Ghostbusters
Directed by: Paul Feig
Written by: Katie Dippold & Paul Feig - Based on the 1984 film directed by Ivan Reitman
Starring: Kristen Wiig, Melissa, McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones, Chris Hemsworth, Neil Casey, Andy Garcia, Cecily Strong, Zach Woods, Ed Begley Jr.
Action/Comedy/Sci-Fi - 116 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 14 July 2016
Written by: Katie Dippold & Paul Feig - Based on the 1984 film directed by Ivan Reitman
Starring: Kristen Wiig, Melissa, McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones, Chris Hemsworth, Neil Casey, Andy Garcia, Cecily Strong, Zach Woods, Ed Begley Jr.
Action/Comedy/Sci-Fi - 116 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 14 July 2016
For any number of reasons, those who participate in internet comment sections abhor the idea of rebooting Ghostbusters, especially with ladies. The trailer is closing in on one million down votes on YouTube; that sounds like a lot. I say go ahead and make a female Ghostbusters; however, make it good. Unfortunately, Ghostbusters lacks fresh humor, characters the audience will latch on to and root for, and sticks way too close to the 1984 original. It is not a problem with the ladies themselves, but their jokes and plot line are atrocious. 75% of the cast are Saturday Night Live alums and are funny week in and week out. Put them all together with proton zappers and whatever Chris Hemsworth is doing and Ghostbusters is one miserable time at the multiplex.
Director Paul Feig worked with both Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig before including Bridesmaids, McCarthy’s best performance to date, and Spy, which had its moments. It’s the writer’s fault. Feig is credited as half the writing team, which is surprising, because anyone who can create one of the best TV shows of all time, Freaks and Geeks, should not be shoveling out second-tier, retread garbage. His co-writer, Katie Dippold, has 54 MadTV episodes under her belt, which as the knock-off SNL, underwhelmed even SNL’s worst seasons.
Director Paul Feig worked with both Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig before including Bridesmaids, McCarthy’s best performance to date, and Spy, which had its moments. It’s the writer’s fault. Feig is credited as half the writing team, which is surprising, because anyone who can create one of the best TV shows of all time, Freaks and Geeks, should not be shoveling out second-tier, retread garbage. His co-writer, Katie Dippold, has 54 MadTV episodes under her belt, which as the knock-off SNL, underwhelmed even SNL’s worst seasons.
Kristen Wiig (Zoolander 2), as stuttery and twitchy as ever, plays the straight-edge Erin Gilbert, a Columbia physics professor up for tenure whose past as a paranormal believer threatens her credibility. McCarthy (The Boss), dialed back a bit from her usual extremes, plays Abby Yates, a low-rate science institute researcher, the same way she plays every other character, somewhat deadpan but clearly uncaring what you think of her. Kate McKinnon (Finding Dory), perhaps the strongest of the bunch, goes slapstick with the zany, brainy Jillian Holtzmann who creates all the gee-whiz gadgets, and Leslie Jones (Top Five) as municipal employee Patty Tolan gets more to do than Ernie Hudson did so long ago but lacks the jokes to make Patty memorable.
There is also internet buzz that McKinnon’s Holtzmann is a lesbian; why this is a thing, I have no idea. It does not impact the story one way or the other, but I didn’t pick up on it. What I noticed are the opening five minutes are by far the best as a tour guide played by Zach Woods (Damsels in Distress) has the movie’s first otherworldly encounter. There are actual jokes here and people laugh. I figured we were in for a treat it started so well, then I quickly realized this was an outlier. Erin and Abby, former ghost-researching partners, reconcile their rocky friendship on the fly and Holtzmann stays off to the side behind her yellow goggles and mad scientist hair watching hijinks ensue while munching on Pringles.
Everybody knows the Ghostbusters require a not quite right receptionist and Feig goes way overboard with his choice. Chris Hemsworth (The Huntsman: Winter’s War), perhaps the most put together, physically fit man on screen this side of The Rock plays so over-the-top moronic it is not quite funny, but head scratching. He does not understand telephones and gets weighty one-liners such as, “Fish tanks are submarines for fish.” There is a run-on gag showing Kristen Wiig’s Erin trying to secure his romantic attention, but I assume Hemsworth just serves as a reverse stereotype. The professionals hired a pretty face to look at even though he is inept at all aspects of the job.
The new ghostbusters are well aware of the online vitriol though. There are a few moments, when especially Abby, warns Erin not to read comments. They read out loud, “Ain’t no bitches gonna beat no ghosts.” This is most likely an actual comment someone wrote and I applaud Feig and company for addressing it, but make it funny! Almost breaking the fourth wall by acknowledging the outside world and reading a grammatically suspect insult is fine for the rough draft, but up your game here folks. The best way to get back at all the haters is to create a story people will tell their friends about full of jokes they will quote all the way home. Feig fails to provide any of these. Wiig, McCarthy, McKinnon, and Jones are perhaps more physically kick-ass than the original quartet, but they lack every other defining characteristic to make an effective summer action/comedy.
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