Take that, internet grumblers! The comedy is great, and non-stop, packed with clever affectionate references to the original.
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Before going any further I should say I’ve fallen out of love with 3D in movies. The entire build-up from the first act was just amusing, with the banter just hitting you at all sides. Not only should the dance have been kept in the film, but it would have been better if they had broken into the Thriller dance.
Wiig plays it relatively straight as Columbia professor Erin Gilbert, a former ghost-hunter; she’s reunited with paranormal scientist Abby Yates (Melissa McCarthy) by a haunting at a city landmark. Abby has chose to finally publish their joint effort online, as a way to fund her paranormal research. Abbie has continued that research at a much less prestigious college. Eventually, Patty (Leslie Jones, also from “Saturday Night Live,”) who works in the subway, joins the ranks after she, too, encounters a ghost. If you know Kate at all she’s this kind of pansexual beast where it’s just like everybody who’s around her falls in love with her and she’s so loving to everybody she’s around. “Someone who feels like iconic NY”. The same holds true for Chris Hemsworth, hired as the hunky, but dumb-as-a-doorknob receptionist.
The story is similar but not the same as the original. But actually, these are their own unique characters inhabiting those niches.
You may not think of the new “Ghostbusters” movie as a tearjerker, but when producer Ivan Reitman saw the cast of his 1984 classic together with the stars of this summer’s revival, he cried. It is all done with a sense of great fun, and affection for the first one. Then it was announced that the reboot would include an all-female cast.
The story does occasionally suffer from the pressures of influence, with the original film’s footprint well and truly stamped across the running time. Make sure to discuss the film in our forums. So why not a version where you have women playing the lead roles? Strangely, that choice gives the film a contemporary girl-power edge, and a little rebellious undercurrent.
Some evidence: This photo of Kristen Wiig at the film’s LA premiere. For comedy, McKinnon’s eccentric, grinning Holtzmann sometimes threatens to steal the show. McCarthy, who can often stray into icky humor, keeps a lid on that and adds just the right amount of madness and mayhem. Occasionally the comedy subtly jabs at the controversy that casting women sparked on social media. The new Ghostbusters film, while flawed, is amusing – very funny. A final note to the reader: you will want to stay for the credits, and all the way to the end.
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This is also a witty, occasionally hilarious and on the whole reasonably amusing film that utilises Paul Feig’s knack at scriptwriting and the talents of its exceptional cast very well. There are few instances of so much talent being wasted so thoroughly, and “Ghostbusters” just isn’t amusing enough.
