How time flies. It only seems like yesterday when the internet went up in flames over the news that the Ghostbusters franchise would be receiving a reboot. It then quickly went into meltdown when Sony announced that we’ll be receiving a female version of this iconic series which shocked many fans to the very core. Questions were asked. Why? Does this franchise really need a reboot? Why does it have to be all women? Women! URGH! Equal rights has gone too far etc. Pitchforks and torches were set and a barrage of hate was splattered across many comment sections around the web. Then the trailer arrived. And in all honesty … the trailer did look ‘facepalmingly’ dull.
However with Peter Feig at the helm, many critics have been a little more open minded about what to expect from this latest incarnation. One of the biggest factors was due to his successful history when it comes to directing a comedy with women in the spotlight. Bridesmaids, The Heat and Spy have all been critically well received, although this time Feig is dealing with a sensitive franchise that’s been cherished by a generation of movie goers. Well now the reviews are in and the response has so far been mixed. Down below, you’ll see just a few snippets from the latest reviews …
Jordan Raup at The Film Stage:
“Even if all the comedy and action doesn’t land, there’s enough charm to be had with the main cast. Feig and co-writer Katie Dippold even manage to get in a few compulsory jabs at YouTube trolls along the way, but perhaps the biggest triumph of all is that they’ve introduced a team one would actually like to see continue answering the ghost-busting call. This new version of Ghostbusters will rarely make one bowl over with laughter, but, like the first film, it has a consistent amount of lighthearted, amiable fun.”
Drew McWeeny at Hitflix:
“Paul Feig’s Ghostbusters is, above all else, a real Ghostbusters movie. If you’re a fan of the 1984 original (as most comedy fans are), one of the things that’s interesting as you watch this one is the way it echoes off of that film. It is no simple remake, but neither is it a radical reinvention of the core idea. It’s simply a different riff on the same idea, with a solid dose of fan service thrown in to help make the transition from the old to the new. The script, by Feig and Katie Dippold, does some big things different, and the choices they make are intriguing. First and foremost, though, Ghostbusters is a big fat slice of silly summer entertainment, confident and sometimes quite beautiful. It is the biggest stretch Feig’s made so far as a filmmaker, embracing the technical side of things in a way he never has so far, and stuffed chock full of affection for everything that makes Ghostbusters such an enduring favourite.”
David Rooney at THR:
“Although the new Ghostbusters follows the template of the original by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis, the witless script by Feig and his co-writer on The Heat, Katie Dippold, has no juice. Short on both humor and tension, the spook encounters are rote collisions with vaporous CG specters that escalate into an uninvolving supernatural cataclysm unleashed upon New York’s Times Square. It’s all busy-ness, noise and chaos, with zero thrills and very little sustainable comic buoyancy.”
Peter Debruge at Variety:
“While both funnier and scarier than Ivan Reitman’s 1984 original, this otherwise over-familiar remake from “Bridesmaids” director Paul Feig doesn’t do nearly enough to innovate on what has come before, even going so far as to conjure most of the earlier film’s cast (including Slimer and the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man) in cameos that undercut the new film’s chemistry.”
Nigel M. Smith at The Guardian:
“Feig falls down a little in the final Times Square spectacular. This is his first effects-laden enterprise and he sometime ladles on the CGI a little thick. Such huge-scale action should never risk overshadowing the tremendous chemistry of the four leads. That said, he mostly orchestrates the chaos commendably, with rambunctious use of 3D; the ghoulish critters sometimes spill out of the widescreen frame, or spring right at you.”
“Most crucially, the mean-spirited reception to the film before anyone had seen it does not seem to have put a dampener on the movie itself. Fun oozes from almost every frame; likewise the energy of a team excited to be revolutionising the blockbuster landscape. Let’s just hope everyone will enjoy the view.”
Currently the film sits at 77% on Rotten Tomatoes as well.
Overall it seems as if Ghostbusters reboot isn’t the disaster that many fans have anticipated. However it’ll be interesting to see if these reviews will have any impact on the general populace or if the initial backlash will deter fans from giving it a shot.
Will you be watching the Ghostbuster reboot? What do you think of the latest reviews? Are you a fan of Peter Feig or do you think he’s overrated? Sound off down below!