50 | Ceres Magazine | Fall 2016
Hemsworth, who pulls it off!
A lot could be argued—and it surely has been extensively debated—about the cameos by the original feature's actors. It is a great idea, which unfortunately weighs on the movie already struggling to carry the Holy Grail of its seminal predecessor. Too busy making homage to the 1984 blockbuster, it forgets to be itself. Still, no matter how awkward some of those cameos are, it brought a smile to my face. Though I wish it would have been executed differently, I understand that the writers didn’t want to do a “passing the torch” with the original cast reprising their roles. The only cameos that didn’t feel so forced were Patty’s uncle (Ernie Hudson), and the hotel receptionist (Annie Potts) blurting out one of her famous lines, “What do you want?” Bill Murray could have had a different role, less clunky than the professional supernatural debunker. All in all… great ideas, but a bit clumsy.
Finally, the script isn’t as clever as it wants to be. Poor plots make the film sketchy. If it weren’t for the laughs that it delivers, it would be insipid. The dialogues are as awkward, but well in line with many other issues stated above. Though they are good lines, excellent puns, and hysterical running gags, on top of the toilet humor, there are as many irrelevant squabbles between the acolytes, creating, at times, more of a standup comedy feel than one of a movie. Non-sense and memes are part of the package, but, hey, I have nothing against a good laugh, and the movie was entertaining, and I enjoyed it, even with all its flaws.
Is it a good movie that will endure with time? I don’t think so! Would I recommend the film? Absolutely, if you want a fun and entertaining no-brainer action movie that you can enjoy with the whole family. Would I watch it again? Definitely. Would I place it in my movie collection? Maybe not.
Yes, Ghostbusters 2016 is trying too hard, at times, but it has big shoes to fill. Some love it, others hate it! I give this movie three stars, plus half a star… for the female cast.
Wikipedia states: “On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, Ghostbusters has an approval rating of 72%, based on 294 reviews, with an average rating of 6.4/10. The site's critical consensus reads, ‘Ghostbusters does an impressive job of standing on its own as a freewheeling, marvelously cast supernatural comedy – even if it can't help but pale somewhat in comparison with the classic original.’ On Metacritic, the film has a score of 60 out of 100, based on 52 critics, indicating ‘mixed or average reviews’. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale."