GHOSTBUSTERS Is Ghoulishly Good

To say the all-female Ghostbusters reboot has been controversial wouldn’t fully encompass the overall reaction to it. From the moment the film was announced, fans of the original franchise have been tearing this new one down. So much so that the initial trailer was met with a shocking amount of thumbs down on YouTube. Would those fans actually put their prejudices aside and give it a fair shot? Probably not, but the movie itself wasn’t the worst thing I’ve seen.

Erin Gilbert (Kristin Wiig) is a stuffy professor at Columbia University hoping for tenure. Her life plan comes to a halt after an old ghost-enthusiast friend, Abby Yates (Melissa McCarthy), finds her way back into her life. After seeing a full apparition, Erin joins Abby and her colleague Jillian Holtzmann (Kate McKinnon) to prove ghosts are real. With the help of MTA worker/NYC know-it-all Patty Tolan (Leslie Jones), these women take on some pretty ghastly ghouls as they try to save the world from evil.

While the theater wasn’t bursting with laughter at all times, there were some pretty funny moments and a few one liners to keep you entertained. There were also plenty of jabs at the naysayers. Chris Hemsworth was great playing the extremely dimwitted receptionist. The Ghostbusters themselves all did a great job but the stand outs were Jones and McKinnon. The two current SNL cast members were definitely given the best material.

The plot follows similarly to the original, which is probably a huge critique to some. I saw it more as a way for them to include great nods to the original film. There were great cameos by the entire cast of the former films. It was truly exciting for the audience to see Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver, and some other familiar faces, including Slimer. Those moments of cameos and subtle throwbacks to the 1984 film were most enjoyable for the audience.

It honestly felt that the entire theater was happy with it. Although it was anything you’d be dying to watch again, it was fun while it lasted. The film was met with applause at the end and theatergoers left with smiles on their faces. It was entertaining and while I think hardcore fans of the original will easily dislike it, I think this was a great way to get younger generations enticed to marathon the old films.