Before a single frame of the “Ghostbusters” reboot had been shot, it was already inspiring some pretty serious conversations and destroyed countless childhoods.
Now, the film has been in theaters for a full week, the verdicts are in, and it’s my turn to add mine to the pile…
As tempting as it is to open with a “shame on you” to all of the buttheads (technical term) who continue to rail against this movie by taking the time to drive down its online rankings, I won’t. Instead, I’ll ask you to ignore the incredibly skewed ratings, and trust me when I tell you that this movie is a whole lot of fun.
Wisely, apart from a few less-obvious nods (no crossed streams here) to the original film, this “Ghostbusters” carved its own comedic path with its own plot (although a post-credits clip hints at a revisit of a familiar plot point in this franchise’s future) and one heck of a cast.
The book by Katie Dippold and Paul Feig (who also directed) had the difficult task of balancing the expectations of fans of the original film with enough new-ness to make it feel fresh and, at least for this fan succeeded at both.
Our story begins with Dr. Erin Gilbert (Kristin Wiig), who is up for tenure at Columbia University when she discovers a book on the paranormal she wrote years ago with her friend and fellow scientist, Dr. Abby Yates (Melissa McCarthy) has been re-released (by Abby), and picked up by a museum curator (Ed Begley Jr.) convinced his historic house is haunted (spoiler alert: he’s right).
The potential career-killer forces Erin to visit her estranged friend who is still fighting the good, paranormal fight (out of a much less-acedemically acclaimed institute) with the help of the Holtzmann (Kate McKinnon and arguably the best character in this movie).
The three of them seeing their first Class 4 entity (ghost) is incredible in the nerdiest possible way…and from there it’s a whirlwind of equipment testing (with some questionable safety choices from Holtzmann), ghost sightings, captures, the all-important hiring of the assistant (Chris Hemsworth), and the addition of Patty (Leslie Jones) to the Ghostbuster team.
Although the costumes and terms may be familiar this Ghostbuster squad is very different in subtle but significant ways. There’s no “girl power” chest beating (not that that would be the worst thing) these ladies are just smart, sassy, and strong.
There are the necessary cameos of course with all four original Ghostbusters making appearances (yes, even Harold Ramis, who the film is dedicated to as well), Annie Potts and Sigourney Weaver show up too.
As for our new Ghostbusters, I cannot say enough good things about these four incredibly talented women. Their timing, chemistry, and fearlessness makes this movie work.
It’s a fantastic, fun, and perfect for a summer movie trip. You can thank me later.
…bi-daily smile…
