Scene from the movie “Ghostbusters”
REMEMBER the SARS virus back in 2003 that killed several thousand before it burnt itself out?
What about the flu that rampaged through Europe and killed more people in the 1920s than World War I?
That is how you will feel—sick to your stomach— when you have to sit through the #1 worst movie (thus far) of 2016.
It’s called “Ghostbusters” and yes, it is a total and complete rip-off of the classic “Ghostbusters” film 30 years ago that helped catapult already-famous Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson into global superstardom.
The original Ghostbusters holds up just fine all these decades later, and released in 1984, is a treasured part of American film history. It is something you simply don’t tread upon.
Or remake.
Now we have a thoroughly awful revision of the same name with the EXACT same plot of a parapsychology professor (Kristen Wiig) who stumbles upon a “ghost” in a public library and a la Peter Venkman (Murray) in the original, suits up with three other nitwits with power packs strapped on—to fight the good fight against the supernatural.
Let’s stop right here.
Thirty years ago, Murray, Ramis and Aykroyd came up with this fresh and original concept which forever changed the global lexicon, “crossing the streams is bad” and the Staypuft Marshmallow Man’s appearance to trash New York City at the film’s ending was so unexpected that this writer’s chest hurt so bad, it could have been an onslaught of a heart attack.
Scene from the movie “Ghostbusters”
Today, director Paul Feig (“The Heat”) throws everything we’ve seen 30 years ago at the movie audience, sans the surviving team of Ghostbusters (Ramis passed away in 2014) who only make the most fleeting of appearances. The actors, including the still luscious Sigourney Weaver, were smart enough to know this dog of a movie would bomb at the box office and wanted nothing to do with it.
The same with Bill Murray of whom the studio heads begged him to come back.
He was wise to stay away from the stinking pile of do do.
Aykroyd tried for years to have the original four Ghostbusters return and had several versions of his script pass through multiple senior bosses at Columbia Studios only to be turned down. Apparently they felt no one wanted to see 50+ year old men strap off their power packs one last time. What a pity.
Instead, director Feig (along with Wiig) also recruits a nerd (Kate McKinnon), a would-be comedian (Melissa McCarthy) and an African American (Leslie Jones) for his all-women team.
Scene from the movie “Ghostbusters”
One would suppose that he did this to tap into the male film audience?
It doesn’t work. Added into the mix is Chris Hemsworth instead of the great Annie Potts as the receptionist who gives the new Ghostbusters team their assignments out of a Chinese restaurant.
UGG.
Remember SARS and the 1918 Influenza Pandemic? You would gratefully subject yourself to these life threatening diseases than having to be forced to watch this dreg.
Performed almost entirely in front of a studio green screen with a few location shots in Manhattan thrown in, this version of Ghostbusters is a horrid mix of bad acting (Wiig) and far too much screaming from Jones.
So, go ahead if you must and pluck down your hard earned pesos and take a gander at the “all new” Ghostbusters. I think you will agree with this writer who would willingly have been one of the last crew that went down with the Titanic or willingly swallow a test-tube of the bubonic plague than have to stomach another more moment of these Ghostbusters.
Bottoms up!
Questions, comments or travel suggestions, write me at theruffolos@readingruffolos.com