#ecto-cooler

Now I have the confidence of a steel-plated great white shark with a laser beam attached to its’ head, but having said that there are some issues that even I’m afraid to tackle head on. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that one of those things would be a fucking movie, but hey, what can you do? Going into this flick, I knew there was basically no winning. Either I say I didn’t like the movie and then get called a misogynist manbaby despite myself being a woman, or I said I liked the movie and then get accused of being a paid Sony shill while being called an SJW, or a cuck, or a feminist apologist or what the fuck ever meaningless catch-all term for someone you don’t like that the “I’m not racist, but...” crowd has adopted these days. One would think that after the GamerGate fiasco that the Internet would have learned its’ lesson and stop dealing in absolutes, but alas this has proven to be a case where the expression “old habits die hard” rings painfully true.

Let me go on record and say that remaking Ghostbusters was a stupid, stupid idea. Not because it’s some sacred cow punishable by damnation if touched by mortal hands, but rather because it was the film equivalent to catching lightning in a Mason jar. It worked not because of talent or artistic vision (though they certainly helped) but rather because it was just the right time, the right people, and the right situation for it to work and it would only work once. It was something that could often be imitated but never replicated. Not even the original cast, writers, producers, and director could recreate its’ magic, something that Ghostbusters II made painfully obvious. Having said that, we were going to get a Ghostbusters reboot regardless, because Hollywood plays it safe and ‘it worked before’ is what counts as risk aversion these days. The only reason we didn’t get a reboot sooner was because Harold Ramis was still alive and there was still the possibility of a Ghostbusters III, but now that’s never going to happen so Sony doubled down on getting a reboot off the ground.

Well, after having seen this movie with my expectations completely on the floor, I got something to say to all the people who made it their purpose in life to shit on this movie and declare it the worst thing ever before the first still-image was released.

Congratulations. You’ll be happy to know that each and every one of you have all wasted your fucking time.

The movie is fine. No, it’s not great, it’s not a classic, and it doesn’t hold a candle to the original. But it’s fine. The majority of the jokes land, the cast have great chemistry, and while the special effects are nothing...well, special, it’s not the nonstop CGI fest that the trailers made it out to be. And speaking of trailers, yeah, whoever the hell marketed this movie needs to be fired because WOW were those trailers bad. And yeah, like everyone else has already pointed out, Kate McKinnon as Holtzmann. She’s lively, energetic, weird and quirky as fuck and I just love her. Chris Hemshorth’s Kevin is also surprisingly a lot of fun, and the ending is a fun ride.

Does the movie have faults? Of course it does. While the majority of the jokes land, there are jokes that tank and they tank HARD. The pacing is lop-sided, the cameos range from “Huh, that was cute” to “Ugh, that was painful,” while the final battle is fun it’s right at the point where the narrative structure starts to come apart, and the villain just sucks.

In the end, the movie is fine. No, it doesn’t and can never hope to live up the original, but it’s fine. Completely harmless, and probably will be remembered less as a Ghostbusters movie and more as “That movie where Chris Hemsworth shrugged off being typecast as Thor” or “That movie that Kate McKinnon was in before she really blew up and was suddenly in everything.”

Yes, I agree, this movie probably would have been much better received if it was a passing of the torch sequel instead of a reboot because, hey, us nerds will forgive anything in the name of continuity. But fact is we got a reboot, and honestly? I think this was the best we could have realistically asked for. Like I said earlier, Ghostbusters III died with Harold Ramis and we were getting a reboot no matter what. If not by Paul Feig then by somebody, be them some SNL guys, or the frat pack (or what’s left of it,) or View Askew, or Judd Apatow, or Happy Madison (yeah, imagine that shitshow if you can) or someone. Because, once again, Hollywood plays it safe and ‘it worked before’ is what counts as risk aversion. At the end of the day, I’m glad they opted to go with a new story with new characters instead of rehashing the original shot-for-shot starring, say, Channing Tatum as Peter, Seth Rogen as Egon, Josh Gad as Ray, and Kenan Thompson as Winston. And even if a sequel doesn’t come of this, guess what? Sony will just scrap the project and try again a few years later because that’s how Hollywood fucking works now.

Bottom line. Ghostbusters isn’t great, but it’s enjoyable and totally harmless. Now can we all please shut the fuck up about how it’s the worst thing since aids and found-footage movies? Seriously, guys. We aren’t talking about something so embedded into our culture that it seems like it’s part of everyday life, such as Superman, Star Wars, or Spongebob, but fucking Ghostbusters. A ‘franchise’ known for one great movie, one okay movie, an above-average cartoon, and one good video-game. Save your venom for something that deserves it. Like the remake of Ben-fucking-Hur. At least this movie brought back Ecto-Cooler. What’s Ben-Hur 2016 bringing to the table?

So, not gonna lie, I wasn’t gonna see this originally because it didn’t look very funny, but then Moviebob gave it a 3/4 and I dragged my sisters, brother and brother’s girlfriend with me to see it. And...

It was good.

Like, really good.

Is it as good as the original? Honestly, at say it comes pretty close. The acting was solid, the characters well done, the plot well written, and it was pretty funny too. I was laughing and chuckling pretty often during the movie, not because it was laughably bad, but because the jokes were actually pretty funny. Sure, a few of the references were a bit hand fisted, and Chris Hemsworth’s characters was a little too stupid for me, but otherwise, I highly recommend it. If you have the time and interest, go to the theatres and check it out.

Like, seriously, guys, please check it out. It’s flopping because of all the shit in advertising, and this movie actually has the juice for a rocking sequel. Please do me this solid. I mean, this movie helped bring back Ecto-Cooler, guys. You owe this movie for that at least.