- July 24th, 2016, 6:10 am#4873664I watched the movie two days ago, with my mum and little brother. Suprisingly, it was hard to get three seats, the theatre was packed so we had to sit seperately from each other. As for the movie itself.... All views expressed are mine.
PROS:
*Obviously, Jillian Holtzmann is THE highlight of not just the reboot, but also the year. Kate McKinnon breathes life and fun into EVERYTHING she does, she's one of America's treasures. And I am besotted with both her and Jillian. She's....they're....perfect!!
*When I watched the movie, the character that got the most laughs out of the audience was Kevin. And I was really in awe of Chris Hemsworth's acting. He can be a total blond one minute and a puppet possessed by the bad ghost next. Kudos to you, Hemsworth, you really are an audience pleaser, even when it's a character that Reddit hates.
*I was a little bit pissed that the GB16's car was called "Ecto-1," then the movie did me a great favour by destroying that car in the climactic part. There is only one Ecto-1 and that's the original. It may be a reboot and it may win me over, but NO, don't ever call the new car "Ecto-1."
*The interactions between the four women brings more life into the movie than even the best CGI and SFX ever can. This is similar to the original, where the interactions between the GBs we all love is what gives the original its spark. Mostly.
*That bust of Harold Ramis near Erin Gilbert's office near the beginning of the movie. I squealed "Egon!" When I saw it. And of course, Annie Potts' turn as Vanessa the receptionist. Love her. And Siggy Weaver near the end. She totally exuded independence and looked young as ever. And why did I just call her Siggy?! Dan Aykroyd was great too in his cameo, enjoying himself as ever in everything he does. It's always good to see Ernie Hudson as well. Bill Murray though? I wish I was the ghost that sent him flying out of the window, that's how much I dislike him for being a general ass. In fact, GB has had the potential in recent years to be famous with or without Bill Murray.
*Patty is not only their first "client," she also becomes their fourth GB. I've always liked the idea of a client becoming a GB. Plus, I love Patty.
*They actually tested their Proton toys before using them properly!!!! Yes, I called them Proton toys, sue me.
*This movie gave me a pleasant surprise with the elements of everyday reality that were injected into it. Situations like Erin's fear of being laughed at, Abby Yates' hurt at Erin, acute awareness of their monetary constraints (When finding their own HQ), the burden of keeping a huge open secret while being humiliated by authority figures in public and, most of all, being artistically inspired by others to take up the logo and group name. These are things that made me aware of my own imperfections as a creative and complicated human being. It's very unlike the original, where the GBs just immediately took on the name and logo like *snaps fingers* Now that I think about it, the original GBs had it much, much easier, even if they got thrown in jail.
*Abby getting sucked into the portal and Erin bringing her back. That was heartwarming and something I haven't seen in both GB 1, 2 and the video game. Maybe it's in the comics? All the same, lovely scene, well-executed.
*The original theme in the opening credits!!!! Yes!!!!
*The Times Square fight with all the proton toys. WOOOOW.
*It was so beautiful seeing the city lit up with "I love GB" lights.
CONS:
*Duh, the fact that it's a reboot. They didn't even think to add a Marvel-style post-credits scene where it's revealed that it was all a movie pitch that either Venkman or Stantz was making to Ivan Reitman (playing as himself).
*The fact that Jillian Holtzmann and/or Erin Gilbert didn't turn out to be the daughter/s of Egon Spengler and Janine Melnitz. I REEEEEAAAALLY want my OTP together in the comic now.
*The siren of the car. But I guess that's a good thing. You can't just make a movie that transplants women into the original plot line and call it a reboot, after all.
*To me, Abby Yates only existed to either be laughed at or to further Erin's character development, even if she did well on her own as a character in scenes such as the one where she got possessed. Or my brother's favourite, testing the Proton Pack hilariously.
*The shooting Rowan in the crotch part was funny for five seconds and then it wasn't funny at all. They could've gotten similar results by shooting him in the gut or knees, because if they shot his arms off literally, there would be no Erin rescuing Abby scene.
*Zayn Malik singing in the end credits. I don't like that guy's voice.
*Fall Out Boy sang too fast.
*Slimer's ghoul friend. It was WAAAAY too cartoonish and spoiled the effect of the movie's climax. It was still funny to see Slimer driving the car around though.
*The title confused me at the end. It's called "Ghostbusters" at the beginning, but it's called "Ghostbusters: Answer the Call" at the end? Why didn't they just call the movie GB: ATC? It's a badass title, plus calling the movie just "Ghostbusters" never truly made sense in the first place.
What do I think of the movie overall? It stands quite well on its own as a movie, especially a Ghostbusters movie. The story was wonderfully done, the characters were mostly great and the cinematographics were quite nice. But there was no definite tie to the original (or even a scene to indicate that this is an alternate universe) and it saddens me. Well, at least we still have the IDW comic and I would feel sorry for the GB fan who hates the comic's storyline. I give this movie 3.5 out of 5 stars and I definitely hope to watch it again.