Left to right: Leslie Jones, Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig and Kate McKinnon as the new Ghostbusters.
★★★☆☆ (if I knew the half star character, I’d use it on this star rating)
Rated PG-13 for supernatural action and some crude humor.
This movie was getting flak months before it actually opened. The sacrilege of recasting the Ghostbusters crew with women! If Patrick Stewart can star as Othello in a race-switched production at the Shakespeare Theatre, why can’t Leslie Jones, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon and Kristen Wiig star as the Ghostbusters?
We’re not talking Shakespeare here, though. Ghostbusters (2016) was clearly intended as a popcorn movie, and it succeeds as such. Nothing stops us from reading into it a parable about how women can be as good as men at anything, but nothing compels us to do so either. Other than perhaps the early criticism.
Early on in the movie, the Ghostbusters fret that they’re not being taken seriously by the government, by the media or by the people. This was also a problem for the original male Ghostbusters, though.
Mayor Bradley (R?-New York, Andy Garcia) and his press secretary Jennifer Lynch (Cecily Strong) summon the Ghostbusters to thank them for capturing a ghost at a rock concert, but at the same time tell them they will be publicly disavowed by the mayor.
Bradley seems to think the situation is well under control by Homeland Security, whose best idea seems to be to shoot bullets at the ethereal beings plaguing the city. I think it was a good choice to have Homeland Security be the government agency that gets in the way of the heroes’ mission, rather than the Environmental Protection Agency.
To resolve the Act III crisis, it takes the expertise and courage of the Ghostbusters, who can spout Treknobabble as well as any men, while the Homeland Security agents and the National Guard are rendered useless by a freeze spell.
This movie does show men can be objectified, too, as Kevin (Chris Hemsworth) is a dumb blond and terrible receptionist who gets to keep his job only because the ladies like looking at him.
Kevin does have a pivotal story purpose, as he is at one point possessed by Rowan (played earlier in the movie by Neil Casey). Rowan is such a bland villain you’re forgiven if you don’t immediately realize he’s supposed to be a bad guy. Rowan does become more interesting when he is possessing Kevin.
There seems to be enough similarities to the original for this new movie to feel familiar, but also enough differences (and updates) to make it feel more like a reboot than a retread. Some of the original actors have cameos in this one, such as Bill Murray as skeptic Martin Heiss.
Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon are both current cast members on Saturday Night Live, Kristen Wiig had a good run on that show, and Melissa McCarthy has hosted almost five times. They’ve all played funnier characters on SNL, as well as characters that are not as funny.
As far as Melissa McCarthy movies go, this movie is not as good as Spy but is much better than The Boss. You probably won’t be asking for your $8 back, but you probably won’t put this one on your list of top 10 movies either.
If you’re still in the theater when the end credits start rolling, you might as well stay to the very end, as there are a couple of extra scenes.
