"Ghostbusters," a modern retelling of the 1984 classic, stars Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon. If you don't know the story of "Ghostbusters," it's pretty simple: four oddballs come together and protect New York City from ghosts. It's silly, and it's meant to be so, and the original film is one of the most beloved films of that era with a legendary cast.
This reboot had a lot to live up to, and I don't know if I've ever seen a film have so much negative attention before the movie even hit theaters. It all started with the all-female lead cast; a lot of people thought that the all-female cast was an unnecessary way of trying to be progressive. I personally never saw it that way; all four women cast have been VERY successful in the comedy genre, so I thought it could actually work out pretty well. Then the first trailer just added fuel to the fire, as it was very underwhelming and actually became the most down-voted trailer in YouTube history. All of that, along with all the negative reaction I saw on Twitter for the TV spots during the NBA Finals, didn't give me very much hope for this movie. Many pegged "Ghostbusters" to be a disaster before anyone even saw the film. After seeing the film, I can confidently say that it is NOT a disaster, and it's not even that bad.
This movie surprised me in a lot of ways. I don't watch "Orange Is The New Black," or anything else Leslie Jones has been in, so I didn't have much of an opinion about her as a comedy actress; all I knew was her character looked like she was going to be pretty ignorant in the trailers. In the movie, she's actually pretty funny! There were times that she was kind of over the top, but that's to be expected in an action-comedy, and I overall enjoyed her character, along with Kristen Wiig, whom I generally enjoy anyway. Chris Hemsworth, to me, steals the show away from the lead cast. He plays the Ghostbusters' secretary, and he's really a pretty stupid character. He plays this character very well and made me laugh most of the time he was on screen. I really have to commend him for that because a stupid character played for comedy can get real old really fast if the actor lacks the proper charisma and likability to make that character work. For example, Chris Pratt as Andy Dwyer in "Parks in Rec." Andy is a bumbling idiot when you really think about it, but Pratt plays him so well that he's known as a lovable goofball and was one of the most beloved characters on a very successful show with a GREAT ensemble cast. It takes a lot of talent and charisma to pull a character like that off (which is why Pratt is now a Hollywood A-Lister), so I was very impressed with Hemsworth in this role. As far as the action goes, it's not too bad, and the big battle at the end of the movie is actually pretty fun!
There was also plenty I didn't like in this movie. One of the big things for me was how it treated men. I had no problem with the all-female lead cast, but they wrote just about every man in this movie to either be a completely incompetent idiot or a total jerk. Seriously, I think every single one. I was also not a huge fan of Kate McKinnon's character. She plays essentially a cartoon character, who is zany for the purpose of being zany. That's all well and good, but I just don't think she totally pulled it off. She did have a couple really funny lines/moments, but I feel like her character had more misses than hits. I've also never been a very big fan of Melissa McCarthy (I know, I'm in the minority there), and her character doesn't too much for me in this movie. She doesn't take away from the movie, but I don't think this is nearly her best performance, either. There was also a cameo in this movie that I was really excited for that really disappointed me a lot.
Overall, this movie was a lot different than I expected it was going to be, as I think it will be for most people. The ad campaign for this movie was maybe the worst I've ever seen for a big-budget movie like this, and it will probably hurt this movie a lot at the box office. The movie itself isn't actually that bad. If you go into it not expecting a classic, female-empowering film, this isn't that, but there are laughs to be had and isn't a bad time at the theater!
Final Grade: C+
