Nowadays, people talk a lot about how some trailers can spoil key parts of an entire movie (I’m looking at you, Dawn of Justice). In the case of Paul Fieg and Katie Dippold’s female led remake of the 1984 smash comedy Ghostbusters, the initial first impressions were pretty weak, which didn’t do much to quell the public’s cynicism. Luckily, they’re misrepresentative of what’s actually a fast paced and fun comedic adventure that never falls too far into poor taste or seeming didactic. Be warned, Feig does get a few licks in against detractors who were opposed to the very idea of a Ghostbusters remake, but it’s not enough to overwhelm the story.
While it does a pretty good job capturing the zeitgeist of the time in the same way the first film did, this newest version lacks much of its sardonic drollness, relying more on slapstick and bizarre personalities- particularly in many scenes involving Kate McKinnon as the loopy scientist Jillian Holtzmann (one moment will make sure you never hear DeBarge in the same way again).
Her and her eccentric partner Abby Yates (Melissa McCarthy, more McCarthy than ever before) encourage aspiring professor Erin Gilbert (Kristen Wiig, more of an everywoman here, as opposed to her run as Lola Bunny on The Looney Tunes Show) to help them gain access to a mysterious spectre haunting an old mansion. Gilbert loses her job in the process, but after gaining physical and video evidence of the spirit, the three girls decide to press on with a promising new career.
The plucky trio becomes a quarter after subway MTA worker Patty Tolan (Leslie Jones) encounters not only a ghost of her own but a creepy doom seeker named Rowan North, played by Neil Casey with a good amount of self-assured smugness and pretentiousness. Along with their dimwitted receptionist Kevin Beckman (Chris Hemsworth, bringing some of the goofy charm he gives Thor to this new role), the gang is determined to stop his horrific plan, unless New York City political maneuvering trips up their efforts.
Alongside the girls, the ghosts themselves are a key part of what makes the movie so entertaining. Robert Yeoman’s cinematography captures NYC quite impressively, and the effects on the creepies were good enough to keep me invested. They’re not anything groundbreaking when compared to other major tentpole adventures, but nowhere bad enough to take me out of the experience. The climax on paper seems like something that could have been far too visually overwhelming, but instead it’s a series of well-choreographed sequences that flow quite well.
And yet they’re as harsh as the new Ghostbusters gets. If you’re a concerned parent who’s afraid your kids might run into some unsettling imagery, I can report that the worst you’d have to worry about are a few lewd wisecracks (mostly from Abby) that earn the film its PG-13 rating. But aside from that’s it’s a very loose and freewheeling romp that never becomes the judgmental preach-fest many folks feared it would be, let alone too dramatic.
McCarthy and Wiig do have a couple of heartwarming scenes, but even those are stamped in the film’s trademark style of irreverence. Jones especially is crazy likable and affable here, and she gives Patty some of the movie’s funniest reactions to all of the paranormal madness Rowan tries to unleash (“Yo, why are you all like this?”)
In reality, it’s actually a much more loving tribute to the Ghostbuster franchise as a whole than the buzz for it has made it seem. Even speaking as someone who isn’t necessarily a die hard GB fanboy (loved the first film, but I only casually followed the animated series, which wasn’t bad either), I can’t imagine someone who enjoyed the original stories not smiling at a series of cameos from old faces like Ernie Hudson, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and others. Overall, there’s a lot of lighthearted and goofy fun to be had here, so I give it a solid recommendation.