These ladies know how to do broad comedy.
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The combination of writing, directing, and acting that made the 1984 film “Ghostbusters” an instant classic, for example, can hardly be replicated.
It was just short of torches and pitchforks, and it’s gone on for about a year.
So yeah, there are some areas where this movie feels like a straight across remake. Another thing that hurt was Fall Out Boy’s version of the “Ghostbusters” theme song.
And the second movie?
There’s been a lot of sexist hubbub surrounding the all-female Ghostbusters revival, starring Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones. And Chris Hemsworth, whose comedic timing has been an asset for his otherwise straight-arrow role as Thor, really gets to play here as Kevin, the handsome and terribly vapid Ghostbusters secretary.
Both laugh-out-loud amusing and jump-in-your-seat scary, “Ghostbusters” is altogether a ride worth taking. McKinnon’s Jillian has a stand-out action scene that truthfully I’m dying to watch over and over again. It is one of those rare reboot comedies that’s sharp and clever, and isn’t afraid to make fun of itself or acknowledge some of those critics who may have been vocal about not wanting to see the film since it was first announced. Her old partner and fellow author Abby Yates (Melissa McCarthy) still believes in ghosts-and is proven right.
“That stuff went everywhere, by the way”, Wiig says. Helped by the contraptions of engineer Holtzmann (Kate McKinnon) and the NY trivia knowledge of Patty (Leslie Jones), the team takes on a ghost invasion. Their nemesis appears to be a nerdy bellhop (Neil Casey) as adept at summoning ghosts are as the Ghostbusters are at catching them.
Her manic nature is playful genius, and it bounces so naturally off of her “SNL” castmate Leslie Jones, the more literal-minded, “nobody knows NY like I do” member of the team who makes every line count as a crack-up. The script, credited to Feig along with Katie Dippold, gives all of them plenty to do.
Ivan Reitman’s original two films haunt this new one in multiple forms: human (star cameos), machine (proton packs, Ghostmobile), phantasm (you-know-boo), location (New York City) and plot (you pay, they chase away). But, as is so often the case with special-effects-heavy movies, the character comedy quickly gets trampled by the effects (in this case, not special).
And there are subplots, from the villainous dweeb releasing the ghosts to a Homeland Security detachment, with characters that are not fleshed out enough and make little sense.
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Whether it censorship or just a lack of interest in the film, Ghostbusters will not be teaching a new generation of Chinese film-goers who they should call in the event of a supernatural disturbance. Call McCarthy, Wiig, McKinnon and Jones, now known as the “Ghostbusters”.
