The Deal:

A brief history; Sony reboots the 30 year old comedy horror franchise with Bridesmaids director Paul Feig. They recast the 4 members of the Ghostbusters team with, fittingly, Saturday Night Live alumni. But this time it’s 4 women. Shock. Exclamation. The internet falls into the most pathetic backlash I’ve seen towards an unreleased film. Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones, and SNL outsider but regular collaborator Melissa McCarthy don the boiler suits. Surprise casting of beefcake Chris Hemsworth as the secretary rounds out the line-up. A trailer gets released, the backlash swells. And now we’re here.

The movie itself is similar in spirit but quite different from the original. Both in tone and story. I’m not going to rehash the plot in its entirety but the team get into a bunch of bumps and scrapes with a few different ghosts and feel like they’re on to something. Wiig’s character really wants recognition from the general public that ghosts are real but pretty much everyone else just wants to get on with the work. The bad guy is very much a bullied nerd who has gone crazy and wants revenge on the world because he’s not cool. The girls stop him, they get the recognition that Wiig so desperately desires, New York is safe, The End.

What’s Good:

Everyone has been talking about Kate McKinnon’s performance being a stand-out and while I did enjoy her creepy-weirdo routine, for me, the real star of Ghostbusters is Leslie Jones. Thankfully, she is given much more of a role than her original counterpart Ernie Hudson was ever afforded. Often the grounded character is the less fun one but as the relatable and warm Patty, Jones manages to be the heart of the team and the movie.

Chris Hemsworth is also noteworthy as the stupid, and kinda an asshole, secretary Kevin. When he’s not answering the phone (and he’s never answering the phone) he manages to get some of the better laughs in the film. Particularly during his interview scene which manages to hit all the right notes. Wiig is at her best when she’s emphatically fawning over him too.

The set-pieces with the individual ghosts are good, and best when they give some backstory to the ghosts themselves. Part of me wishes there was no big-villain and the movie was more of just the team tackling individual problems. But I guess that’s a formula for a TV show not a film.

In the big final battle I noted that almost every single movement the 4 women make were in support of their team-mates. They were rarely busting a ghost during this big battle in Times Square unless it was a ghost challenging their friend. This theme of helping each other emphasises what the movie does best – sisterhood. This is very much a girl power film and if the big smile of the young girl seated in front of me in the cinema was any indicator, it was a theme well executed.

The effects were pretty great. The proton beams looked fantastic. The effects of the ghosts in particular looked really good on the big screen. Especially the human shaped ghosts. Those sequences managed to be genuinely creepy and very impressive. On the subject of ghosts: The appearance of Slimer is much more prolonged than I thought it would be and a genuine highlight.

What’s Bad:

The pacing of the movie is a little too fast. There is barely a breath to take as they go from action scene to big set-piece and back again. In a strange way the actors also barely take a breath as the dialogue runs at a break-neck speed and seemingly never stops. Some of the best parts are when things slow down and people can react to what’s happening but those moments are unfortunately too few and far between.

This really is a great cast but they can feel wasted at times. Wiig is an amazing comic actress but as the stuffy Erin Gilbert she rarely gets a chance to shine. Similarly McCarthy is a stand-out performer of her generation but fails to feel like the leader that the script signifies that she is. It tells us that this is all her idea but after that everyone else seems to do most of the work.

The cameos in the movie highlight a weird problem that the reboot has. It works so hard to make nods to the original film and to shoehorn in the original cast but then sets itself in a different universe. What’s the point? If you’re going to re-do it, re-do it. Trying to appease the original fans seems silly if you’re making a film that re-writes the original story. The movie stands on it’s own. It doesn’t need the connection. If anything they’re distracting. If you wanted to use all the 1984 cast then let them be retired Ghostbusters, otherwise keep them out of this new iteration. All it’s going to do is to wind up the detractors.

The movie throws a lot of jokes at you and most don’t land. There are still enough that do land to make the film fun and enjoyable but when the ratio is skewed like this it gives you a taste of desperation. I don’t know how much of the dialogue was improvised but if the movie is 100% scripted, it’s bad writing. If it’s a lot of improv, it’s bad direction. Either way, something went wrong with quality control.

What’s worse is this adds to the problem of the film’s pacing, as having so many scenes of “witty banter” means that the plot has to make a number of jumps to get us from A to B in time. I wouldn’t have minded taking out the whole giant-dragon-ghost at the metal concert sequence if it gave us more time to move the characters through the story emotionally. Hell, I would even have given up Kevin entirely too if it gave us more time for that.

Overall:

Despite the flaws, the movie is still good fun and I look forward to seeing the team re-uniting for a sequel. I brought my girlfriend to the film who hadn’t seen the original at all (and strongly dislikes action films) and she left the cinema being really surprised and delighted by Ghostbusters. There were plenty of laughs from the rest of the cinema-goers during the screening and I caught myself laughing out loud on a number of occasions too.

Was I thrilled? No. But I also wasn’t disappointed either. The movie is a solid 8 out of 12 monkeys.

If you’re one of those people, we have no time for you here at DOOM Towers. The dungeon is where we put the likes of you. It’s not a nice place. It’s where we keep the cast of Hands Down.

However, we are movie snobs and we want movies to be great. The first trailer looked OK, it had about three moments that made me chuckle which isn’t a bad return. But with all the hate surrounding the franchise right now, how does it respond?

– Boo!

It’s interesting that the general focus of this trailer is much more on the ghost elements of the movie and less so on the characters, as the last one was.

The “I think you girls can handle it” feels very much like a knowing nod towards the hatred they’ve been getting online. I could be thinking too much into it, but it’s clever either way.

– Money Crunchers

There are plenty of elements in the trailer that lend itself to merchandising and future amusement park rides, but I’ll be damned if I don’t see this available for cars.

– Ummm… Spoilers?

Maybe I’m wrong, but Hemsworth’s possession by a ghost feels like a big moment in the film. Maybe it will be a short scene but between it and the shot of everything blowing up around him while he looks creepy… I don’t know. I could have done without knowing it.

– The Realest

This is a much more colourful film than the originals. Even down to the jumpsuits. Everything seems to… glow. And I like a lot of the ghost designs too. It makes everything feel like a cartoon and considering my love of the cartoon as a kid, I’m cool with that.

– Wait… Is That What I Think It Is?

Holy $£!%

———————————————————————————————————————

OVERALL: This trailer doesn’t help with the confusion of whether or not this is a reboot or a sequel but what it does do is clear up whether or not this film will be fun and I think it will.

When I was growing up, and even to this day, Ghostbusters is one of my all-time favourite movies. It’s science fiction, it’s comedy and, most of all, it’s a stunningly timeless piece of media so when the idea was being knocked about that it would be rebooted; suffice to say there were nay-sayers. When it was revealed it’d be an all-female cast, even more-so. But this could be star just about anyone and I’d still be excited. Why?

Cos it’s fucking GHOSTBUSTERS. So now we’ve got first footage of the Paul Feig produced requel (reboot/sequel, eh?) starring Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones and Chris Hemsworth — what’s the verdict?

History doesn’t repeat; it rhymes

My biggest fear was that the cast would be carbon copies of their predecessors and while the archetypes are there, each lady appears to be an amalgamation of different characters. McCarthy is the Ray analog but she’s also the Venkman, spurring the team to assemble. Wiig is a mix of Egon and Ray in her curiosity and scientific background. McKinnon is Egon with Venkman’s playfulness and Jones has Winston’s everyman status but with Ray’s excitable nature.

Yes, there are similarities present but once the film rolls around, I’m sure each character will have more depth to them.

The Big Twinkie
Speaking of character fusions, Chris Hemsworth appears to be pulling double duty as both the Ghostbusters’ receptionist and as the designated possessed person, so a mix of Janine and Luis. Here’s hoping he’s going full Annie Potts and will just be a hot glasses-wearing snark machine for the movie.

We got the tools; we got the talent

One thing I’ve always loved about Ghostbusters was the tech and I’ve always said that as long as the science is cool in this movie then I’ll be happy and from what I’ve seen, I’m real happy. Yes, the packs are different but all the variations on display here have appeared in other Ghostbusters media in one form or another. The current packs and trap look similar to those used in Extreme Ghostbusters (sans the terrible beam effects) and the proton pistols, shotgun and gauntlet have made appearances in the 2009 video game (which I highly recommend) and the IDW comic book series, which is super fun if you don’t mind the art style.

Spook Central

The driving plot point is that someone or something is riling up the ghost population and it’s enough to warrant a new team to answer the call. It’s got shades of Ghostbusters II and Extreme Ghostbusters and I’m interested to see where it goes. While the spooks aren’t all practical or stop-motion, they are visually striking, which is great. Plus we do get a quick peek at one of the many returning cast members in the form of the green spud, Slimer.

So what’s the verdict? I’m optimistic! Sure there’s some hints at the kind of humour modern audiences eat up and I hate but hopefully that’s just trailer-bait and the movie itself will have more of a sardonic, gallows sense of humour like the original. Apart from that; I’m loving what I’m seeing — and hearing with the tinkling piano and funky remix of the Who You Gonna Call? Theme song. Seriously, it gave me goosebumps!

You can make the call for yourself when Ghostbusters appears in theaters this summer!

JJ and his amazing friend Jason get real right off the bat. Underwear real. How much more real does it get. JJ shares underwear history. You have been warned. Then the pair talk about some geek news that broke this week some good some not what people were expecting, but nothing that should endanger your damned childhood. I am saying it now, we here at Mars Needs Podcasts, will say it now…We ain’t afraid of no penisless freaks.

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JJ and his amazing friend Jason, as always, know how to fix things. Are you listening Hollywood? There is gold to be mined from the podcasting world, we are your audience! Well, amongst many other things, the guys save the Ghostbusters reboot. They also talk about why it is nothing at all to be afraid of. I know I ain’t afraid of no Ghostbusters. Yep. I said that. On that note, I’m out of here. Yoiks and awaaaaaayyyy!

P.S. JJ also fixes a football team. Believe it….or not!

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The whole thing is introduced by George and Barbara Bush. Their message is so important, Barbara felt the dog had to be present to emphasise their seriousness.

Some of my favourite parts are Winnie The Pooh waking up beside a little girl in bed like he’s some sort of pimp.

Arcades being portrayed like a strip club.

The Muppet Babies terrifyingly proclaiming “you’re about to take a trip through the human brain” on the creepiest roller-coaster alive.

By the time we get to Huey, Louie, and Dewey singing about how you should just say no, you think you’re at the end but oh no, we’re only half way there!

You can watch the whole horrible/wonderful thing below. You’re welcome/I’m sorry.

Big thanks to Chandra who brought this to my attention.

I figured since we are in the middle of Convention Season, I would do a little pop culture crossover for fun.
~As far as I know, nobody has made this connection yet. I did a Google search and got no hits, and that’s about as much research as I felt like doing. So if I’m lucky, it doesn’t already exist.
If it does, oops.

Another reoccurring segment will be Photoshop manipulations of current
(or not-so current) pop culture.
Restructures, re-sequences, edits, (bad) cut & paste jobs of existing stuff, that sort of thing.
But the jokes are original, I think, I hope, as far as I know.
So why Photoshop instead of spending hours drawing? Not because I’m lazy (well, maybe) but because sometimes the real image can convey the joke better.
And Photoshop is expensive and I don’t get to use it enough.
~Cheers!

JJ and his amazing friend Jason…well…let’s look at it this way, Word Salad is defined as- a mixture of random words that, while arranged in phrases that appear to give them meaning, actually carry no significance. The words may or may not be grammatically correct, but the meaning is hopelessly confused. I don’t think it is actually that bad, but, boy is the conversation all over the place. Jason is introduced to the fine art of Fridays, and JJ goes into a long spiel about classical french theater. At least it all ends with porn, so all is well. Praise the maker.

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