It's weird when you have to talk about a different movie in a review, but I have to start with Ghostbusters Afterlife.
After the 2016 movie, many of those who grew up with the first two were weary about another sequel.
Jason Reitman said he'll never do a Ghostbusters movie, it's the family heirloom he didn't want to touch and ruin, but after Ramis passed away he came up with a great story.
That movie worked because of that. The plot revolved around a member of the original crew who passed away while investigating something and his lack of relationship with his family. It was the glue that held everything together. Why are these kids fighting ghosts? Because their grandfather left all this stuff behind.
It wasn't perfect, it wasn't really a comedy like the original, the marshmallow stuff made no sense and felt like a merchandising play, but overall the movie still worked.
This new movie doesn't. I was watching it at a preview and they just went from one scene to the next, like they were following a template.
That glue wasn't there.
The idea of Melody, a ghost girl, felt like "we need the ghost that works with them like we had in Afterlife".
The idea of Phoebe "killing herself" for two minutes also didn't make sense, and the girl ghost supposedly manipulating her to make it happen? How? Nothing leading up to that hinted that she knows it's possible and is trying to get Phoebe to do it.
It's all too forced. It would be fine if the plot was just an excuse for banter with Bill Murray, Dan Akroyd and the rest. It's ok when you have the goofy Rick Moranis character doing funny things (I guess Paul Rudd was in that role in Afterlife. Not as funny though) but it doesn't work when a movie takes itself too seriously, without the humor or charm of the previous movies.
The 2016 movie, which I remember nothing from, might not be the worst Ghostbusters movie now. No, scratch that, it probably still is, but this one isn't far behind (or ahead?) of it.
It was disappointing but knowing Sony, and seeing how they treated their "Spider-Man Universe", we can expect a lot more bad Ghostbusters movies to follow. They didn't set up this Ghost Corps brand to just let it go away.
After the 2016 movie, many of those who grew up with the first two were weary about another sequel.
Jason Reitman said he'll never do a Ghostbusters movie, it's the family heirloom he didn't want to touch and ruin, but after Ramis passed away he came up with a great story.
That movie worked because of that. The plot revolved around a member of the original crew who passed away while investigating something and his lack of relationship with his family. It was the glue that held everything together. Why are these kids fighting ghosts? Because their grandfather left all this stuff behind.
It wasn't perfect, it wasn't really a comedy like the original, the marshmallow stuff made no sense and felt like a merchandising play, but overall the movie still worked.
This new movie doesn't. I was watching it at a preview and they just went from one scene to the next, like they were following a template.
That glue wasn't there.
The idea of Melody, a ghost girl, felt like "we need the ghost that works with them like we had in Afterlife".
The idea of Phoebe "killing herself" for two minutes also didn't make sense, and the girl ghost supposedly manipulating her to make it happen? How? Nothing leading up to that hinted that she knows it's possible and is trying to get Phoebe to do it.
It's all too forced. It would be fine if the plot was just an excuse for banter with Bill Murray, Dan Akroyd and the rest. It's ok when you have the goofy Rick Moranis character doing funny things (I guess Paul Rudd was in that role in Afterlife. Not as funny though) but it doesn't work when a movie takes itself too seriously, without the humor or charm of the previous movies.
The 2016 movie, which I remember nothing from, might not be the worst Ghostbusters movie now. No, scratch that, it probably still is, but this one isn't far behind (or ahead?) of it.
It was disappointing but knowing Sony, and seeing how they treated their "Spider-Man Universe", we can expect a lot more bad Ghostbusters movies to follow. They didn't set up this Ghost Corps brand to just let it go away.
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