- Actors: Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones, Chris Hemsworth, Cecily Strong
- Director: Paul Feig
- Producers: Amy Pascal, Ivan Reitman
- Format: Subtitled
- Language: English
- Subtitles: English, Spanish
- Dubbed: Spanish
- Region: Region A/1
- Number of discs: 1
- Rated: PG-13
- Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
- Release Date: October 11, 2016
- Digital Copy Expiration Date: December 31, 2019
Can I review Ghostbusters without discussing gender
roles? Is that even possible at this point? It has gotten so that the
controversy is so connected to the film that it will live on far longer than
the actual quality of its filmmaking would have allowed otherwise, just as was
the case with The Interview, the
comedy that brought threats of war despite being entirely forgettable. Ghostbusters was merely another in a
series of franchise-reviving blockbusters, sanitized so much for modern
audiences that it lacks the charm from the original. This has nothing to do
with gender roles and everything to do with the artistic side of film being
sacrificed in effort toward guaranteed financial success.
In this
reboot/remake of the 1980s classic, Feig brings his style of comedy and an
abundance of modern technology, along with four female leads. This is an origin
story for the gang, taking us through the predictable steps of their union. Dr.
Erin Gilbert (Kristen Wiig) is a respected Columbia University
professor trying to get tenure. This opportunity is threatened by the
reemergence of a book that Gilbert once wrote about paranormal existence with
her colleague, Abby Yates (Melissa McCarthy). The two of them get dragged into
an investigation of the appearance of a ghost, unintentionally forming the
group. Yates brings along engineer Jillian Holtzmann (Kate McKinnon), and the gang
is completed by MTA worker Patty Tolan (Leslie Jones), who just happens to
witness a ghost and is allowed to join the group for the mere fact that she has
access to a vehicle. They also hire a receptionist named Kevin (Chris
Hensworth), whose ditzy qualities are played completely over-the-top in the
film’s most obvious gender reversal role.
There is far
more focus on the comedy in Paul Feig’s Ghostbusters,
though it is simultaneously less grounded in reality than the original version,
mostly thanks to an over-reliance on CGI. The ghosts are one thing, but when
the comedy relies on computer effects to accomplish moments of slapstick, it
somehow feels like cheating. The physical comedy (with historical ties in
cinema since the early days of silent greats like Chaplin and Keaton) being
replaced by technicians on a computer is what makes the slapstick comedy of Ghostbusters feel far more lifeless than
the ghosts made of CGI.
Fortunately,
there is a large portion of the film which doesn’t involve either ghosts or
physical humor, allowing the actors to find the jokes in the dialogue. If only
there were jokes in the script prior to filming, but instead of a great
screenplay, Ghostbusters tries to rely on the improvisational style of its
performers to insert humor. While occasionally these jokes land, there is a lot
of pointless meandering in each scene just to get a couple of laughs. The art
of a smart comedic screenplay feels lost in this process. I sincerely like
these actors, but would rather watch them improve a good script with great
performances than watch them chew the scenery in a desperate attempt for laughs
that are missing in the screenplay.
The one place I
had expected the laughs to be more predominant actually left me rather
disappointed. In an effort to bring forth the nostalgia from the original films
(and possibly to placate some of the harsher critics), many of the original Ghostbuster cast members appear in
cameos. Unfortunately, most of them are rather forgettable. Even the inclusion
of Bill Murray in a small role is completely wasted. I had hoped for the
greatness of his appearance in Zombieland.
Perhaps I had set my standards too high, but the lackluster appearance of Murray was just an unfair
reminder of how much better the original film was.
It may seem like
I am jumping on the bandwagon of hatred for this film. In all honesty, I was
entertained. The extended cut of the film is overkill and the improvisational
style of comedy became tiresome in many scenes, but the spectacle was
impressive and some of the sequences were more memorable than the whole. All in
all, it wasn’t deserving of the hatred spewed from the recesses of the
internet, at least no more than a dozen other disappointing summer releases. And
for the record, the female cast is not what made this film a failure, even if
it is what kept an ignorant few from the theaters.
The Blu-ray
release comes with a Digital HD copy of the film, as well as two cuts of the
movie. Along with the theatrical cut, there is also an extended cut with over
fifteen minutes more. Apparently the first cut of the film was over 4-hours
long, though this is likely because of improvised scenes. This should be clear
by the fact that the special features only have 4 deleted scenes but there are
11 alternate scenes with variations in the jokes. There are also 2 gag reels
and cutting room outtakes, just to cram more extra footage into the special
features. More in-line with the traditional extras, there are also 5 making-of
featurettes and two commentary tracks, including a director’s commentary with
Feig joined by co-writer Katie Dippold.
Entertainment Value:
8/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 6.5/10
Historical
Significance: 7.5/10
Special Features: 8/10
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