For a while the ‘Ghostbusters’ reboot looked to be mired by a gender-led controversy and confusion over its actual remit. In fact, the 2016 version could well be one of the most fun films of the summer…
Erin Gilbert (Kristen Wiig) is thisclose to getting tenure at her university when, to her horror, she discovers her past coming back to haunt her – quite literally. Ex-colleague Abby Yates (Melissa McCarthy) with whom she wrote a ghost-hunting book, has republished the work on the internet and now Gilbert’s carefully constructed credibility is about to be torn asunder. She visits Abby to ask her to remove the book and save her career but instead finds herself dragged back into her ghost-hunting along with Abby’s new working partner Jillian Holtzmann (Kate McKinnon) and they encounter an undeniable phantom in a local historical home.
Losing her university reputation, Gilbert agrees to help investigate further, but when local historian and part-time subway teller Patty Tolan (Leslie Jones) brings news of an equally disturbing sighting, it’s clear that something… or someone… is causing an increase in supernatural activity. But even as they decide to formalise their partnership and perfect their ghost-hunting equipment, will the media, the local authorities and even their friends and peers take them seriously? Soon, their credibility may be the least of their problems as someone’s plans for a convergence between different plains of reality look to devastate New York City and anyone that stands in their way…
It would be easy to blame bored, ignorant tweeters for the mostly-negative buzz about 2016’s Ghostbusters – and there was, indeed, some truly stupid neanderthal, misogynist postings in the mix. But the studio itself has to take some responsibility for the initial lack of enthusiasm generated by the film’s first trailer: it was a confusing mix of old and new, reliant on nostalgic set-pieces and new faces… as if it couldn’t decide whether it was a remake or sequel… and had thrown everything in, including a slimed kitchen-sink. It wasn’t completely unfair to think that the finished film might well be more of the same. Equally, much was made in the early publicity of the fact this was a female-led outing and merely introducing a gender-swap for the four phantom-fighters would, it was noted entirely reasonably, not be enough of a hook or reason in itself to remake a classic without something genuinely new to bring to the screen.
For the first ten-to-fifteen minutes, even the most open-minded older members of the audience might well be approaching the film with that concern. Is this merely going be a retread – an adequate vehicle for Saturday Night Livers but with nothing new to add? This, perhaps more than any other film of the year so far, had something to prove on a variety of levels. However any fair-minded cinema-goer is quickly going to realise that, thankfully, the mix of all the needed elements is a successful one. The truth is that the 2016 Ghostbusters is simply great fun – powered not so much by the admittedly excellent special-effects but more by the sheer momentum of four comic actresses crossing their streams and empowering each other as they quick-quip their way against the hereafter and reverse the polarity of the neutron flow, wise-cracking their way towards the other side.
It’s an ensemble effort and though Kate McKinnon is getting a larger slice of the praise for her off-kilter ‘Holtzmann’, everyone brings their A-Game and generously give away lines to each other as much as deliver them. Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig and Leslie Jones are all important parts of the team, making the film a sum of its spectral parts and sharing the spotlight. Though utterly different from the Annie Potts character of the original (with a little Rick Moranis aspect to boot), Chris Hemsworth, aka the mighty Thor, also brilliantly subverts the ‘dumb blonde assistant’ trope, refreshingly giving us ‘Kevin’, a himbo of thunderous proportions who steals a lot of the best early laughs and it’s clear the actor is having immense fun throughout.
Yes, the original Ghostbusters is a classic unto itself and it was an inherently risky move to dig up and dust-off such a chalice. Some will complain that this year’s model has less of the sheer dry, snarky wit that fueled the original swapping cynicism for broader strokes and more prat-fall, one-liner humour. There’s some truth to that, but it does so with accurate targeting of the funny-bone and – more importantly – has real heart, once again playing to its new cast’s innate strengths, individually and collectively. What director Paul Feig and his team have done is – thirty years later – reinvigorate the basic concept with enough verve, energy, sheer sense of silly fun and spot-on timing to possibly kickstart the franchise once more. There are cameos from many of the original stars, but they are easter-egg punctuation rather than props or safety-nets. You’ll care as much about all the new characters even as you – and they – suspend disbelief in the year’s finest unapologetic romp so far (though, admittedly, it’s not been a stellar year).
One note – stay through the closing credits for not only a few choice extra scenes, including a Thrilling dance-off, but yet another fun last-minute cameo that almost completes the guest-star roster and a final moment (and word) that clues you in on where a sequel could go. With solid box-office in its opening weekend, that sequel is now likely and welcome – let’s hope we don’t have to wait three decades to see it.
9/10
