Last weekend, I had some time to kill at Disney Springs while it was hot, I was sweaty, and the humidity was just too much. Luckily, or so I thought, I had a free AMEX / AMC rewards movie ticket burning a hole in my pocket so off to the movies I went.
Independence Day was my target movie, but the only one that would fit into my window of opportunity was Ghostbusters. I knew the ratings were not the best for this remake / relaunch but it has to be better than melting in the Florida heat.
I had just made the movie time at 1 PM and didn't have time to get popcorn and a drink and I must have missed one preview, but I was there and ready to be entertained. It never happened.
There were three aspects of the movie that I did like. Leslie Jones, Chris Hemsworth, and the integration of the previous Ghostbusters cast. Without these three aspects, I would have walked out less than 40 minutes into the movie. I NEVER walk out of a movie. I would rather stay there and decipher where the movie went wrong and see if I could fix it.
I am a HUGE Kate McKinnon fan ever since I saw her on The Big Gay Sketch Show. What was odd was she didn't bring any of that humor or her talent from SNL to this movie. My comparison of McKinnon's character was that she was playing Kristin Wiig's Gilly as a scientist. That's all I could think about and you can only stand about 5 minutes of Gilly. Was there a lesbian twist in the movie? I didn't see it. If there was something it was clouded by awkwardness. Vanity Fair did a good job discussing the possible lesbian aspect.
Melissa McCarthy never left the gate. I liked most of her screen time in SPY, except for one time where she just went a little too overboard. In Ghostbusters, she stayed less than luke warm, whined too much, and didn;t show us any comedic talent.
I was cheering for Kristin Wiig's character from the beginning, but it fell on deaf ears. There was a glimpse here and there of a character with character, but there was just no emotion there.
Leslie and Chris were what kept me in my seat and not walking toward the door. They developed their characters into believable individuals. I won't say any more about them, but they're the highlights of the movie. I'm not sure if Kevin (Chris) was a lonely gay boy, bisexual, hottie dumb jock, but he loves his kitty that lives with his mother.
And that may be an issue. The two major memorable characters were Chris's and the male villain. Chris for being awesome and the bad guy played by Neil Casey, for being kinda flat, lonely, and I guess I never really grew to hate or dislike him. Why didn't they make him more hated, evil, demonic?
The mixing of Dan Akroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Annie Potts, Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson, and even the deceased Harold Ramis were not quirky but done very well. Look for a smooth transition from present cast to past cast appearances.
Some of the best parts of the movie come at the end as well as during the credits, but there's a lot to sit through until then. I feel the movie would have been better if some of those credit parts were in the actual movie.
Final rating? Don't waste your time in the theater on this one and maybe not even at home. Tere's no need to view the 3-D effects for they were not that grand and if you do go to the theater, make some time to get some popcorn. Overall, go ahead and miss this one.
OMG. What a terrible review.
OMG. What a terrible review. Did we see the same movie? Yes, this is a by-the-numbers-scene for scene remake with a couple of twists. But the twists are important. Yes, it is way too meta – hate that the iconic logo ends up involved at all, let alone part of the big ending. Yes, a shame they were not comfortable with a Kate/Melissa fling (which is definitely there in the intro scene for their characters). Yes, Kristin and Melissa end up in roles that do not allow them to sparkle with anything but what they have already shown us – though, I must say, Melissa was so damn cute throughout. Kristin? She just did that character she always does when she doesn't know what to do. But the big story here are the breakout performances of the other two leads. Leslie and Kate kept me in stitches. Kate damn near eats the scenery, repaints it and sets it on fire! Chris H.? Meh. Okay take off on the dumb blonde secretary, but – MEH. He does nothing for me. But the film over all is definitely worth the price of admission and I think seeing it on a large screen with other people is what help makes this flick click. Sorry, Adam. I think you missed the boat on this one.
No boat missed here,
No boat missed here, Uptonking. And it wasn't a terrible review. I thought it was a terrible movie. Just looks like we have differing opinions. Or am I supposed to say your review was awful!
Thanks for reading.