Ghostbusters---Answer The Call

Okay, now you may not be afraid of no ghost—but be very afraid of plopping down your hard earned money for this snooze–fest of a poorly attempted remake. 

I willed myself to go into the viewing of Ghostbusters with no (well little to no) preconceived notions.  I even did a rarity for me, I didn’t read any reviews, and stayed completely away from the spoilers.  I wanted to let the movie speak for itself.  And what pray tell did it say?  Well, a whole lot of nothing!!

Like a baby speaking gibberish this movie honestly made no sense.  There were holes so big in the plot line that Slimer would have had no trouble driving the Ecto 1 right through them.  It just seemed like a hodge-podge of ideas, thrown together, with a group of actors (excuse me…actresses) just going through the motions. 

Which brings me to another point—females?  What?  Huh? Ummm…why?  Now, before all the feminists start throwing profanities and threatening to boycott this blog, I AM A FEMALE.  This is not gender bashing, this is just a gosh honest observance.  This remake would have been much better served without the main cast all being female. 

This was not one of Melissa McCarthy’s more shining moments either.  And the selection for her fellow cast mates was not the best choices in the world by far.  Although, the casting of Kate McKinnon as Holtzmann, I will say, was a true spark of genius.  She was the only shining light, with her crazy antics and her zany personality.  Her portrayal harkened back to the antics of Bill Murrays Peter Venkman in the original version. 

True, I am a die-hard fan of the original.  And true, I am not one to take change well.  But I am also a firm believer that when something isn’t broke, don’t fix it.  The original is and will continue to be a classic.  Even in its time, it was revered as such.  What my fear is, with this remake, is that future movie viewers will look at this film, and think that they do not want to mess with watching the original.  And in all honesty that would be a real shame.

And, why oh why was Chris Hemsworth cast (well I know why—for eye candy—but we will assume that is not the reason) as a total buffoon?  The man has such a great talent for acting, to allow himself to be seen in such an idiotic manner is, well, an insult to the craft.  His only saving grace was during the end credits.  I am not saying he regained any respect in this role from the end credits, but again he didn’t lose any more.

The one thing that I can say made the movie tolerable for me, was the cameos of the actors from the original.  Everyone from Dan Akroyd, Bill Murray, Sigorney Weaver, Annie Potts, Ernie Hudson, Slimer, and yes even the Sta-Puffed Marshmellow Man were there.  Although briefly, but they were there.  It was really all that made me pay attention through the movie, so that I would not miss their appearances.  I can say I was more than a little heartbroken when Rick “I am the gate-keeper” Moranis didn’t have a cameo.  But, I have sense googled the reason, and can now better come to grips with his absence.  Still, he was my favorite from the original, and he was missed.

So, all in all, for me, this was a summer movie flop.  The pros were the cameos of the original movies stars and the end credits of Chris Hemsworth.  The cons, well, the cons are way too many to mention. 

I can’t help but wonder who sold their soul to Crowley to get this one made.  And if they did, I think Crowley came on the other side of this deal the clear winner. 

I give this one 3 out of 5 stars--and feel I am being more than generous.

Written by:  Tracy Few