- August 25th, 2016, 11:28 pm#4878639
I saw GB2016 opening weeked, and overall, I thought it was an alright movie. Some aspects about it were good, some not as much. One of the more underwhelming aspects, in my opinion, was the main villain: Rowan North.
Spoilers ahead!!
We first meet Rowan greeting Patty as he walks by her ticket booth, and just by the way he speaks to her, we know something is off about him. As time goes on, we find out Rowan has been placing devices along ley lines in New York City that summon ghosts, eventually planning to bring about the end of the world. In the interim, we see that his day to day life isn't exactly pleasant; he's insulted and ordered around by co-workers, two waitresses argue that the other should wait on him this time so the former doesn't have to. One gets the impression he has been bullied most of his life, and this is what drives him.
While the Ghostbusters in this movie have been able to rise above the bullying and ridicule, Rowan let it consume him to the point of wanting to bring about the Fourth Cataclysm, using Abby and Erins book to aid in his plan.
Now, I felt that the idea of Rowan was solid: a human being doing all the footwork himself with no higher power guiding him. The movie did well in showcasing his intelligence and obsession (especially when it was apparent that killing himself was part of the plan). However, I felt that something was lacking. He came off sad and creepy for sure, but not quite scary. The actor (Neil Casey) I don't think deserves blame: I felt that he did his best with the material given. So, where did GB2016 go wrong with its villain?
Let's take a look back at the originals villain:
Gozer was frightening because of the build-up and tension through out the original Ghostbusters. The audience discovers little by little the details at the same time the Ghostbusters do; from Dana Barrett hearing Zuul in her refrigerator, all the way to Egon explaining Ivo Shandors backstory of starting a Gozerian cult and designing a superconductive antenna for concentrating spiritual turbulence into Danas building. The pacing works for this film since up until the jailhouse scene, the audience does not know why ghosts are suddenly appearing in high numbers through out New York. In GB2016, it's spelled out not too far into the story, and the suspense is killed.
Of course, one can't forget about Ivo Shandor. I feel that his reasoning for wanting to bring about the end of the world (society being too sick to survive), and having close to a thousand followers who shared his beliefs was much more terrifying. Rowans reason (being bullied and mistreated) pales in comparison. Even after Shandor died, the original movie shows the terrifying power of an evil ideology if given a chance to spread.
Then we have the payoff. When Gozer finally appears, I was in awe at the same time being absolutely terrified beyond the capacity for rational thought. The build up still works. In GB2016, I thought it was clever that Rowan became a destructor form of the Ghostbusters mascot, but I didn't feel there was a great payoff when he's revealed (I guess the trailers can be blamed as well). It felt sort of 'meh.'
As for how Rowan compares to Vigo the Carpathian? I do find Vigo to be a little bit scarier. He's able to harness all the negativity from the city, and have it flow back to him via the mood slime. That, along with commanding Janosz, and possessing Ray briefly shows he had considerable power despite being trapped in a painting. Plus, just look at him! He's a very imposing looking dude. and his demonic form combined with the roaring sound effects are well done. Although, the movie did drop the ball by having him barely speak in the finale, even though we saw him conversing with Janosz twice.
All in all, Rowan wasn't a terrible villain, just not as memorable (at least until his destructor form). However, I want to stress this is merely my own opinion, and I wanted to hear other thoughts on the subject as well.
So, what are your thoughts?
Spoilers ahead!!
We first meet Rowan greeting Patty as he walks by her ticket booth, and just by the way he speaks to her, we know something is off about him. As time goes on, we find out Rowan has been placing devices along ley lines in New York City that summon ghosts, eventually planning to bring about the end of the world. In the interim, we see that his day to day life isn't exactly pleasant; he's insulted and ordered around by co-workers, two waitresses argue that the other should wait on him this time so the former doesn't have to. One gets the impression he has been bullied most of his life, and this is what drives him.
While the Ghostbusters in this movie have been able to rise above the bullying and ridicule, Rowan let it consume him to the point of wanting to bring about the Fourth Cataclysm, using Abby and Erins book to aid in his plan.
Now, I felt that the idea of Rowan was solid: a human being doing all the footwork himself with no higher power guiding him. The movie did well in showcasing his intelligence and obsession (especially when it was apparent that killing himself was part of the plan). However, I felt that something was lacking. He came off sad and creepy for sure, but not quite scary. The actor (Neil Casey) I don't think deserves blame: I felt that he did his best with the material given. So, where did GB2016 go wrong with its villain?
Let's take a look back at the originals villain:
Gozer was frightening because of the build-up and tension through out the original Ghostbusters. The audience discovers little by little the details at the same time the Ghostbusters do; from Dana Barrett hearing Zuul in her refrigerator, all the way to Egon explaining Ivo Shandors backstory of starting a Gozerian cult and designing a superconductive antenna for concentrating spiritual turbulence into Danas building. The pacing works for this film since up until the jailhouse scene, the audience does not know why ghosts are suddenly appearing in high numbers through out New York. In GB2016, it's spelled out not too far into the story, and the suspense is killed.
Of course, one can't forget about Ivo Shandor. I feel that his reasoning for wanting to bring about the end of the world (society being too sick to survive), and having close to a thousand followers who shared his beliefs was much more terrifying. Rowans reason (being bullied and mistreated) pales in comparison. Even after Shandor died, the original movie shows the terrifying power of an evil ideology if given a chance to spread.
Then we have the payoff. When Gozer finally appears, I was in awe at the same time being absolutely terrified beyond the capacity for rational thought. The build up still works. In GB2016, I thought it was clever that Rowan became a destructor form of the Ghostbusters mascot, but I didn't feel there was a great payoff when he's revealed (I guess the trailers can be blamed as well). It felt sort of 'meh.'
As for how Rowan compares to Vigo the Carpathian? I do find Vigo to be a little bit scarier. He's able to harness all the negativity from the city, and have it flow back to him via the mood slime. That, along with commanding Janosz, and possessing Ray briefly shows he had considerable power despite being trapped in a painting. Plus, just look at him! He's a very imposing looking dude. and his demonic form combined with the roaring sound effects are well done. Although, the movie did drop the ball by having him barely speak in the finale, even though we saw him conversing with Janosz twice.
All in all, Rowan wasn't a terrible villain, just not as memorable (at least until his destructor form). However, I want to stress this is merely my own opinion, and I wanted to hear other thoughts on the subject as well.
So, what are your thoughts?
MonaLS liked this