Ghostbusters (2016) - Movie Review
I'm sure you know the story by now. They're remaking Ghostbusters, the trailers sucked, nothing about this movie looks good, they're ruining my childhood, yada yada yada. Whatever the reason is, this movie has been one of the most hated films to hit theaters in recent memory. I personally loved the original 1984 Ghostbusters, but I still went into this with an open mind. How did it hold up? Let's settle this right now and break it down.
Ghostbusters (2016) is directed by Paul Feig and stars Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones as the new unlikely group of heroes that have come together in order to take down an onslaught of paranormal entities terrorizing in the Big Apple.
Now to me, I'm not against remaking movies. I know there's only a handful of remakes that actually improve their respective originals by far, but some (most) remakes don't offer or bring anything new to the table and that's what I want to see in any remake. So now we have a remake of Ghostbusters...
While I'll happily admit it's not as bad as the trailers were making it out to be, I could've done without this film ever being brought into existence.
Let's talk about our main protagonists, the four female comedian ghostbusters. Together, they actually work and play off each other very well. Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig have solid chemistry together and even Leslie Jones surprised me with her performance, she was a great, welcomed presence in this movie.
Kate McKinnon's performance felt very out of place to me. I've watched her on SNL multiple times before and her style works there. Here in this movie, she just seems to come off as a cartoon. For the most part, she's on and off with me throughout this film. However, all four of these women as a team are excellent together.
There's two things this film I will say, improved upon from the original Ghostbusters: its visuals and Chris Hemsworth as Kevin, the Ghostbusters receptionist. For obvious 21st century reasons, this movie visually does look better than the 1984 Ghostbusters. The ghosts, the monsters, and special effects do look a hell of a lot better in today's modern era.
Hemsworth's performance as the dimwitted assistant is actually pretty funny. However, I can see some people watching this film and thinking "Okay I get it movie, he's dumb." because his idiot shtick can get tiring at times, but to me, he's just another great thing about this film.
Alright, now let me tell you why this movie wasn't worth remaking in the first place. Fair warning, mini rant ahead.
This movie doesn't know what it wants to be. Does it want to honor the original? Does it want to stand on its own as a completely different movie? This movie did have potential in the beginning, I did find myself laughing a couple of good times. Sadly as the movie progresses into the second and third act, it just says "forget it, let's just focus on making some money!" And that's why a lot of remakes don't work, because they do it for a cash grab.
This movie tries to pay homage to the original, but everything it does just falls kinda flat. The "cool" cameos that happen should be cool, but they just come off as cheap and in all honestly, just a waste at times. Not to mention this film just constantly beats you over the head with jokes that don't work, insisting that it's good when everything is just average or been done better in the past. In my opinion, this movie feels like it rides the coattails of its 1984 film counterpart.
Okay, rant over.
I'm going to attempt to sum up my thoughts as short and as sweet as possible. I don't want to come off as completely hating this movie, because I don't, there are some redeeming qualities this film has going for it. This isn't the worst movie I've ever seen and people should actually give it more credit. However, it's just not going to be a movie I would want to see again any time soon. It's not that bad, but it's just not that good either.
I'm going to give Ghostbusters (2016) a solid "C" on the movie grading scale. I'll say this though, this Ghostbusters is way better than Ghostbusters 2, that's for sure. I know it's not saying a lot, but I gotta try to end on a positive note. And if anything, this movie will make you appreciate the original Ghostbusters even more.
As always, thanks so much for reading and make sure to stay posted to Frank’s Takes for more reviews. Until next time, keep it 100.
– Frank
