In a Nutshell. Mini reviews of movies old and new. No fuss. No spoilers. And often no sleep.

Wednesday 27 July 2016

GHOSTBUSTERS [2016]

Paul Feig's Ghostbusters reboot never stood a chance against the army of "It Raped My Childhood" pussies and it's a shame because it really isn't that bad.
It basically follows the exact same formula of the first two films: bumbling scientists get together in New York City to hunt ghosts, everyone thinks they're a hoax, seedy government folk try to bring them down, they visit the mayor as a hole opens up in the sky which leads to a supernatural mayhem montage and finishes off with a giant icon trudging through the city streets.
It's pretty obvious this won't make the same surprising cultural impact as the original film did but it's going to toss some pretty funny yuk-yuks and fantastic cast chemistry at you with the best it can.  It's stitched together with more finesse than the 1989 sequel but like that film, if you're a kid, it's going to be a pretty damned fun ride with plenty of wide-eyed moments for a new generation of rugrats.

3 pairs of cuckoo pants out of 5

5 comments:

budarc said...

This was my first experience with how test screenings negatively impact the final product. I had my own problems with the first cut, but this retooled final version hardly improved on it. I'm hoping the extended version (reportedly with 15 additional minutes) will restore it back to the director's original vision (with the "You Should Be Dancing" scene intact).

2 fake-out black bars out of 5

budarc said...

I just saw the extended cut. The plot progression is a lot smoother and the jokes don't feel all packed in so it has room to breathe. I thought it was superior to the theatrical cut (although it lacked those fancy "breaking out of the frame" effects), but there are still parts in the rough cut I saw that I miss. They put back the dance sequence, but truncated it severely (the end credits contain most of it). Maybe I've seen it enough times that it's finally grown on me. I'm able to concede to 3 TVs with convenient volumes out of 5.

cuckoo said...

Is it out on blu-ray now?
I'll have to give that a look sometime.

This "dance sequence" I keep hearing you speak of has made me curious.

budarc said...

It's out online. Apparently the black bars effect still exist, but the version I saw had been cropped out.

The dance scene is basically how you see it in the end credits now, but originally it had been scored to the Bee Gee's "You Should Be Dancing." It was completely omitted for the theatrical cut (Rowan just poses them into weird army figures positions), but it was an expensive sequence to shoot so they repurposed it for the end credits. The DC version still severely truncates the scene as I saw it in the rough cut, but the gist is there. I thought it was most amusing because it reminded me of the Beetlejuice "Day O" dinner scene.

cuckoo said...

I found it on Apple TV.

Still the same score from me but it improved upon some scenes and dragged out a few others.
I like they gave Matt Walsh a bit more screen time. The guy's funny and I was disappointed the theatrical cut didn't make use of that.
It still underused Cecily Strong's comedic talents though.
Loved the Abby possession scene more though. So gross. XD
Was pleased to see Justin Kirk pop up as a character I think was completely cut from the theatrical release.

Love the final hour after Rowan's plan starts going into full throttle. I think it nails the feel of what Ghostbusters should be really well.