Ghostbusters (2016)

Sure the special effects are awesome, but did they really have to turn Good ol' Ghostbusters into an anti-chauvinist Chick Flick?! Isn't this a bit unnecessary? I do like seeing the franchise get a facelift, and reboot, and the reversed roles were an entertaining twist, but the shift of genre seems a bit unnecessary. The new characters feel out of character too - maybe as a result of the former. And also: it's mean. No need to go so hard on the Ghostbuster gals now that you've intently made them so!

Kate McKinnon as the somewhat jilted inventor Jillian Holtzmann is a clear favorite though. Out of the whole new Ghostbuster crew she's the only one that really gains my liking. Kristen Wiig plays the very not-so-special (and thus I assume supposed-to-be relatable/likable) main character Erin, Melissa McCarthy the not so likable but in the end not so bad Abby (the boss woman), and Leslie Jones the black girl (Patty).

Chris Hemsworth is the secretary - a very visually appealing (there's the intended audience made clear) but unfortunately also very stupid such. Of course the villain is a man, too, and pretty much everybody else who happens to have something against or make things hard for our Ghostbuster crew, except maybe Ozzy Osbourne - who stops by for a quick cameo. Apparently Sigourney Weaver is in somewhere in there too. It's all depressingly audience-angled though, and not as charming as the old. Many of the ghosts familiar at least, and the janitor villain's a suitably Ghostbusterish type. They do get some things right.

The story follows the girls before they are the Ghostbusters, until they are, and from before the world acknowledges them, until they do. The process isn't all that arduous though, and even in the meanest moments the threat never seems all that fierce. The threats look nice, ghastly and green, and with plenty of slime, but overall it feels like one big bucket of wasted potential. They're like ghosts of their former selves.

With a remake like this they could've done so much, but even though it embarks into uncharted territory it ends up following the same old path anyway, and making changes for the worse wherever possible. I'd like to see more, but if there is to be more I hope they at least swap out a few core members, and a whole bunch of others. The intrigue's like it should be, and the story's not wrong either, but everything else is way out of wack. Comedy, and chemistry, and character most of all.

 rated 2/5: decent