Ghostbusters (2016) - Written Review
So, is the movie any good?
Well, I'd go as far as to call it great! Despite having pretty rubbish trailers
and lots of fan backlash, the finished film is not deserving of any of these. Ghostbusters is an example of a reboot
done right, with a director who wanted to do his own take on the classic film
with a new cast of characters and a quite different approach overall. Not that
I ever thought Ghostbusters was going
to be the worst thing ever, but it didn't really sell me initially, especially
given that I've never been the biggest fan of the 1984 original. Right from the
off though we have an admittedly creepy opening in a haunted house and the film
spirals off from there with some great comedy, loveable characters and the odd
scary moment.
Out of all the characters,
Holtzmann (played by Kate McKinnon) is probably my favourite of the bunch.
McKinnon looks like she's having the time of her life making this, somehow
making normally tedious exposition sequences really entertaining and quirky.
She has some pretty funny moments throughout the film, and her big moment in
the third act is admittedly pretty badass.
Kristen Wiig is also very
likeable as the more down-to-Earth Erin, with Melissa McCarthy being a great
foil for her as Abby. Surprisingly, Leslie Jones makes the potentially
irritating Patty actually seem like a real person, and even she has some great
moments throughout. Oh, and a special credit has to be given to Chris Hemsworth
as Kevin, who completely throws himself into the film with some very amusing
little gags.
The four main characters really
bounce off each other well in funny and clever ways, yet the movie always makes
them out to actually be friends. You can believe that they all get along really
well with each other, making the moment when they team up to fight the ghosts
seem like a big deal. And, considering that the first two acts are mainly just
the new Ghostsbusters busting the odd ghosts, getting to know one another and
having some fun, these are the best parts of the movie...until the third act
comes along.
The movie suddenly realizes
around the third act that it's got to reveal the villain behind everything, but
what we get as our antagonist is really quite dull. I feel like a good half of
his scenes were cut from the movie, as despite being set-up early on, he never
really goes anywhere and feels incredibly dull. You know what, I can't even
remember his name. Now, this wouldn't be too bad as long as his actual plan was
explained, and I don't think it was...at least, not in its entirety - unless its
entirety was just "take over the world". This movie does seem to be
the victim of some bad editing in places, and while most of the time it's just
nit-picks, in the case of the villain, it really does hinder the character
having any screen-presence. He does get a bit more entertaining towards the
ends as he possesses Kevin - mainly thanks to Chris Hemsworth's incredibly fun
performance - but other than that he just doesn't work.
It's also worth noting that
while the final act has some pretty cool fight sequences, it's difficult not to
notice some rather obvious green-screen at points. The whole sequence in Times
Square is filled with green screen and CGI - and even then the effects aren't
as good as they could have been. I should also add that I am nit-picking at
this point.
Despite some slightly off CGI,
the film actually looks pretty good. Paul Feig makes the film look bright and
colourful and further reiterates the fun in Ghostsbusters.
There aren't many action sequences or anything, but when there are Feig seems
to know what he's doing, even if it feels restricted by the large amounts of CG
needed.
Overall, Ghostbusters is a reboot done right. With a brilliant new cast, a
great new director, some very funny moments and a sense of fun, even with a
very weak villain, I give Ghostbusters
an 8/10.
Comments
Post a Comment