Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Ghostbusters (2016) Part 2 of 3

The Main Cast

 For the most part, the four ladies are pretty good in their parts. However, a lot of their personality is rather bland. It feels like Feig and the writers didn't want to give his characters any personality at all. And, that was part of the charm of the original movie. Other than Wiig and McCarthy, there really isn't that much chemistry between the four ladies. (BTW, there is no Ron Jeremy cameo in this movie)
Kristen Wiig: She is more or less the lead character, but Wiig is a bit of a bland person. Wiig has little to no character development, and she is the lead of the movie to boot. However, there is a nice and creepy backstory with her dealing with a ghost during her childhood. This could have brought more character development to this bland character, but this is not brought up again. And, there is no connected to the overall ghost plot. Was there more to this character plot?
Melissa McCarthy : She is a bit restrained, but alright. She is clearly channeling some of her earlier roles. I did like that McCarthy is a true believer and into all the busting stuff. However, the Chinese food running joke is NOT funny. McCarthy is funny is everything she's in, but she feels a bit restrained in her part. I think she is at her best when she is let loose.
Leslie Jones: Jones isn't as annoying as they portrayed her in the trailer, but those scenes are still there. She is a female version of Ernie Hudson and not the stereotype that the trailer makes her out to be. I would have just made her a blue-collar woman looking for a job instead of a subway clerk leaving her job to be a GB. Being a subway clerk is a pretty good job in New York right? She gets lost in the mayhem by the third act. However, I like Jones.
Kate McKinnon : She is the Doc Brown of this series. I know most people are torn about Kate's portrayal. I like her character though because she isn't bland character. Plus, the writers aren't scared of making her creepy. She is a bit Doc Brown and a bit of Egon. She is the one that creates all the gadgets and it is believable that she would create them.
You also have great character actors peppered throughout the film too. Ed Begley Jr., Charles Dance , and Michael McDonald have small parts in the story. However, there are given little to nothing compelling to do in the movie. You can't have Dance in your movie and never pay off his character. I would have had Dance's character be forced to call the GB to bust a ghost. Have him eat crow and apologize to Wiig's character. (Dance was her boss)
This Edit
There are two big issues with this remake/reboot. The editing is really uneven and script is unfinished. Sometimes the scenes run a bit too long so everyone gets their improvisational jokes and other times the movie cuts away when something interesting is brought up. The Nostalgia Critic brought it up in his review. Let the movie breathe a bit.
Yes, the original had entire subplot cut from the film, but it still had character moments. Here, scenes will linger too long and other scenes will be cut short.
Where are the montages of the ladies busting ghosts? Let's see them kicking asses and taking names. Nope. We don't have to for that it seems.
There is also the very strange edit to the dance number. From the get-go, Feig wanted to have a huge dance number with the cops and the US army being possessed by the main villain. The main villain would have made all the people dance to a song. This was partly filmed, but quickly cut from the movie. He makes them pose and they just stand there in the final cut. What was the point? This scene cost Sony a lot of money and it isn't even in the movie except for the raw cut in the credits.
Is this scene really something that should be in a GB movie? I am not sure, and it probably is too goofy for even GB.
The script is lacking heart, humor and a proper bad ass villain...


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