I thought the campaigns of orchestrated misogyny on the Internet had reached a peak with last year’s Suffragette, but I wasn’t counting on the reaction to this remake. I’m rarely a fan of remakes or reboots myself, but they have become a fact of movie going life, and they usually arrive without much in the way of criticism beforehand.
For example, Point Break is a much loved film but this year’s abysmal remake arrived almost unnoticed. However, Ghostbusters and the people involved with it were subjected to all sorts of online abuse from sad men who hadn’t even seen the film. Just look at the IMDB message boards to see blokes proudly proclaiming that they have rated the film 1 out of 10 without watching it.
Now, I like the original but I don’t hold it quite in the high levels of esteem that others do. If it was going to be remade, it seemed to make sense to bring a fresh approach to it and the combination of director Paul Feig and star Melissa McCarthy following their strings of hits together – Bridesmaids, The Heat, Spy – seemed like a logical choice. I’m pleased to say they have largely succeeded in delivering a pleasing and funny summer blockbuster. There are plenty of laughs, even if the action scenes dominate over the gags as the film goes along and a restrained McCarthy impresses as she usually does. Her fellow Ghostbusters are all well cast – Kristen Wiig and Leslie Jones are good, but it is Kate McKinnon who dominates. She brings a real energy to her performance as the technical wizard in the team.
Chris Hemsworth as their clueless receptionist provides a lot of laughs in his early scenes too, but it is the mayor, played by Andy Garcia who delivers the best gag in the film when he is compared to someone with the same job in a seminal 70s film.
The movie isn’t perfect – the obligatory cameos, though not at a Zoolander 2 level of cringe-worthiness, are pretty unnecessary – Dan Aykroyd’s very brief appearance excepted and there are too many instances of things flying towards the screen for 3D viewers.
But for those who can leave their prejudices behind, this is an enjoyable romp.
Rating: 7 out of 10