When the new trailer was out on Youtube I was incredibly curious what the remake / reboot was going to be like. I am not a fan of remakes or reboots especially not films that still hold up today. However I always try to be as objective as possible and it is no different with this one. But damn that trailer did not bode well.
While I do think that Melissa McCarthy is a one trick pony she has proven to occasionally be funny. Like in Spy and St. Vincent. Kirsten Wiig very rarely lets down as she is funny and a really good actress overall. If for some reason she does not manage to make you laugh then something else is wrong. Actually a lot is wrong with this film. I don't even know where to begin.
But let me start by saying I judged this film on it's own merits where my expectations were incredibly low and had hoped to at least get a few chuckles from it. Apparently that was too much to ask because seriously I laughed like three or four times. And two times was because of shock and disbelief. Very likely that I was not supposed to laugh at those times. One thing that becomes obvious pretty quickly is that the writing is awful. With writing like that even the best of actors could not be funny even if they tried it too. So settle down social justice warriors and point your hate towards Paul Feig. He is the one who has failed to let his main characters shine.
But that is not all. He also had no clue how to successfully combine horror with comedy. Granted that is a hard thing to do and only a few skillful directors are capable of doing that but does make you wonder why they chose him to direct. It's not like his resume is that impressive. He like Melissa McCarthy is a one trick pony as it seems. Was it really that much to ask to genuinely trying to scare us a little? Even if it was just one scene? I don't really understand the full comedy approach. Even if they only were aiming to make this for kids this is rather an odd decision. I only have to refer to The Gremlins and The Witches where comedy and horror elements are combined magnificently. In this Ghostbusters there wasn't a single moment that could be classified as thrilling or tense. The introductory scene almost was before the appalling special effects ruined everything.
If you think you are going to get better effects than you are shown in the trailer then I will have to disappoint you. It's even worse than you probably imagined. The ghosts look super fake and there is not one scene where I was impressed by the visuals. In fact all of it looked incredibly cheap. Craziest thing though I love Neon. But not like this. The action and spectacle is severely lacking to a point I just wanted the scenes to be over. And at one point I was just itching for that one epic moment where the ghostbusters would show they are not to be messed with. Kate McKinnon as Holtzman almost had such a moment. If only Paul Feig knew the importance of writing good context for action sequences like that. Slowmotion alone is not enough. You need to prepare the audience and build up to them. Remember Gizmo going all Rambo in Gremlins 2? They took their time to set it up so that they could pay tribute and parody Rambo perfectly. The end result was hilarious and epic. Feig for example could have shown more scenes where the ghostbusters miserably failed in dealing with the ghosts or handling their equipment because of certain characteristics or lack of skills. And then have them get on top of that so that you can sense that they had grown and improved themselves. That is something I would appreciate much more than having characters who need very little to no practice. Then scenes like the Holtzman one would have been stylish, cool and badass. I was happy though to see that Slimer managed to get himself a girlfriend. And you will get to see him for like twenty seconds. Way to go Feig!
Which brings me to the cameos. To cite Dr. Sam Beckett of Quantum Leap: "Oh Boy". Ghostbusters is a prime example of how not to use cameos. What is the point of having them if you only are going to show them around twenty or thirty seconds? Nothing fun or significant can be done with them that way. Not to mention that some of them are downright insulting to some of the original Ghostbusters cast.
How is it possible to be so bad even when my expectations were dialed down 98 percent? I will tell you why. This movie is nothing but a cash grab. No effort has been put into this film. There is no heart and soul in this film whatsoever. I suspect the people involved knew what they had and decided to play along for an extra bonus or something. Or they must have signed some agreement to not speak ill about the film. The only reason most people went to see this version of Ghostbusters was because of the controversy regarding the trailer and the female cast. It's funny to see how fast the social justice warriors jumped on the bandwagon and let themselves get used just so that Sony could still earn the big bucks. In case you were wondering about my integrity. I did not pay one cent for this movie. But if for some reason I had this would be the first time ever in my life I would demand my money back. Those people claiming that this film is not that bad should either be ashamed or let themselves get checked. If I, someone who tries to look for good or redeeming factors in the worst movies, can't find any then you can only conclude that this film is bad people. A comedy should make you laugh. Especially if you downplay the horror elements. And it simply failed to do this.
As you can see I have avoided to compare this to the original Ghostbusters as I tried to be as objective as possible and judge this film on it's own. But don't you worry I will soon enough. I first have to watch both the original and it's sequel again.
As you can see I have avoided to compare this to the original Ghostbusters as I tried to be as objective as possible and judge this film on it's own. But don't you worry I will soon enough. I first have to watch both the original and it's sequel again.
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