


COLUMBIA PICTURES (2016)
Director: Paul Feig
Starring: Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones, Chris Hemsworth, Charles Dance, Andy Garcia
With possibly the most controversial reboot of the decade (millennium?!) based on a veritable smorgasbord of theories and opinions, Ghostbusters returns. Does it return with a bang? Sort of. Is it the worst movie ever made WTF OMG? Absolutely not. Is it a good movie? You betcha.
The cast work brilliantly together, bringing their comic talents together nicely. They feel like a team throughout, much like the original Ghostbusters way back in 1984. The styles complement each other well and play off against each other successfully also.
Melissa McCarthy is great as Abby, the always believing researcher, providing her usual full throttle performance. Wiig is delightful as the ultra-serious Erin – until a handsome man appears. Expectedly, together the two combine to provide some great comedy moments. Leslie Jones portrays the brash and brawn of Patty with glee, and exuberates the energy of the other three members of the gang by herself. Kate McKinnon brings her SNL slapstick to the party as the wacky engineer responsible for the gadgets, her zesty performance at times akin to a shaky house of cards – not quite sure where the cards were going to fall next. Together, it all formed a believable team bringing every quality you would want – including humour.
The film is funny for the vast majority of it, with a few gags falling flat here and there, but with the sheer amount that are fired at you, this is to be expected. Hemsworth’s character provided much of the comic relief with his impossibly dumb yet endearing receptionist, but there’s gags to be found from all of the characters, including visual (hello Slimer), not just the Ghostbusters. The movie even finds time to jab at the voices that have been criticising its existence with a few internet gags early on.
Towards the end of the movie, we blast into a CGI-fest – but to be fair, most of the paranormal world were too busy to star in the movie, so CGI had to make do – and it’s with this that the majority of the laughs dry up, and the action takes over. The action scenes look great, as the proton packs blast through wave after wave of ghouls, however the stakes are lowered and lowered as more and more get blasted. The villain of the piece, Rowan was unsatisfying overall, with the ghosts taking centre stage rather than the evil villain. The final act did seem to go on for a while, however I was entertained enough to not be bothered. That said, it did take a while for the movie as a whole to really get going, after the exposition and character introductions were laid down – however the intro in the mansion was great. The effects for the most part were good looking, and the visual spectacle of the vibrant colours fighting it out in the conclusion was a feast for the eyes. Plus, it’s great to see the proton packs firing again!
The old crew turn up too, not to be overlooked, as Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd , Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts and Sigourney Weaver return for cameo performances (Murray’s being slightly longer and more ’integral’ to the proceedings) and a nice touch was shown as a bust of the late Harold Ramis appears in the University. The cameos were nice touches and a nice nod to what came before. Also, the post credits scene tastily hints at a return for a previous baddie…
After all the attention this movie had received in the years prior to its production and release, it was relieving to finally be able to sit down and watch it, and the best part? It was damn enjoyable and good fun. I was entertained throughout, and bought into the characters as the story unfolded. To hell with the outrage and the fury, Ghostbusters is a fun movie – just as it should be, it’s a movie about busting ghosts – and an entertaining watch. Try it out, you may just be surprised.
Bustin’ makes me feel good? It did on this occasion.












October 14th 2016