Let me get this out of the way…I never liked the original Ghostbusters neither. It was a huge letdown from the team that gave the world funnier stuff such as Stripes, Caddyshack, Meatballs, Animal House and to a lesser extent The Blues Brothers. I laughed once and I remember the lame, playground joke they used too. To me, Ghostbusters is when Ramis, Murray and Akroyd decided wind down their heavier drug usage in the wake of John Belushi’s death and thought putting out mediocre PG-13 drivel was the way to go for the next 30 years, namely if they’re the leads.
So when the all-female cast remake was announced, my initial reaction was, “Who cares? You can’t polish a turd.” Sony and Columbia pictures tried though. The special effects are better than 1984 but the ghosts are just par for the course with today’s films. They brought in cameos of all the original, living actors except Rick Moranis; ho hum. At least they didn’t play up fat jokes on Melissa McCarthy for a change. Australian and Massachusetts taxpayers should be first in line for a refund too as movies are now independently incorporated entities to protect studios from their creditors.
It’s a story on predictable rails. There are some changes like Wiig being a legitimate scientist and Jones being an expert on NYC. Kids will be amused by the physical violence, not much else.
We chose Ghostbusters (2016) as our inaugural experience at the relatively new discount theater that moved into the old Alamo Lake Creek Festival. How I’m glad I didn’t waste Alamo Drafthouse money on this turkey (they leave the door open for a sequel but I doubt there will be) and then I missed Alamo because there were rude parents who let their children yap during the movie plus an idiot who thought the characters listened to him. Saved $12 alone on admission, yet I need to remember never to see something I really want to enjoy there.