Ghostbusters (2016) Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones, Chris Hemsworth, Elizabeth Perkins Movie Review

Ghostbusters (2016)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Ghostbusters (2016)

The Ghost of Ghostbusters

Paranormal researcher Abby Yates (Melissa McCarthy - Identity Thief) and physicist Erin Gilbert (Kristen Wiig - A Deadly Adoption) are trying to prove that ghosts exist in modern society. When strange apparitions begin to appear in Manhattan, Gilbert and Yates turn to engineer Jillian Holtzmann (Kate McKinnon) for help in their endeavour. Also joining the team is Patty Tolan (Leslie Jones), a lifelong New Yorker who knows the city inside and out. Armed with proton packs and a whole lot of attitude, this quartet of women prepare for an epic battle as more than 1,000 mischievous ghouls descend on Times Square.

This reviewer was born in 1972 and as such when the 80s rolled around he found himself falling in love with cinema and one of those movies was the original "Ghostbusters". And like many, when they announced that they were gave to make a female remake of "Ghostbusters" I had to wonder why because no one in their right mind would think they could surpass the original or even come close to recreating the energy and chemistry which the original cast had. But of course someone with a business mind would know that for all the anger from those who disapproved of a remake it would still put bums on seats and make money.

So how did this remake, or re-imagining if you prefer, of "Ghostbusters" turn out? Almost exactly as I imagined, as whilst not a bad movie it did only end up average, never delivering the same level of fun and character chemistry that the original had. Oh it certainly managed to deliver some comical ghostly effects whilst paying homage to the original with a few cameos chucked in there but it never comes close to delivering the same level of entertainment which the original did. This movie should be a lesson for anyone who is considering making a remake of a much loved 80s movie as you are unlikely to come close to capturing the vibe which made them work.

But "Ghostbusters" did manage to do one thing; it managed to make me like Melissa McCarthy more than I did. Now maybe that was because her co-stars in this were all trying to force the quirkiness of their characters, and doing an annoying job in the process. But by the time the movie was over I had warmed to McCarthy as a comedian enjoying the fact that she was well cast and played an amusing character rather than trying to hard to make her character a quirky goofball.

What this all boils down to is that this version of "Ghostbusters" was exactly what I thought it would be. That is: it was weak in comparison to the original, unable of delivering the character chemistry of the original and in truth little more than an exercise in money making.


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