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Don’t be afraid of new Busters
As a fresh-faced kid, I remember all too well slinging my schoolbag over my shoulders and pretending it was a Ghostbusters proton pack.
I was a huge fan of the 1984 flick and while back then it was all about being in awe of seeing Slimer and the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man in action, repeat viewings in my later years established just how hilarious and innovative a movie it was.
This all-female Busters-led reboot arrives amid an avalanche of scepticism relating to everything from the original casting to figures released last month showing the trailer was the most ‘dis-liked’ in YouTube history.
But fear not; leave the cynicism at the door and you’ll have a great time watching the new spectre-suckers resurrect the beloved franchise.
Kristen Wiig (Erin), Melissa McCarthy (Abby), Kate McKinnon ( Jillian) and Leslie Jones (Patty) star as the fresh Ghostbusters out to save Manhattan from a paranormal invasion.
And while falling short of the – admittedly enormously high – standards set by the original quartet, this eclectic bunch of ladies more than hold their own.
Geena Davis lookalike McKinnon was the star of the trailers and her madcap, zany inventor is the funniest of the gang.
McCarthy and Wiig play roles similar to some of their previous work but their smart- mouthed brashness and awkward kookiness – respectively – mix well with their new colleagues, and thankfully Jones’ loudmouth isn’t as annoying as she appeared in the trailers.
The real, surprising star of the show, though, is Chris Hemsworth. His dumb, innocent receptionist Kevin is a superb comic creation who just about swipes the film from underneath his co-stars’ feet.
Bridesmaids and Spy helmer Paul Feig directs and co-writes with his scripting collaborator on The Heat, Katie Dippold, and while the special effects and grand set pieces you’d expect from a blockbuster are present and correct, this is still very much a Paul Feig movie.
There’s the odd crude moment and clear use of improvisation comedy. Some of the gags – a running wontons joke – fall flat and others – “Jaws mayor”, a rebuke for online haters – hit the comedic mark.
All of the old Busters pop up in memorable cameos – keep an eye out for a nice sculpture tribute to late great Harold Ramis – and remember to stick around during and after the credits for some added bonuses.
Very far from the disaster many predicted, then, but it does take this reboot a while to get going and while the finale may be good fun, it suffers from serious CGI overload.
You also cannot escape the fact it falls short of the 1984 hit that started it all.
But it was never likely to scale those heights and with its nice nods to the original, a hugely likeable cast and effective set-up of a new universe, Ghostbusters 2016 is very much it own beast... or, erm, ghost.