We all know the jingle, who ya gonna call? Ghostbusters, that is who. It has been a long time since I had seen the original Ghostbusters, or the sequel, but I decided to take a chance on the reboot, and I can say that I was pleasantly surprised. I won't be talking much about the plot, but there will be some spoilers ahead.
I remember when I first heard the speculation around a possible new Ghostbusters movie, and I was excited to see what would happen or how they would choose to continue the franchise from where they left off. Shortly thereafter, I found out this was just going to be a reboot. That was when I had an uneasy feeling about the quality of this film. Nowadays we have all these great movies that have become reboots in an attempt for a quick cash grab.
Let's talk about the cast, it was a well put together bunch, but it was met with a lot of fan disapproval. The choice to cast all female leads upset many, but I can say that the choice worked quite well. Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones all have a great sense of individuality to them and you begin to really enjoy their presence on screen. I will admit there are a few times where I was wondering why Melissa McCarthy's character, Abby, was being so goofy, but overall the casting choice was well done in my opinion.
On a side note, die-hard Ghostbusters fans have a little treat for them, cameos from the original cast. This was something that kinda a nice touch, a somewhat passing of the torch if you will. You'll get to see the likes of Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver, and even Annie Potts. As soon as I saw Bill Murray, I knew that I had a bunch of cameos in store that I would be excited to see. Sadly, they couldn't get one from Rick Moranis, but it was packed with enough to where I was alright without seeing him. One thing people should know is that all of the cameos are not of the characters we think they'd be playing, but entirely new ones. This was done to start from scratch and kind of tell a new origin story for these Ghostbusters
One of my favorite parts about the movie is the casting of Chris Hemsworth to play the Ghostbusters' secretary, Kevin. He played the role very well, a muscular and good looking, yet dumb as a rock guy who makes you think he isn't all up there in the head. There were a bunch of scenes with him where I couldn't help but laugh at his hilarious antics.
The CGI throughout the film is done very well. All the ghosts look spooky when they are supposed to be, and we even get some better quality versions of some of the original ghosts, such Slimer or the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. Everything looks amazing, and by far the best part to do with the CGI is when they are all taking on the ghosts in an all out onslaught of CGI glory. I would have to say my favorite part is when we see Kate McKinnon's character, Jillian, take on several ghosts at once. It was truly wonderful to watch and it was put together so perfectly, that I couldn't take my eyes off of it.
Now let's talk about what every movie go-er cares about, the plot. The plot isn't to difficult to follow, and there is a lack of side plots, but that isn't always a bad thing. We get a little bit of backstory on the characters such as Kristen Wiig's & Melissa McCarthy's characters, but not much on the others. I feel like they could've expanded it some more, that way we could get a better idea of who these people really are. Essentially the plot is as follows, a man is trying to open up a portal to let ghosts into our world to terrorize us all. These 4 women come together to stop his plans, but come into a few snags along the way. There is a lot more I could go into with the plot, but I like to keep my reviews somewhat spoiler free, so you will have to go see it to find out more.
In conclusion, a movie that seemed like it was going to be just another cash grab, really wasn't too bad. I enjoyed the movie, the cast, the effects, and I would definitely recommend anyone who liked the original ghostbusters, but are unsure if they want to go see this reboot, to go out and give it a view. These new Ghostbusters have some big shoes to try and fill, but I think they can do it.
7.5/10
Oh and by the way, there is an post credit scene that teases something big to come, so make sure you stick around, maybe we'll get to see an an old face return next movie
