To not-so-Boldly go where Man has gone Before
(originally posted on IMDb 30 September 2018)

I have a bias against this new "Ghostbusters" that I'll admit, and it's not some stupid sexist one, or a general hatred of reboots/remakes/reworkings, but it's that I never cared too much for the silly comedy of the 1984 original, either, let alone its lackluster sequel. And nostalgia for the boys-club version is one of the main appeals this 2016 girl-power iteration makes. After a slow start involving Professor Gilbert's (Kristen Wiig) tenure and the resurfacing of a book she co-authored in the past with former pal Abby Yates (Melissa McCarthy), which I couldn't care less about, setting up the rekindling of their friendship (again, uninteresting), followed by the usual and lengthy science-y mumbo-jumbo, which I suppose seems to be required for the spectator to buy into the "ghosts are real" narrative (although it surely could've done without resorting to the maps being in alignment, couldn't it have?), the pacing thereafter actually isn't bad. Albeit, this latter part is full of references to the 1980s films, which tend to be inconsequential to the plot--cameos, logos and quotations of specific scenes, sets, ghost characters, theme music and lines--and CGI action sequences and an after-credits setup for a sequel that are more in the spirit of MCU-inspired franchise building than to the original "Ghostbusters" films.

Appropriately, given that the women ghostbusters shoot, punch and sling their energy-stream laser things like lightning bolts from Thor's hammer, the movie casts the MCU's Thor, Chris Hemsworth, in the reverse-gendered role of the bimbo, as well as the damsel-in-distress. The 1980s films had at least a few of these types, too, except they tended to be women. The 1984 film also had a strange anti-EPA plotline, and the sequel lampooned government, as well; here, this is watered down to a generic government cover-up conspiracy. Additionally, I can live without the ghost fellatio and the crossing of streams that wouldn't have had the same resonance with a female cast, although I do think the paraphilia and homoeroticism are what make the 1984 film interesting (I grant that this is not a mainstream interpretation). Otherwise, the best part of the original films was Bill Murray's wisecracking. He was kind of like the guys from Mystery Science Theater 3000, riffing on how ludicrous everything in the film is, except he was a character in it. This 2016 alternate world lacks that, and much of the humor is more slapstick based. Plus, Wiig and McCarthy aren't half as delightful as they were in "Bridesmaids" (2011). Kate McKinnon is the standout; she has a distinctive voice, and her mechanic is entirely wacky. Too bad the rest of the movie is an uneven and uninspired retread.