My thoughts on remakes and sequels are well documented but this week, exactly 32 years after the original movie featuring Bill Murry, Dan Aykroyd and Sigourney Weaver inspired an entire generation to call the Ghostbusters when there was something strange in the neighbourhood, Melissa McCarthy, Leslie Jones, Kate McKinnon and Kristen Wiig bring us a fresh take on this ghoulish blockbuster.
Director Paul Feig combines all the paranormal fighting elements so loved in the original franchise with masterful casting of some of the most undeniably funny actors of our time.
The idea of a women only cast was met with criticism and resistance by audiences on both sides of the feminism debate.
Some felt that the focus on a female remake was unnecessary, while others felt (however wrongly) that a women-only cast could never be strong enough to carry such an iconic film.
This film is a true remake and not a sequel or prequel, but rather a new start for the franchise, and depending on the success of this venture, we might just see more Ghostbuster films, building on the female cast.
Many members of the original cast make cameos in this film, leading to some interesting moments of nostalgia between the very fresh, very funny new dialogue.
Abby Yates and Erin Gilbert are researchers and co-authors of an unpopular book on the existence of paranormal sightings, phenomena and ghosts.
Gilbert decides to abandon the project and pursue a career in academics, but Yates still has a curious passion for the otherworldly.
The imminent republication of the unpopular book brings Yates and Gilbert back together, and Gilbert promises to help Yates with a paranormal investigation in exchange for stopping the publication of the book.
An encounter with a malevolent ghost renews Gilbert’s belief in the paranormal and when the online publication of a video documenting their experience jeopardises her career, she decides to team up with Yates once more.
The team of ghost hunters meet with various setbacks, but end up opening a little office above a Chinese restaurant and hire the dimwitted but delicious Kevin Beckman (Chris Hemsworth) as a receptionist.
Naysayers and non-believers make their lives difficult, and a fit of misplaced pride causes a serious accident which has the team, now calling themselves Ghostbusters, summoned to the mayor’s office.
In a nod to the homeland-security-obsessed times we live in, it turns out that the powers that be are well aware of New York’s ghost problem.
The ghostbusters discover a plot to use some of their own technology, leylines and all kinds of supernatural and paranormal apparitions to cause citywide havoc.
Both Yates and Kevin are possessed by a supernatural entity, and the police and homeland security are soon overwhelmed with the ghostbusters having to come to the rescue.
In the end the ghostbusters are rewarded for saving the city by the mayor’s office who promises to secretly fund them, while continuing to publicly denounce them.
They move into an old firehouse and despite the public denouncement, the residents of New York City give thanks and pay tribute to the ghostbusters.
This movie will probably not win over its pre-release haters, but with the quick humour and the more than sufficient laughs, it will be a disposable bit of fun for both casual audiences and die-hard fans.
A caveat for those who have something to say about the aforementioned debate on feminism comes from Emma Watson, an actress and advocate for equal rights.
“It is not the word that is important. It is the idea and ambition behind it.”
