GHOSTBUSTERS (2016)

GHOSTBUSTERS (2016)

Tagline: Who you gonna call?

(Action, Comedy, Is It The Hat?) [PG-13]

I guess he's going to Queens - he's going to be the third scariest thing on that train.

When they first announced they were going to do a new GHOSTBUSTERS flick, I was about as un-excited as it gets. One reason is that I had actually read some of the ideas they had for part 3. Initially, it involved the part of the original cast going to “Hell” or an alternate hell-related version of Manhattan. In any regard, finding out we were getting an all-new all-female team of Ghostbusters, my interest peaked, and then was quickly destroyed again when Paul Feig was announced to direct. Paul freakin’ Feig. I didn’t like a damn movie that dude’s been involved in. So, needless to say, I walked into this thing with ZERO expectations. I came out of the theater with one of the most unpopular opinions on movies in decades. GHOSTBUSTERS 2016 is FAR better than GHOSTBUSTERS 1984. This is coming from a kid who honestly believes 1984 was the best pop-culture year in the planet’s history and has been a fan of the original for 32 freakin’ years.  I understand you can’t just say that and not give reasons, so I have come up with 10.

1)      The effects. Almost anything that comes out these days using CGI will look weird compared to retro practical effects. One case where that isn’t true is anything to do with ghosts. "Ecto-anything" and "ghost-anything" are better in GHOSTBUSTERS 2016.

2)      The Humor overall. Venkman pretty much drives the humor in the original. You do have Tully who is pretty freakin’ great, but the laughs are hard to come by after that. Even throwing in a Spengler, who is most often compared to the equivalent of Gilbert. 2016 is loaded with humor, even down to Kevin and his nutty logo ideas.

3)      The antogoist. Overall I can’t really knock Zuul, but Rowan does a lot more damage in his scenes as a giant Ghostbuster logo ghost than the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man does.

4)      The final fight scene. The last 35 minutes of Ghostbusters 2016 are just flat-out nuts. The weapons the girls have are better, the ghosts they combat are better, and the power of Rowan is more intense, basically freezing an entire military and SWAT operation.

5)      Holtzmann – Sorry, but Holtzmann is far more interesting and dynamic than Venkman. As much as I loved the original team, there are a few lines in 2016’s version that literally had me cracking up.

6)      Balance – In the original, I am still not sure why Zuul needed 2 gatekeepers other than to give Dana and Tully something to do. In 2016’s version everything has a reason even down to Rowan taunting the Ghostbusters using Kevin’s body.

7)      Backstory – The reason Gilbert was called Ghost-girl, the reason for the existence of the Aldridge ghost, the reason Rowan was nuts, the reason we have so many ghosts popping up, and even how Rowan got the idea.

8)      The music – Listen to both soundtracks back to back and tell me which one you prefer? Outside of the title track, the old Ghostbusters sound-track is a little freakin’ weird…Ghostbusters II was even weirder.

9)      We haven’t even gotten to Zuul yet. If we get a second installment of this version of the Ghostbusters, we will get to run into Zuul again. I have zero doubts the gals will have a crazier time battling this entity than the original Ghostbusters did.

10)   The Mayor scene – Watch these two scenes blow for blow and tell me who you thought did it better and which was funnier. Holtmann’s lines alone crush it in this scene and help drive home the awesomeness of GHOSTBUSTERS 2016.

Some might argue that this was too close to the original or just a rehash. I couldn’t disagree more. Designed to give tribute to the film that spawned it, not only does GHOSTBUSTERS 2016 succeed, it crushes all expectations.

I have already bought this movie and watched it twice on DVD. Even the DVD is rad with the slime and ghosts stretching over the black wide-screen borders to give the film a 3D feel even if you don’t have 3D. Everything about this damn thing is off-the-charts great.

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