Ghostbusters review: “When the film is doing its own thing it really does excel.”

Ghostbusters review: The film adaptation of the internet’s most disliked trailer finally arrives.

If a franchise is dead, but you need some cash, who you gonna call? Not a bunch of women if the online hate was anything to go by. It’s been 30 years since Ghostbusters last hit the cinema, but why let a property go stale when you can reinvent it? The controversy around the film has been monumental, with the trailer becoming one of the most disliked videos in the history of Youtube. At first it seemed like a sexist hatefest, but after the first trailer dropped it became apparent that something was amiss. Worst fears were realised as the jokes fell flat – thinking the pulling of push doors or botched stage diving were still funny – and it was clear this was a remake and not a spin-off or semi-sequel. Still, trailers don’t make bad movies as proved by director Paul Feig’s last film Spy, where the trailers were mediocre but the film turned out to be a hilarious, clever, and just all round fantastic film.

I feel that I’m in the right place to judge Ghostbusters. Growing up I enjoyed it very much, but never loved it to the degree that I’m against a remake. The original is hilarious, mostly down to wit and chemistry, but I have to be honest and say I probably haven’t seen either film in the last decade. I also prefered the idea of a remake to a straight sequel, having listened to Dan Aykroyd discuss it over the years and just losing interest. Feig’s previous films have all been great, and Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig have both had their moments of comedic brilliance, but when McCarthy gets it wrong she gets it really wrong; Tammy and Identity Thief. In other words, this film could have gone either way, but the talent involved was promising.

Strangely enough, it’s the things that really shouldn’t work that do, and moments that you’d think would be great that fall flat on their arse. The core dynamic between the four leads of Wiig, McCarthy, Leslie Jones, and Kate McKinnon is brilliant. They have all the chemistry of the original quartet and it also comes out in nice character moments. Wiig and McCarthy as Erin and Abby, grew up as kids where only they believed each other’s tales of ghosts and hauntings, but gradually grew apart. It’s a nice touch and one the pair build on to give their relationship a unique spin. Jones and McKinnon have less character work, but McKinnon’s comedic timing and character quirks are comedy gold, while Jones unfortunately gets too loud and shouty in parts. For the majority of the film she’s great and certainly earns her place on the team. It’s Chris Hemsworth that steals the entire film though, proving his diversity as an actor and nailing every single line he gets as the absurdly stupid receptionist. Perhaps his lack of a comedic background meant he stuck with his material as opposed to the leads who all have a moment or two of uncomfortable adlibbing, where once again jokes go on too long.

The film also has problems mixing its elements well. It’s very funny when the team are sat around or discussing events, but when ghosts come into the picture the comedy almost has to pause for some moderately entertaining, but CG infested, action. These ghosts also don’t blend into the overly lit and almost TV set-up of shots where every scene feels as though it was shot on a soundstage. Even the climax has our heroes on the streets of New York surrounded by a helpful cloud of smoke, keeping our view as limited as a soundstage.

Heartbreakingly, and ironically, the film is at its worst when it shoehorns in actors and imagery from the originals. Every cameo stops the film dead in its tracks, and Bill Murray isn’t given a single joke. Not to mention the fact he looks as though he hates being there. Other cameos say famous lines or build up their eyelid muscles by winking at the camera while the creation of the logo, set-up for their base of operations, famous ghosts reappearing, and constant playing of that bloody theme tune (of which this film has around 6 versions). The sad part being, that when the film is doing its own thing it really does excel.

Ghostbusters is not the disaster many predicted, and the only time it insults the original is when it refers back to it. This isn’t the original, and the humour is vastly different, but still works in the confines of the story. There’s lots of fun to be had, and Feig proves he can transition into non-R rated comedies without losing too much of his edge. There is certainly a lot of trimming that could have been done in editing – we didn’t need 3 different variations on giving the middle finger one after the other – but there are more hits than misses, some huge laugh out loud moments, and a few genuine scary parts. Fingers crossed for a less pre-hated sequel that isn’t haunted by the ghosts of its past.

Ghostbusters review by Luke Ryan Baldock, July 2016.

Ghostbusters is released on 11th July.