Review: Ghostbusters (2016)

Ghostbusters (2016)

Director: Paul Feig

Staring: Kristen Wigg, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones, Charles Dance, Chris Hemsworth and many more.

Writers: Katie Dippold and Paul Feig (based on original work by Ivan Reitman, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis)

Rating: 8/10

Plot: Someone is moving around New York city and where they go paranormal activity follows. Four women gather together, experts in science and the paranormal, to investigate the events and to subsequently catch the ghost being awakened….

     That is the basic outline and with all reviews here there will be no spoliers or indepth plot breakdowns, why? Because you want to see the film. Hell, even if you don’t I still don’t want to tell you. I think the joy of film is in the experience of seeing it, not being told about it.

     Right, Ghostbusters. There are a few things here to consider, things that are vital for a film like this to flourish – chemistry between the cast, laughs, pacing and quotability. Without these things the film will be dead in the water. Happily, Ghostbusters has all these things going for it and more.

     The cast play well with each other. I particularly loved Wigg and McCarthy and their interplay, though McCarthy and Hemsworth also hit the spot. Leslie Jones was great with the whole team and she really rounded out the foursome making them live and breathe. Hemsworth understood his role in the film and did an excellent job and all in all the cast made the film really fly.

     The plot? Pretty simple and let’s face it, if you expected something out of Breaking Bad, twists and dark corners that evolved into horrifying shocks, then you went to the wrong film and were looking to be upset, not because the film was bad but because you didn’t want the film to be good. It was always going to be silly and simple and that’s what made the original work. It’s what makes this one work. It works. Live with it.

     Ghostbusters works because the effects are great, the cast are great, the gags are easy and the point is that it needed to be different from the original yet recognizable and that’s what those clever people have produced. On top of that the film makes some clever points about the state of Hollywood’s treatment of women. It kicks the internet trolls whenever possible and points and laughs at them and it does it all with an effortless smile. Plus, the cameos are incredibly satisfying, there is just one original Ghostbuster missing, and we will always miss you Egon.
   
     Egon, but not forgotten. 

     I loved it. CAN WE HAVE ANOTHER PLEASE?!