Film: Ghostbusters
Cast: Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones, Chris Hemsworth, Charles Dance, Michael Kenneth Williams, Matt Walsh, Neil Casey, Cecily Strong, Karan Soni, Zach Woods, Ed Begley Jr., Michael McDonald
Director: Paul Feig
Rating:
Paul Feig brings to you a reboot of the classic Ghostbusters from 1984. This time round, the film has four women who fight a battle as New York City is under siege, (yet again) this time by ghosts. Starring Melissa McCarthy, Kate MCkinnon, Kristen Wig, Leslie Jones and Chris Hemsworth, it is surprising how so many talented, commendable artists could partake in such a unnecessary, poorly executed reboot of the summer blockbuster.
It has had controversy written all over it since the first trailer came out, by being reportedly the most hated in YouTube trailer in history, with more than 9,79,639 (and counting) thumbs-down voters. Which is not to say that the film was all-bad. It had potential. It had a promising start, doing its job as a horror/comedy- delivering a few laughs and scares. But these became scarce as the film went on, with cheesy special effects including a lot of green slime, a forgettable villain and a terrible script.
The story of the film is incredibly simple but messy. The film kept getting deviated from the plotline, and the characters don’t seem to grow at all. The chemistry between the lead characters, albeit however little- wasn’t enough for me to care about any of them as individuals. It was very predictable and the final climax sequence was not the anxiety-inducing, stressful experience at all.
The special effects were not so special. A few ghosts looked like replicas of the animated toilet seat germs from the Domex ads; and as my popcorn got over, so did my patience with the film. However, with four ladies bagging the leads- the film does not have the usual drama, boyfriends and petty jealousy and actually makes a mark with its take on female friendships. But it largely seemed like an endless cameo with missed opportunities and punchlines that didn’t quite hit.
The original ‘Ghostbusters’ cast members, including Bill Murray, Dan Ackroyd and Annie Potts were part of the film, which could have been executed in a brilliant way. Instead of perhaps playing older versions of their characters, they are just forced into the plot with unnecessary and largely irrelevant appearances.
Come on Paul Fieg, you gave us The Bridesmaids (2011), The Heat (2013) and Spy (2015), and now you give us this? Usually brilliant with an all-women cast, this one seems flat and soulless. The film has all the makings of a completely mediocre horror/comedy, where only saving grace is Chris Hemsworth’s face- which lost its charm mid way as well. He played the women’s assistant, a hunky but very daft man. It was a gender role-reversal joke that never really took off. The whole movie never really takes off.
All in all, the film runs for about 117 minutes and I would recommend anybody who has a lot of free time, money and patience to watch it.