GHOSTBUSTERS Review; "The Most Fun You'll Have At The Cinema This Summer"
Paul Feig's Ghostbusters reboot is now in cinemas worldwide, but has it earned the scorn of internet fans or is it actually worth checking out? Hit the jump to check out our SPOILER-FREE verdict...
Ghostbusters is a movie which has been mired in controversy since pretty much the second it was announced, with middle aged men livid at the prospect of their childhoods being "ruined" or internet trolls who hate women incensed that a blockbuster movie is being released with four female leads instead of four male ones. It's a shame that those people - you know, the ones who rigged its audience score on Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb a week before it was even released - have overshadowed the movie in some ways, because it turns out that Ghostbusters is probably the most fun you'll have at the cinema this summer (at least until Suicide Squad is released). Is it better or worse than the original? Who cares, it's something new.
The four leads are absolutely fantastic, with Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy both delivering the kind of laughs we've come to expect from them over the years. However, it's relative newcomers (at least to the movie realm) Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones who steal the show. McKinnon's Jillian Holtzmann is pretty much guaranteed to become a fan-favourite character from the second she appears on screen, though it's arguably Jones who delivers the most laughs thanks to some great deadpan humour which never falls flat. The chemistry between this foursome anchors the movie, and there's no way you'll come out of Ghostbusters not wanting to see more of them in action. Another scene stealer is Chris Hemsworth as he offers up perhaps a career best performance as the team's dim-witted secretary, Kevin. The Thor star is given some hilarious lines, though much of the credit for why these end up being so damn good is 100% down to the charismatic actor's delivery. There's a joke about his dog's name which would have completely bombed coming from most, but Hemsworth makes it work.
Sadly nowhere near that effective is Neil Casey, the movie's villain. His performance is fine, but just not good enough to give Ghostbusters the memorable bad guy it deserves. The character he plays is every bit as problematic, and because we don't spend anywhere near enough time with Rowan to fully understand or care about his plan, that causes some problems for the third act. As a result, he's such an underwhelming villain that it's hard to buy into him as a credible threat, and not even the Ghostbusters themselves seem to be all that bothered by him. If they don't care, why should we? This isn't enough to sink the movie, and while the steps it takes into generic blockbuster territory (with a CGI heavy final act which feels lacking due to the stakes not feeling anywhere near high enough) certainly hurt it, it's not enough to ruin the reboot and the great journey up to that point.
Paul Feig and Katie Dippold otherwise deliver a cracking script with Ghostbusters though, so it's easy enough to forgive that for the most part, while the former's direction might be his best work yet as he seamlessly enters the world of blockbuster filmmaking (though he arguably already did that with Spy). The mostly unecessary cameos from original Ghostbusters cast members don't always stick the landing, but at least a couple of them are pretty memorable and sure to make you smile. It's also perhaps not quite as scary as it could have been, but that's a fairly minor issues in the grand scheme of things; after all, we always knew this would be more comedy than horror. Ghostbusters is ultimately just really good fun, and despite the ridiculous amount of vitriol and negativity surrounding it in recent months, it successfully manages to emerge as one of this summer's most enjoyable and entertaining blockbusters.
The Ghostbusters are back, and while they may not look the way some "fans" would like, Paul Feig has assembled a terrific new cast with the potential to launch a franchise well worth investing your time and money in. With plenty of laughs and a great team behind and in front of the camera, bustin' really does feel good.
