

And the comedic tone in this movie is such a far cry from that of the original movie that it really just cancels out the nostalgic elements it tries to deliver.

 

Furthermore, the reboot makes it seem as if these four women are completely incompetent at doing their jobs. You don't see that they're actually out there busting ghosts, and it's never implied or established in the movie that these four women are the Ghostbusters. In the original movie, it's actually established that the Ghostbusters are actually out there getting shit done, and that allows for a lot of character development and growth.

And the last point I'd like to make is that this movie pays absolutely no respect to the original film. I say this not out of spite as a fan, but because it's true. Whereas the original movie was a fun, creepy adventure with subtle comedic elements, this reboot comes off as a blatant agenda-driven cash grab.

As I mentioned in my previous post about the Ghostbusters reboot, I'm all for strong female characters. And we can see that movies with strong female leads can do really well from a critical and commercial stand point. We've seen it with The Force Awakens, and we've seen it with Mad Max: Fury Road. Those movies had awesome female leads in them without having to demonize the other end of the spectrum. And that's essentially what Ghostbusters does; it paints all the male characters in a negative light. I would've given this movie a pass for doing so if it wasn't such a huge fucking hypocrite about it.

When you play the victim card and call your haters misogynists and sexists for not having the best or most optimistic impressions about your movie, you're no longer within your right to be blatantly sexist in the said movie. That's just childish, immature, and hypocritical, and puts you more spaces backward. That's not equality; that's just being a shithead.

And, I don't quite know if this counts as a spoiler, but the original cast members do have cameos in the movie. It was kinda nice to see them all again, but the roles they were given almost felt disrespectful. Like, really disrespectful.

For all the movie's faults, though, I still think kids will enjoy it for what it is. The comedy is right down their alley, and they should definitely have a good time with it. I, for one, kinda outgrew most of the jokes in the movie, and found that there were more things I disliked about it than otherwise. Some of it was entertaining, but I still can't rate this movie higher than an unimpressed McKayla.

However, as a Ghostbusters movie; I'm afraid it deserves nothing more than a Picard.

So, those are my thoughts on the Ghostbusters reboot! Have you seen it? Let me know what you thought about it. As always, this has been Rafa. Stay classy.