Ghostbusters (2016)

I remember watching this movie out of morbid curiosity. All I had heard about it is that it was absolutely terrible. When I watched it the first time, I actually liked it. On this rewatch, well, I still like it and don't really get the hate for it.

The story is similar to the original Ghostbusters, in that it involves a team of four women: Erin Gilbert, played by Kristen Wiig, Abby Yates, played by Melissa McCarthy, Jillian Holtzmann, played by Kate McKinnon, and Patty Tolan, played by Leslie Jones, who start their own ghost hunting business. A lot of the story beats did feel pretty similar to the original movie from the 80s, but I still felt it was an interesting update all the same.

The main thing with this movie is that it was a more outright comedic film than the original two, which tended to balance horror and comedy a lot more. Now, if the comedy wasn't funny, then I would probably not have liked this movie, but I'd say, that although not all the comedy lands, a lot of it actually does work. The standout comedy actor is actually Chris Hemsworth, who plays as Kevin, the team's ditzy secretary, and every line that came out of his mouth was just hilarious to me.

I have to dock points in a couple of areas though and that is that the plot does borrow pretty heavily from the first one, and the main antagonist has some similarities to Gozer during the final battle, where I felt they should have done something different with his character.

Overall, this movie, while not your typical deadpan horror comedy that a Ghostbusters fan would expect, is a pretty funny comedy with some supernatural elements all the same, and I would suggest people take a second look at this one.

Next time, we come to the most recent movie in the Ghostbusters franchise, and the movie that basically undid the continuity of this one by following up on Ghostbusters II instead. Will it hold up to the original two films? Find out when I review Ghostbusters: Afterlife.

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