Today I saw the movie that broke the internet. For months the battle over the Ghostbusters remake has been raging strong.  It has a female cast, some idiots trolled, people involved overreacted and then a bunch of lousy trailers came out. Plus, like Independence Day it’s another movie that others feel much more nostalgia for than I do. You can see my best shot pick and thoughts on original Ghostbusters here.

So is this new version the monstrosity that some people hoped for? (Yes some idiots hoped it would be bad). No, in fact, I liked it very much!

Going into Ghostbusters I looked for a few things. 1. I wanted charismatic, likable female cast, 2. I wanted to laugh, 3. I wanted some entertaining ghostbusting action. This film gave me all of that. I left with a big smile on my face.

So let’s start with our leading ladies. We have Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon. I like that they aren’t exact copies of the 4 original Ghostbusters. McCarthy and Wiig are long time friends who have written a book on the paranormal. They had great chemistry together and I thought McCarthy stole every scene she was in. I know some are tired of her shtick but it’s really not here. There isn’t a single fat lady joke in the whole movie. She’s just funny.

All of the ladies have great chemistry together and things like Leslie Jones being from the street was actually well done. For the most part character-wise what worried me in the trailer didn’t come to fruition.  Kate McKinnon verges on being a little annoying but I was ok with it.

A lot of people have complained about the depiction of men in the film. I think this complaint misses the subtle humor these roles have. I can’t even tell you how many movies I’ve seen where every female character is a dimwit, shrew or hooker. Now they turn it around. That’s part of the joke! It’s called turning the tables to make people think and maybe laugh a bit at the way we see gender played out in film. Chris Hemsworth isn’t just the idiot, he’s a satirical jab at every dopey receptionist babe we’ve seen in a thousand other films.

Let’s get to the humor. I must own I actually haven’t seen many Paul Feig films because they are usually hard R ratings. Here he is working in PG-13 territory and for the most part I laughed a lot. The banter between the ladies was very funny and dry.

Also Chris Hemsworth is hilarious in every scene he is in as the dopey receptionist. I also liked little moments like when Melissa McCarthy can’t get her broth to wanton ratio right from the Chinese restaurant. Things like that made me laugh.

Now the action it is not as horror influenced as the original but I liked it. I thought some of the designs of the specters was cool and how the women had to use their brains to take them down was also cool. I particularly liked a set of ghosts that were giant balloons that felt very day of the dead influenced.

It was also cool to see all of the new gadgets that McKinnon’s character invents. I think young girls will see this movie and have fun playing scientist and killing those ghosts! It’s the same thing that makes me excited to see girls playing Rey. I had Ariel and that’s basically it. Nothing tough and fighting like this.

That does bring me to a negative I had in the movie. Most of the movie is so kid-friendly that it bummed me out when unnecessary crude and vulgar humor was thrown in for no reason. Like a character gives another the middle finger repeatedly. Why did that have to be in there? I don’t need that for my little girl. You also had a joke about female anatomy I could have done without. That said, those crude and vulgar jokes are much worse in the original so it’s not really a surprise.

There are also a number of cameos and callbacks to the original and some of them do feel forced. It didn’t bother me that much but it is definitely fan service. I particularly could have done without Slimer and his wife driving around.

I honestly hope there is a sequel because I think that will be even better. I think these fan service moments are out of the way and we can move on to an entirely fresh story.

Overall, if you can turn off the critics I think you will have a good time.  Is it the greatest movie of the year? No but honestly neither was the original- at least to me.  They are both fun summer movies with quippy dialogue and scientists taking down ghosts! Give it a shot. I don’t think you will regret it.

Overall Grade- B+

I did something new with my youtube video this time. I hope you guys like it