THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
We all know how Hollywood has the tendency in giving franchises a do over and half the time, you're not sure if the decision was necessary depending on the name. Ghostbusters was one example because before there was a proper sequel given thanks to Afterlife, there was modern reboot that came in between and your guess can be as good as mine wondering if it ever needed to happen.
PLOT
The 2016 film follows particle physicists Erin Gilbert and Abby Yates who have grown to been estranged friends after publishing 'Ghosts from Our Past', which was about their paranormal investigations in high school. As an adult now, Erin works at Columbia University in line for a tenure, but worries of it being in jeopardy after Abby, who never stopped her research, republishes their book. She only agrees to cease it if helping her and new partner engineering physicist Jillian Holtzman, to investigate an alleged haunted house. They do find an actual ghost that chases them away, but their vlogged incident would become viral and Erin would lose her bid for tenure as she worried. On top of that, Abby and Holtz would lose their jobs at Higgins P Institute as well. So, they would decide to steal equipment in order to have a personal business afloat as investigators. They would set up shop above a chines restaurant, due to it being extremely cheap and would hire a man named Kevin Beckman as their receptionist; who despite being deemed attractive in their eyes is extremely dim witted. As the team officiate themselves as Ghostbusters, they would be reached out to by MTA staffer Patty Tolan encountered a ghost in the subway terminal. They try to capture it with a prototype proton pack, but it backfires as it would quickly escape. In return, Patty would join the team and offer help of her own with providing protective equipment and a hearse they repurpose to become their Ecto-1. They are publicly praised for their work after capturing a gargoyle like spirit in the middle of a concert. Erin would even impulsively show it to famed debunker Martin Heiss, which would backfire as it would attack him out the window to escape. Mayor Bradley and Deputy Jennifer Lynch (Cecily Strong) do express gratitude privately for their work, but would instead insist on them to denounce their work to avoid a further panic. They still continue their own investigation when finding self developed ionizers from their past supernatural encounters. Based on the pattern, Erin deduces who ever planted them is doing so along ley lines with alignments intersecting at the Mercado Hotel in Times Square. They find the perpetrator to be Rowan North in the same hotel he ironically works at, but has built a laboratory in the boiler room to create a dimensional vortex. When cornered, he refuses to turn himself in and chooses to take his own life by electrocuting himself with his own machine. The Department of Homeland Security would escort them out, still insisting on them to be fraudsters, but Erin would take Rowan's copy of her book. When looking through it, she sees drawings that confirm his suicide was only part of the plan. She would try to warn her group, but it would be too late as Rowan's ghost would briefly possess Abby to try killing them within. When that backfires due to Patty stopping him, he would then switch his focus on Kevin who he would deem an easy target. In Kevin's body, he would go back to the hotel to open the portal. Erin would try to warn the mayor to evacuate the city, but he still refuses to acknowledge her efforts. It would be too late as the portal would open and countless ghosts would horde New York. All four ghostbusters would still gear up and defend the city with an array of weapons made by Holtz. When regrouping with Erin, they confront Rowan who would free Kevin from possession, but would convert himself into a kaiju-like beast. The team would improvise by turning the Ecto-1 into a makeshift bomb which would close the vortex. Although one ghost steals the car for a joyride, they lure it to the vortex which pulls Rowan in. As he falls for his demise, he tires to take Abby with him but Erin jumps in to save her. The two protagonists able to escape thanks to Erin strapping herself to a wire in advance, in which Holtz and Patty would later pull. After saving New York, the public would continue acknowledging their heroic efforts unlike the mayor, who would still denounce them yet covertly fund their operations. His funds would be so beneficial that they would upgrade their headquarters to the fire station they originally intended to set up shop. The film would end in a post credits scene where Patty would listen to an electronic voice phenomenon that says aloud 'Zuul'.
THOUGHTS
I have deep love for Ghostbusters like many do and after enjoying both 80s films back to back, I did not mind getting more of it as life went on. When the trailer for this reboot dropped, people immediately hated this online before even giving it a chance. It didn't even look as bad as they worried and because I saw myself so open minded, it only drove me more to give it a chance. While I'm not gonna overrate this film and call it amazing, but I didn't hate it either and find it generally enjoyable. Director Paul Feig, who had previously done hits like Spy and Bridesmaids, knew the pressure was on to retell something that has been special for so long. He doesn't exactly overdo the idea to make it his own, but spins the wheel as cautious as he could without breaking it. This is a solid fun sci fi comedy because they knew when to get creative with the concept half the time. Seeing the likes of an upper arm remote trigger and a proton pistol was pretty cool to see where I wish the original sequel had that in mind at the time. I'm not gonna overreact and say the visuals are amazing because I was feeling pulled for a bit when seeing the inside of the vortex. The rest is made up for when seeing the various ghosts that succeed in creeping me the hell out. Besides Slimer who carjacked the Ecto-1, the gargoyle felt the most unique of its design before Rowan's kaiju form surprised me. What I do respect this film the most for is maintaining the theme to never be ashamed of what you believe in because your beliefs can benefit you in the long run. And that concept does not work without the core four that have believable chemistry. Melissa McCarthy's Abby was indeed the equivalent to Raymond Stantz because she fearless and bold when it came to pursuing what others looked at as the unknown. Had she not republished her book due to how firm she is with her beliefs, they would've not stopped Rowan as soon as they did. The biggest laugh she gave me apart from calling the ghosts beautiful, it had to be her complaint of lack of wontons in her soup which I relate to because it's annoying the order is never provided right. Kristeen Wiig is the equivalent to Peter Venkman because she's the most reserved and wants to fit in. She still gave Abby a chance out of respect to her having her back in her childhood, hence co-writing the book in the first place. She would even return the favor when saving the life. I did laught that their hair got whitened as a result of entering the vortex, but I was mostly laughing to Wiig when holding onto the table when being kicked out of the restaurant trying to warn the public, as well as crushing over Kevin. I don't blame her for the latter because there is no way a lady would not be attracted to a character played by Chris Hemsworth. Hilariously, Hemsworth was the polar opposite to Janine Melnitz because rather than having sass, he is very gullible of a guy who isn't self aware compare to the women around him. The way he ignored them in the climax just to get a sandwich had me falling off my chair more than how he intentionally took off his glasses lenses to stop cleaning them, have terrible logo designs or name his dog Mike Hat where everyone confuses him to have said 'my cat'. Hemsworth was just a natural in the deadpan delivery and I'm glad he would get further experimental with comedy as his career progressed. Resuming to the core cast, Kate McKinnon had me laughing nonstop as Holtz who is visibly the equivalent to Egon Spengler. Shes was the eccentric due to getting very creative with her creations, but her simple actions created the biggest laughs, whether it was dancing without caution or pranking Erin with a wig pretending to be a mannequin. On the other hand, I also enjoyed Leslie Jones' Patty as the equivalent to Winston Zeddemore. She stood out more for being the most upbeat of the group as she enjoys helping just like the others do. The biggest laughs she gave me where when she tried to be calm over the gargoyle spirit, complains on not getting the stage dive and slapping twice Abby to get Rowan out of her possession when it already worked the first time. The boisterous attitude she had with each scene really made her stand out in the best ways possible. I'm not gonna overrate Rowan, but he was a solid villain for the most part because he kept the tension when needed to. I personally think Neil Casey gave an excellent take on a maniacal individual who lost hope due to being completely disappointed with the world around him and chose to gave his own take on cleansing. Had he had the same optimism the women had, he would've not gone as far as he did but because he still did, he had to be stopped which is what the the Ghostbusters succeeded in. Now I've given this film a fair amount of praise but there is a lot of shit where I understand the hatred from most fans. The nostalgia is heavily forced because we honestly didn't need Slimer to be the one to carjack the Ecto-1, nor did there have to be a balloon ghost in the form of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. You're checking off boxes that don't need to be checked. And did it have to be graffiti that inspired the iconic logo because I would've not minded it being Kevin to have been the source. It was clever for Bill Murray to play Martin Heiss for the sake of irony as was the whammy of Ernie Hudson playing Patty's Uncle Bill, but the other cameos were not smart at all. Dan Aykroyd playing a cabbie, Annie Potts playing a crank desk clerk and Sigourney Weaver playing Holtz' idol Rebecca Gorin was so forced I don't understand why they agreed to do it in the first place. The studio should've just settled with the Harold Ramis statue and called it a day, but they just couldn't help it giving us a scavenger hunt to point them out. At least it was cool seeing Ozzy Osbourne. The most wasteful casting has to be Andy Garcia as the mayor who is straightforward a stingy guy who can't handle people getting things done compared to him. It's too straightforward for an actor at his caliber. I know modern blockbusters made it a heavy trend to set up sequels with post/mid credit stingers, but trying to set up a future encounter with Gozer was distasteful. The studio should've waited for the proper feedback before giving forward, thus being a pointless cliffhanger like the Shazam movies. This is only the tip of the iceberg because a lot of things annoyed me story wise. Like how come Abby doesn't post the whole video where she saw the ghost that first slimed Erin. She likely would've not gotten fired if the whole thing was shown. That's more embarrassing than how that video doesn't get addressed as much as the second set of proof later on. I did say it was funny of Abby complaining on her order not being right, but why doesn't she go to other restaurants? I call bullshit if she says it's the only one in NY. And the team is lucky no one got hurt in the concert when the team shot at the ghost and somehow hit nobody. I'm even surprised the cops didn't take any evidence because they could've taken Abby's PKE meter she left behind, which surprises me more than how no one saw Abby take Rowan's copy of her book. To wrap up, 2016's Ghostbusters is a decent retelling that hits enough marks to be entertaining to sit through. And no one in the bar recognizes the Ghostbusters who just saved the world? Massive bullshit because I so would have. If you enjoyed the 80s classics, I hope you are patient enough to give this one a chance. If you dislike it, please don't be sexist about it and go see the legacy sequels by Jason Reitman which are the modern improvement you're likely seeking.
Comments