MOVIE REVIEW: GHOSTBUSTERS

Ghostbusters

Director:
Paul Feig

Cast:
Melissa Mcarthy, Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones

The Ghostbusters are back in this updated remake of the 80’s classic. Now I personally wish that this was actually a sequel to those original movies, especially seeing all the Easter eggs in this reboot. That being said, I do see the beauty in telling an origin story of how these 3 scientist and a no-nonsense New Yorker set out to save the city from the apocalypse.

In this version, Kristen Wiig and Melissa Mcarthy play friends who had a falling out while they were exploring the world of the paranormal. One stayed with the investigation and the other decided to leave it behind and pursue a different field. After years apart, they are brought back together by the appearances of ghosts, happening all around New York. They realize that they may be the only hope to stop these hauntings and what’s eventually coming after.

Kate Mckinnon also stars as a eccentric, genius, goofball scientist, that’s responsible for creating a lot of the gear for the group. Leslie Jones plays a subway toll operator, who after seeing a ghost, decides to join in the team.
This movie received a lot of backlash beforehand, partly because it’s not a sequel to the original franchise, and because this time the Ghostbusters are all women.

Seeing how this is from the director of box office smashes like “Bridesmaids” and “The Heat” and “Spy”, the question is can he make another funny, women centric movie, that captures the adventurous fun of the 80’s classic?

The answer….kind of.

I love the classic Ghostbusters, and I was stunned to see that they preserved the dry, subtle humor here. The first half of this movie is surprisingly funny and quirky. Midway through, there’s a complete stop, and then it doesn’t quite build up the momentum again to have you care for the situations these characters are in. Luckily there’s some action scenes in third act to at least keep things visually interesting.

The actresses are all funny, especially Kate Mckinnon, she nails almost every scene she’s in. Chris Hemsworth also delivers a charmingly goofy character, playing up to the charisma he’s displayed in the “Thor” movies. This is definitely a fun, summer, popcorn movie that pays a lot of homage to the original movie. My only is real issue is that I wished the second half of the movie had more story progression. It felt like all the good script creativeness was used up in the first half. That’s my own gripe, other than that, this is a fun, silly successor to the original.

3 out of 5

-Markellus