Ghostbusters (2016) Review

So, the wait was finally over. Years of watching and rewatching Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters 2 was under my belt by the time I settled down at the BFI IMAX to see one of the most long-awaited sequels of my nearly 40 years on this crazy planet. I can’t say I wasn’t hyped. But, as many of you know, hype can lead to crushing disappointment. You can end up with a The Force Awakens, or you can get a Prometheus. And as much as I personally enjoyed the latter, I was expecting much more than that as someone who enjoyed director Paul Feig’s previous output in Bridesmaids, The Heat and Spy.

Since its announcement, I’d gotten myself overly involved with some of the controversy leading up to its release. I have to say, I couldn’t understand it. The vitriol, the hate, the fans against fans, the proclamations of war, the statements of disappointment, the misogyny, the incredible entitlement, the crushed dreams of the straight-sequel, long gone to be put to rest as myth. OK, maybe I could at least understand the latter — as long as a crit wasn’t written like a sweary, high-school diatribe — but personally, as someone whose suffered through Godzillas and Robocops, I’ve taken my knocks. I’ve earned my scars. At worst, my least favourite films are boring, like Total Recall 2012, a sin that can’t be levelled here. At best, even a bad film can be entertaining, like Terminator Genisys, a film so potty and strange that at least it brings a wry smile in its awfulness. I at least like to look for something to like no matter what I watch.

Well, the good news is that Ghostbusters is genuinely rollocking good fun from beginning to end. Feig and Dippold have crafted a reboot in a similar vein to The Force Awakens, without being a sequel. There are obvious nods to the originals, but it also manages to be its own thing — an entertaining, brash and far gentler film than I expected from the trailers. The jokes land. The audience laughs! On that front, it really doesn’t disappoint.

The characters are nicely played by all the leads, everyone being interesting and fun to watch — Kate MicKinnon’s Holtzmann being the true standout, as predicted — and it moves. Boy, does it move. The pacing is pitched at just the right amount of zip and holds back when it needs to, without it feeling like a roller-coaster ride. It’s also nice to have some depth to the baddies motivation, even if he’s a bit two-dimensional. Feig’s created an ode to the underdog in many ways in its leads and antagonist, the bullied and the disaffected, people trying to find their way in life but being judged for being different. With two alternate ways in how genius can be used it’s a nice mirror to put between them.

And the ghosts? Each ghostly set piece is nicely staged, and the ghosts themselves are characterful and wickedly rendered. There’s some genuine, if brief, tense moments, and many of the trailer moments play out a tad differently to how you expect. I even didn’t mind a certain character’s incredibly comedic and chaotic appearance later, which I could see possibly sticking in the craw of some more vehement fans — but at least it moved the plot on!

If I have any real criticism — and criticising a fun, funny movie is difficult — I did feel that the wonderful Leslie Jones, who is otherwise sharp and funny, needed putting forward a bit more. I understand the issues people have with her character and felt a lot of it could’ve been rectified if she’d had been a bit more pushed in how they presented her intelligence.

There’s one point where she has an idea that moves the plot forward, but the other characters comment on the scientific nature of it; I felt that this was her moment to shine, to show that she’s a genius capable of reading up during the film and drawing her own conclusion, showing the other girls a up a bit. That moment didn’t quite arrive, but I’m hoping in any continuation they can pull her forwards into frame as a definitive equal.

I also got a kick out of the side characters from the intro onwards — all very witty, all having their place and never wasted. Charles Dance, as a Golden Child fan, was wonderful to see. I’d love to see him come back too in a sequel, as if anyone does villain well, it’s Dance. Ah, and Chris Hemsworth is as entertaining as had been hyped — his natural delivery only goes to make his bizarre behaviour even funnier.

So, hats off to Feig, Dippold and co. I look forward to seeing the girls return — once I’ve rewatched this a few more million times. Thanks be VHS has died a death, eh? There’d not be strong enough tape to put up with me rewinding it over and over!