Movie Review: Ghostbusters (2016)

As you may know, I am a big fan of the Ghostbuster movies. When an all-female reboot was announced, I didn’t know what to think about it. I mean Ghostbusters is a classic and has a big fan base. When remaking or rebooting a movie in a franchise like this, as a producer you’re already 1-0 behind. When a movie is so iconic, it’s almost impossible to live up to the expectations.  Ghostbusters 2016 however isn’t a remake (it’s a reboot of the old story), because it’s a new story with new characters.  The old Ghostbusters and their adventures do not exist in this new Ghostbusters Universe, although the movie is based on the old story. There was a lot of criticism on this movie way before it hit the big screen and there is a lot of criticism on it now it’s out for everyone to see. But we will talk about that later; first let me tell you some more about the story…

 Physicist Erin Gilbert (Kirsten Wiig) tries to start up a serious career at Columbia University. She wrote a book about paranormal phenomena with her friend Abby Yates (Melissa McCarthy), but she doesn’t want to be reminded of that. When Erin is up for tenure, she finds out that Abby republished their book.  This endangers her chances to get tenure, so she visits Abby to convince her to remove the book from publication. When she arrives she finds out that Abby is still studying the paranormal world together with the flaky and somewhat crazy engineer Jillian Holtzmann (Kate McKinnon). While Abby and Erin are bickering about the book, a call about a haunted house comes in. Erin agrees to accompany Abby and Jillian in their investigation, in exchange for the removal of the publication. 

When they arrive at the house they discover an evil ghost and this renews Erin’s believes in the ghost world. Following this her tenure is denied and Abby and Jillian get fired from their jobs. Together they decide to open a business in capturing ghosts and open an office above a Chinese restaurant (which results in some great scenes with delivery boy Benny and Abby). Public Transportation worker Patty Tolan (Leslie Jones) comes across a ghost in the subway tunnels and contacts the group to help her out.  Eventually Patty, who has a great knowledge about the history of NYC, joins the group. They also hire a receptionist, named Kevin (Chris Hemsworth). Kevin is not very smart and that’s an understatement, but what he lacks in intelligence he makes up with his good looks. When mad scientist Rowan North (Neil Casey) unleashes a paranormal apocalypse, the girls are up for the biggest challenge in their lives.

Like I said before, the movie got a lot of criticism before its release and the general reception wasn’t that good either. There are a lot of bad reviews out there, but I never let  this influence my decision to watch a movie. So when my brother bought the movie on DVD, we decided to watch it together and I must tell you: I liked it! I think the movie has a great cast, with Kate McKinnon as the absolute star (in my opinion).  She is wonderful in her role of the eccentric engineer Jillian Holtzman and her actions made me laugh out loud multiple times. Wiig again proves to be a great actress, with a very solid performance and I just love the chemistry between her and McCarthy in this movie. McCarthy is at her best in her scenes with delivery boy Benny. I hadn’t heard about Leslie Jones before, so I didn’t know what to expect from her. Well she was a perfect addition to the team (especially when she gets mad and starts to scream!). And last but not least we have Chris Hemsworth; the guy is just brilliant in his role of the not so brilliant Kevin.

The movie was a feast of recognition with a lot of referrals to the old movies. Besides this all of the old cast members make an appearance in the movie and that just adds to the fun. Add some amazing special effects to this mix and the result is a very entertaining reboot of an old story. Don’t let the bad reviews scare you off of watching this movie. So throw all of your expectations over board, watch it and decide for yourself what you think of it.