The one thing that's always kinda got me thinking when it comes to 'Ghostbusters' is this. When humans die they turn into ghosts. All the ghosts the Ghostbusters bust are in fact dead people, some are grumpy, some nice, some nasty etc...but all are dead people generally just trying to get by after they have passed on. So, when the Ghostbusters eventually die, will they get punished by God for hunting down the mostly innocent spirits of dead people? Will other ghosts take revenge on them? You'd imagine there would be some repercussions no?
So anywho, turns out the new teen team is back and now reinstalled back into the original firehouse in Manhattan, and guess what? They're bustin' ghosts just like the good old days. What does that mean? They're storming around NYC in Ecto-1, hanging out of the ambulance proton wands blazing away destroying buildings and whatnot whilst huge spooks hurtle around and no one pays any attention to it. Straight away these huge CGI set pieces make no sense. The police would be everywhere, where are they?? People would be running around everywhere terrified whilst dodging proton streams and debris, and Ecto-1 wouldn't last 5 minutes before hitting traffic or slamming into another vehicle. Yeah I know it's a movie but the original didn't do that, twas more grounded. The lack of budget to do so probably being the main reason but it's things like that that help older movies hold up in the long run.
Anyway turns out there's a mcguffin that has a nasty demon trapped inside that really shouldn't be released but guess what? The nasty demon gets released and the ever-expanding team of Ghostbusters needs to stop it before it, once again, destroys NYC. Cue the Ghostbusters epic soundtra...oh, no they decided to leave that out, ballsy move
Ever expanding team I hear you say? Yup that's right, there are about ten or so Ghostbusters now. The original classic oldies return because just like the 'Terminator' franchise and Arnie it seems they can't get past the original cast; and apart from Dan Aykroyd there's really no need for the other two. I was also thinking that Egon's ghost would probably turn up to help again if you think about it, why wouldn't he? Having a ghost on their side would give the Ghostbusters the edge surely.
The main issue with this movie is the fact that so much is happening and it feels SO rammed! As everyone has pointed out there are far too many characters and many don't even need to be there. Walter Peck is back, because of course he is, and now he's...the mayor of NYC?? How? Why? And he's STILL after the Ghostbusters? Ugh! Being the mayor I would have thought he would have found it easier to do that and taken them out already but whatever. Can't deny he still has a pretty good case as to why the Ghostbusters should be shut down, just as he did in the original movie for environmental reasons.
The characters of Lucky Domingo and Podcast are back and serve no real purpose (other than ticking diversity boxes?). Callie and Trevor Spengler are back and do nothing despite being core characters, bizarrely. Janine Melnitz returns just to suit up in a Ghostbusters jumpsuit (for the fans of the cartoon?). Finally apparent new Ghostbuster Dr. Lars Pinfield pops up seemingly out of nowhere yet has his own black Ghostbusters jumpsuit, black Ghostbusters vehicle, and STILL manages to not do much. Heck! The one new character that should have had more screen and story time, Kumail the Firemaster, was drowned out by everyone else.
As for the nostalgia factor, look I get that some aspects of the original movies will need to be revisited but once again they go overboard. We've got original 80's breakfast cereal adverts, toy adverts, a clip from the original Ray Parker Jr. Music video, some of the same catchy dialog lifted straight from the original, Venkman utilising his old experiments with Egon's colander, the same NYC library ghost that somehow looks worse than the original, the pointless mini Stay Puft men again, the final scene outside the firehouse is the same from the original, and finally Slimer is back. Ironically I actually thought Slimer looked great this time around and I really wanted to see more of him. Maybe a prequel movie about Slimer's origins, who he was in life, how he died and became the disgusting green blob.
Overall despite what I've said I did find this outing relatively acceptable. It was certainly more interesting and engaging than the last dull offering set on a farm. It did feel more like a live-action adaptation of an episode of 'The Real Ghostbusters' which isn't necessarily a bad thing, I can dig it, but maybe they should have reigned it in just a tad. In general despite all their efforts the movie still felt small in scale and had the look of being shot entirely on sets. They really didn't capture New York City like the first two movies did which is a really glaring error frankly. How can you not take advantage of NYC? It's odd, it's like the folks behind this franchise (including original stars) still don't quite get how it works or how to fully make the most of its rich material. Third times a charm?
So anywho, turns out the new teen team is back and now reinstalled back into the original firehouse in Manhattan, and guess what? They're bustin' ghosts just like the good old days. What does that mean? They're storming around NYC in Ecto-1, hanging out of the ambulance proton wands blazing away destroying buildings and whatnot whilst huge spooks hurtle around and no one pays any attention to it. Straight away these huge CGI set pieces make no sense. The police would be everywhere, where are they?? People would be running around everywhere terrified whilst dodging proton streams and debris, and Ecto-1 wouldn't last 5 minutes before hitting traffic or slamming into another vehicle. Yeah I know it's a movie but the original didn't do that, twas more grounded. The lack of budget to do so probably being the main reason but it's things like that that help older movies hold up in the long run.
Anyway turns out there's a mcguffin that has a nasty demon trapped inside that really shouldn't be released but guess what? The nasty demon gets released and the ever-expanding team of Ghostbusters needs to stop it before it, once again, destroys NYC. Cue the Ghostbusters epic soundtra...oh, no they decided to leave that out, ballsy move
Ever expanding team I hear you say? Yup that's right, there are about ten or so Ghostbusters now. The original classic oldies return because just like the 'Terminator' franchise and Arnie it seems they can't get past the original cast; and apart from Dan Aykroyd there's really no need for the other two. I was also thinking that Egon's ghost would probably turn up to help again if you think about it, why wouldn't he? Having a ghost on their side would give the Ghostbusters the edge surely.
The main issue with this movie is the fact that so much is happening and it feels SO rammed! As everyone has pointed out there are far too many characters and many don't even need to be there. Walter Peck is back, because of course he is, and now he's...the mayor of NYC?? How? Why? And he's STILL after the Ghostbusters? Ugh! Being the mayor I would have thought he would have found it easier to do that and taken them out already but whatever. Can't deny he still has a pretty good case as to why the Ghostbusters should be shut down, just as he did in the original movie for environmental reasons.
The characters of Lucky Domingo and Podcast are back and serve no real purpose (other than ticking diversity boxes?). Callie and Trevor Spengler are back and do nothing despite being core characters, bizarrely. Janine Melnitz returns just to suit up in a Ghostbusters jumpsuit (for the fans of the cartoon?). Finally apparent new Ghostbuster Dr. Lars Pinfield pops up seemingly out of nowhere yet has his own black Ghostbusters jumpsuit, black Ghostbusters vehicle, and STILL manages to not do much. Heck! The one new character that should have had more screen and story time, Kumail the Firemaster, was drowned out by everyone else.
As for the nostalgia factor, look I get that some aspects of the original movies will need to be revisited but once again they go overboard. We've got original 80's breakfast cereal adverts, toy adverts, a clip from the original Ray Parker Jr. Music video, some of the same catchy dialog lifted straight from the original, Venkman utilising his old experiments with Egon's colander, the same NYC library ghost that somehow looks worse than the original, the pointless mini Stay Puft men again, the final scene outside the firehouse is the same from the original, and finally Slimer is back. Ironically I actually thought Slimer looked great this time around and I really wanted to see more of him. Maybe a prequel movie about Slimer's origins, who he was in life, how he died and became the disgusting green blob.
Overall despite what I've said I did find this outing relatively acceptable. It was certainly more interesting and engaging than the last dull offering set on a farm. It did feel more like a live-action adaptation of an episode of 'The Real Ghostbusters' which isn't necessarily a bad thing, I can dig it, but maybe they should have reigned it in just a tad. In general despite all their efforts the movie still felt small in scale and had the look of being shot entirely on sets. They really didn't capture New York City like the first two movies did which is a really glaring error frankly. How can you not take advantage of NYC? It's odd, it's like the folks behind this franchise (including original stars) still don't quite get how it works or how to fully make the most of its rich material. Third times a charm?