Spoiler below!
The Ghostbusters 2016 film has long been in my mind since
the announcement as I’m a huge fan of the film series before it as I grew up
repeatedly watching it throughout the 90’s. And I would say that the new
admission (well, reboot) delivers on many fronts but could do with some
refinement. Thanks to my sis who invited me to go watch an early preview of the
film the day before it was actually released.
The plot follows 4 women: 3 physicists and a streetwise
lassie. Together they have to try and figure out why ghosts are cropping up in
Manhattan.
Expectations versus reality
There were waves of fan backlash mainly due to the fact that
four women made up the Ghostbusters which I never got at all. The first trailer
amassed a majority of dislikes while I found the first trailer to look quite
fun. The arrangements in the trailer itself very much reflected the original
Ghostbusters film and it seemed to me that they were remaking the original film
but with a female cast.
Of course though, no one should judge a few minutes of a
trailer to the full scale of a film that is 1 hours 45 minutes long. I found
myself really enjoying the film but it does not live up to its original
predecessor but I would say it did a pretty darn good job at doing it.
Star characters
Standout characters for me were Holtzmann (Kate McKinnon)
followed closely with Patty (Leslie Jones) and Kevin (Chris Hemsworth).
Holtzmann’s eccentricity with a lot of quirks that comes with it making her one
of the most memorable characters in the film. Patty herself has (literally) a
loud personality as well as a relatable one at that as well with a lot of the
laughs coming from her. Kevin is the hot-totty-that-isn’t-always-with-it and
his performance I found was absolutely brilliant. That being said, I thought
the camaraderie between the other two main characters Erin (Kristen Wiig) and
Abby (Melissa McCarthy) played off each other and made the film that much more
important than it would be coming to the end.
A lot of humour actually comes through with these characters
especially from Kevin who is a surprise for me as Hemsworth really done a great
job with his character. Not all of the humour was particularly on par though
such as the scene of the meeting with Thomas Shanks (Abby and Holtzmann’s boss
and ex-boss) who plays out jokes that have already become too clichéd and completely
misses the boat with the audience and myself as I found in the screening room.
Frights, action and special effects
I jumped right out of my seat at the beginning of the film
when the first paranormal hit came out expectedly and unexpectedly in the
Aldridge Mansion Museum. There are further frights which I expected but
unexpectedly realised how it made me jump out of my skin again at the Museum as
a ghost face’s countenance changes from sinister to malevolence. There was also
another scene with Patty and a room of mannequins which was enough for me to
get me moving and found it really unsettling when one of the mannequins turned
its head.
With more technology at hand, the Ghostbusters this time
round seem to get more action with what they’re able to do. One of the most
brilliant scenes was Holtzmann’s two stream guns scenes see her perform
acrobatics all over the ghosts which was magnificently done. The new equipment
they have are geared nearer to combat as Abby sports a ghost punch device,
Patty a ghost shredding device and Erin a Swiss army knife which actually comes
in handy with ghosts. The special effects though did not take away from any of
the scares that the film was gonna pull.
The special effects on the other hand seem to take more of a
cartoonish vibe to it which includes the glowing tint of the ghosts as well as
the streams coming from Proton Packs. What I seem to have gathered from the
film though is that the ghosts have different visibilities and I’m wondering if
these ghosts could come in a lighter shade or glow, especially that the film
shows that the ghost can take on many different physical forms and not just
physical objects.
The underlying messages
It’s hard to say where the distinction lies between on talks
of gender as how is it plausible to define a characteristic or trait to a
generalised group when each could offer a unique insight and visions as shown
in all four of the Ghostbusters. That being said, there are actually jokes
aimed directly at the villain Rowan’s groin area in the final fight as well as
a mid-credit scene between Holtzmann and her mentor which I found to be unnecessary
in this day and age.
There are important underlying messages embedded into the
film which becomes thematic in a sense of family. Of being able to rely and depend
on each other in that moment of need, which pretty much sums up this film.
Moments like these are like when Erin tells her story of seeing a ghost at the
foot of her bed for two years and her parents did not believe her and actually
sent her to therapy for many years after (a very deep moment!) and the others
showed an understanding and empathy towards her. Another highlighted example of
this is when in the final fight sequence that Erin jumps into a vortex to save
Abby’s life with not a moment’s notice, which showed that deep bond that they
share with one another.
Another message I found which can be relatable to many is to
work hard to achieve what you want, which is something the Ghostbusters face many
of an occasion due to many obstacles in their way, especially with Erin who
seems to fight for that acceptance more than the others. Rowan seems to be the
antithesis of this as he poses the opposite to the Ghostbusters which is very
fitting in this circumstance as he has lost hope for himself and the human
race. There was a moment where Abby tried to reason with him saying that there
is a lot to fight for with her first thought being food (running theme for her).
Cameos
Bill Murray’s cameo as a debunker to the works of the
Ghostbusters is not one I particularly liked. His first appearance was on a
television which I would much preferred if it was subtly done in passing which
I would have found to be more effective of a cameo for that particular
character. He makes another further prolonged appearance when he appears at the
Ghostbusters HQ which loses the credibility of his character cameo altogether.
Another miss is Dan Aykroyd’s cameo as a cab driver which think was supposed to
be funny but it wasn’t. Aykroyd’s cameo could have been that much stronger.
Ozzy Osbourne was another cameo that seemed out of place as the producers must
have thought it must be an obligation to stick him after a rock concert with
ghosts wrecking havoc is an obligation.
Harold Ramis’ statue of his head makes an appearance near
the beginning of the film which was a nice touching tribute. Other great cameos
come from Sigourney Weaver as Holtzmann’s mentor and Annie Potts as a Hotel Desk Clerk. A really
good cameo came from Ernie Hudson as the uncle of Patty’s that has been
elusively mentioned throughout the whole film and a face palm moment when you
should have realised it would be him.
What do I think as a whole?
I would give it four out of five stars for the relationship
between the Ghostbusters as well as Kevin and the importance of the underlying
message, mostly great cameos, and a lot of laughs and a bit of scares to be had.
It could do some refinement on what the ghosts would look like as well as the
quality of the streams from the equipment. The humour could do with changing up
as well as not all of it was all that funny unlike the original Ghostbusters
which had all the right laughs in all the right places. I'm still undecided though as to whether I like this more than the original but but I'm definitely worth
another watch at the cinema for me.
