No film has had to travel through quite the winding road as did Ghostbusters. Not many people know but initially the plan was to actually make a third Ghostbusters movie following the two with Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson and company. However after multiple scripts getting bounced around, Bill Murray saying he did want to be involved, then saying he didn't want anything to do with it, and Dan Akroyd acting all kooky, nobody could really say for sure when they were going to make Ghostbusters 3. Finally, after the death of Harold Ramis, I think they all just said screw it. Of course, knowing Sony, they were not going to relent so easily. Even if literally everybody involved with the first 2 movies said they weren't going to make a third, they were still going to make a third. And thus, Ghostbusters 2016 was born.
The story is much more complicated than that, but that's about as cut and dry as I can make it. Also, Akroyd thinks that aliens planned to visit us, but then 9/11 happened and they said "Yeah... No".
So, truth be told, even though I enjoy the original Ghostbusters very much, I wouldn't really consider myself a "fan". Or rather, I don't fit the fan community's definition of a true fan. For example, I had no idea until last year that everybody disliked Ghostbusters 2 as much as they did. I mean yeah, the first is obviously better, but Ghostbusters 2 didn't make me seethe the way other people did. I mean it's not a great movie but it's enjoyable. And I wasn't clamoring and anxiously waiting to hear any news regarding a third movie like others were. I figured if they hadn't made it by 2000, then it probably wasn't getting made. I actually kinda saw reboot as the natural step to take. Or rather, the natural step for the studio to take. I would have continued the sequel route, but in a JJ Abrams sense. The original cast is still there, but they play a smaller role so to let those who take the baton have their moments in the spotlight.
Anyway, my hopes were not really all that high going into the theater. I saw both trailers and wasn't really impressed. I liked all the leading ladies and thought they were great choices to play the new team, but I was afraid that their talents would be wasted on a script that was all about throwbacks and wink winks to the original. So before you start calling me misogynist, which it took me 3 attempts to spell correctly, just know that that was my position going in.
So after all the hype and the rage and the debates and the mud slinging, how did the final movie turn out?
In my opinion, surprisingly okay.
It starts out very weak and even after it picks up it still has its weak moments. There are a number of cameos that I thought could (should) have just been left out, and I noticed a trend that all of the male characters are either assholes or dopes. The villain I thought was kinda weak and not really memorable at all. And I couldn't get over the fact that everybody was just so cartoony. I mean yeah, they're a little unhinged but do we need them to all be looney toons?
With that said, there are a number of hilarious moments. The best lines are delivered by Chris Hemsworth, Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon. Of course Kirsten Wiig and Melissa McCarthy are always great and they have great chemistry together. On top of that, the actual ghostbusting equipment was really cool with some cool new tech and weapons and the look of the ghosts themselves were actually a nice upgrade. And it was nice to see Slimer upgraded with modern effects.
I feel kinda bad that I don't have a whole lot more to say about the final product, but in actuality the majority of what there is to talk about regarding this movie has more to do with what's surrounding the movie rather than the movie itself. It's hard to talk about it without being labeled. If I say the movie sucked (which it definitely did at times), I'm sexist. If I say that I enjoyed this movie (which I did at times), then I get told that I'm not a true fan of the original and that I've bought into Hollywood politics. Well, like I said, I don't really fit into that idea of a "fan", and as someone on the outer fringes of the debate circle, I'd have to give this movie a C. Not totally sucky, but still not all that great either. Put away the pitchforks guys.
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