There’s an active campaign from MRAs/Gamergate to discredit the movie. Because honest, they’re not misogynists, and it’s about ethics in game journalism. Or something.
That impressed me as well.
The trailers did nothing to make me want to see it. When I read some reviews I figured it didn’t seem that bad and my daughter wanted to see it so we went. I enjoyed it. It’s not going to be one of my favorites of all time but it was worth our time. The characters were not nearly as well formed as the original. My 16 year old daughter loved it.
Quite frankly the original doesn’t hold up that well. It’s a good movie but there are only a handful of laughs.
As one of the three fans of Paul Feig’s web series Other Space it was nice to see most of the cast including Neil Casey who played Rowan.
Leslie Jones was not served well by the trailers. I thought she was going to be loud and obnoxious throughout the movie. She was not and I actually found I liked her character.
I thought that Rowan (the villain) was played by Kevin James. I wasn’t familiar with Neil Casey.
Got a group of 12 together to see it last night: we all enjoyed it, especially my daughter and her friend.
I think McKinnon* and Jones were wildly underused, with too much screen time going to Wiig. It was nowhere near as crass as I had feared, and really kind of felt understated. If offered, I wouldn’t mind going again so I can focus on the details.
I did enjoy how the movie played out as a revenge fantasy against internet fanboys. Odd seeing a comedy reflect on both the times and mock the all-too predictable reaction to the film. I don’t think(?) this was intentional, but it worked wonderfully.
*My daughter’s favorite Ghostbuster by far. She was up late last night watching Kate McKinnon videos on YouTube.
I agree with all this, even the second paragraph, which I had initially misread.
Usually, with a lot of recent movies, when I think back on the film, I notice all the plot holes and inconsistencies. This has yet to happen. The only weak point that stands out for me was Kevin’s sudden wanting to be a Ghostbuster. I understand they needed to get him outside and give him some sort of transportation, bu it could have been better done. I felt like we had missed a scene where the normally clueless Kevin had realized whom he was working for. I figured it could have been better handled by Kevin showing off his new moped that he got, so he could pick up their Chinese take-out… from downstairs.
I heard Paul Feig talk about it being painful to cut scenes that screen well but need to be cut for flow or time. He said that the pain of losing those scenes is now less because of being able to release them later on DVD. Maybe a set up scene was cut. I thought the movie was getting a bit on the long side so I could see the need to cut some of what they shot.
Looking back I think my biggest complaint was that there was too much pandering to the old audience. Taken individually all the cameos and nods to the original were amusing. Put together they took up too much of the movie. However if they had been able to pull Rick Moranis out of retirement I wouldn’t have minded one more cameo.
I loved it! It was way funnier than a remake has any right to be. Haters gonna hate but I found it a sweet love letter to fans.
I saw it with the family on Thursday and I thought it was very funny. It’s not as good as the first, but I don’t think that there was a chance of that happening. I thought the relationship between Wiig and McCarthy was very well done and Leslie Jones is pretty funny in it as well. I have a low tolerance for her on SNL because all she seems to do is play the loud black woman but here she had some nuance and some nice character depth. That goes for Wiig and McCarthy as well. Wiig’s SNL work became tired and repetitive the longer she was on it and McCarthy is frequently accused of being just a “funny fat lady” but all three had some good stuff in Ghostbusters. And as for Kate McKinnon, all I can say is that I love her and want to have her babies.
There are a few things that I feel could have been done a bit better. I thought that there was a very “by the numbers” feel for putting everything together – everything needed an origin including the Ghostbusters sign and the overalls. The movie could have glossed over the introduction of those and I would have been fine. I also thought the bit where they’re just fighting ghosts over and over with their neat gear was a little meh, and getting sucked into another dimension was a little evocative of Iron Man in the Avengers, but it also was also a nice moment to show the friendship between Gilbert and Yates.
Related to the movie, Max Landis was working on a sequel to the original two. I like his treatment here:
Does it keep the 2009 video game cannon? Because that was written by Ackroyd and Ramis and ties up the first two movies in a neat bow.
Yes, I saw that. 
I am just hoping the movie makes enough $$ so that the sequel gets green lighted. From some of the press coverage, I had the idea that this movie was a sign of the collapse of society or something. :rolleyes: Glad to see that the movie appears to be relatively successful despite its purported suckiness.
They don’t want to just make a sequel (although they do want to do that). Sony plans an entire Ghostbusters cinematic universe, with multiple sequels, television shows and merchandising (of course).
The first was very good, and I love it…but there are parts that I find uncomfortable to watch now. The way Venkman comes on to Dana, for example. And really really bothered by the KeyMaster/Doorkeeper side plot. But it could just be that I think Rick Moranis is a little bit gross (sorry).
In the old movie, Egon was always by far my favorite. (I always liked Spock better too. I always went for the nerds.) I think the Egon successor was awesome, and I loved the new gadgets.
The callbacks to the first film are great. And I loved seeing all of the cameos! Like, genuinely excited! And the mayor - that’s the guy from the Ocean’s movies. And there were a few genuine jump scares.
I didn’t get the sense they were stomping on the original at all. Rather, it had a feeling of “Here’s this amazing universe we totally fucked up with Ghostbusters II, it’s time to build more into that universe!” And anyone who says this movie RUINED everything, I would like to refer them to that terrible movie Ghostbusters II, which had like, one joke.
A lot of the initial criticism seemed to boil down to “Ick, girls.” Sure there was some understandable concern that it was just stunt casting but there was a strong undercurrent of misogyny.
I know his star isn’t as bright as it used to be but Andy Garcia has been reduced to being known as this?
Hollywood doesn’t want to make sequels anymore, they want to make franchises.
I know, and it’s a little tiresome. I welcome the movies that are based on an original concept, or at least are just based on a novel.
Sorry, but that’s where I liked him! I can’t know every actor’s name. Taking a look at his filmography, I have seen one other movie with him in it: The Untouchables. Most of his movies are not my type.
Heh. I only just now googled around to see that he was apparently the first choice to play Zorro before it went to Antonio Banderas – which I’m guessing would’ve been a bit less “laughing swashbuckler” and a bit more “he’s behind me, isn’t he.”
One particular advantage with the all-female cast was that they were free from feeling obliged to reproduce or reinterpret the original characters. If they go back to a male cast, they’ve got that albatross around their necks.
Turns out it was both a race thing and a lady thing: Leslie Jones, Star of ‘Ghostbusters,’ Becomes a Target of Online Trolls - The New York Times
God, Twitter can be a cesspool at times.