PopHorror Let's Get Scared
In this day and age, we are filled to the brim with remakes, reboots, and sequels. When one of their beloved movies of the past is remade or rebooted, people seem to freak. Obviously, no movie remake or reboot can touch the original. However, is it possible that if we strip away all of our preconceived thoughts and try not to compare it to the classic that we might actually be able to enjoy one of them? There has been a lot of negative comments and slander about the recent reboot of Ghostbusters, especially since it has four female leads. With an unbiased opinion going into the movie, did I feel the same as these naysayers? Or did I leave happy and at ease to call on these four women if I ever have a ghost problem?
Directed by Paul Feig, Ghostbusters dropped into theaters on July 15, 2016. As of July 19, 2016, it has grossed a total of $75.4 million worldwide against a $144 million dollar budget. You can see it in standard definition or in 3D. Thus far, the reactions are quite mixed. Rotten Tomatoes has it at a 73% rating, certifying it fresh. However, on IMDB it only has a 5.3 rating out of 10, but it seems to be climbing as we speak. After it’s released on DVD, I believe those numbers will change for the better as more and more people will be impressed.
The story line follows Dr. Erin Gilbert (Kristin Wiig), who is finally up for her tenure. That is, until a book resurfaces from her past that she had written with an old friend, Abby Yates (Melissa McCarthy), about paranormal research and ghosts, causing her to lose her tenure. She decides to confront her old friend and sees that Abby is still a scientist and has a new colleague, the wacky Jillian Holtzmann (Kate McKinnon). Soon after, they encounter a real ghost and decide this is the perfect time to start a business as the Ghostbusters. Along the way, they hire a few people to help them, including a receptionist named Kevin (Chris Hemsworth) and a born and raised New Yorker who knows the city like the back of her hand: Patty Tolan (Leslie Jones). They keep running into ghosts everywhere they go and are determined to prove they are real “ghostbusters.” Will the town stand behind them or continue to think that they are frauds?
What Works: The opening sequence will have you captivated with the feeling of nostalgia. As soon as you see the Ghostbusters logo appear on the screen with the original song, a smile will come across your face. The cast actually blended really well together; McCarthy and Wiig are at it again and it just felt natural. Jones drops some hilarious one-liners, as does McKinnon. This movie is well aware of what it was up against and it never takes itself too seriously. It didn’t try to copy the original, which worked in its favor. There are no shortages of amazing cameos and you can’t wait to see who is going to pop up next! Hemsworth was more than just a pretty face and actually enjoyable to watch. The original Ghostbusters logo appears constantly throughout the movie, which is pretty damn cool.
What Doesn’t Work: The main bad guy, Rowan North (Neil Casey), just couldn’t pull it off in my opinion. His role didn’t feel real, and his character was boring. Also, even though the green animated slime had some funny parts, it just didn’t have the awesome effect that I had hoped for. The worst part for me, in all honesty, was the remake of the Ghostbusters theme song by Fall Out Boy and Missy Elliott… it seriously makes me cringe.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
Don’t give up on the reboot of Ghostbusters just because you love the original or because it has four females as a lead. This movie does exactly what it was intended to do, which was to be fun and to entertain us. I know a lot of people are closed minded and won’t even give it a chance, or they will simply disagree with me, which is one hundred percent fine. This movie overall has a great cast and you can tell how much fun they had doing it. Also, if you are to go see this movie or decide to rent it at some point, be sure to stick around for the credits for another special surprise cameo. My advice: who care’s if it’s not the original movie, it’s not trying to be. Give this movie a chance and don’t be afraid of what female Ghostbusters have to offer.
This film was a complete flop (financially). The Box Gross office failure hurt, but the loss of the China market is what accelerated the bust. But let’s look at a couple What if scenarios…
1. Just for fun, a casting change – replace Kristin Wiig with either Amy Poehler or Tina Fey and replace Chris Hemsworth with Andy Samberg.
2. After all the bad press, gender bashing, and horrible YouTube dislike stats; Sony should have released this with Netflix and skipped the theatrical release, finessed the cast and franchise direction and prepped for another feature. Netflix would have allowed them to hide the lack of results in the box office and strengthened the success by keeping it available for everyone like Lacy who enjoyed it and still finessed it to keep the franchise going.
3. Move the release date… If this was released in the fall as oppose to the summer tent-pole season it would have had a better chance to continue to gain in the box.