I was all ready to hate this movie. I had a negative review written in my head a year ago. I never thought I'd say this, but these women won me over. Why can't females fight ghosts(a completely fake occupation btw)? Resistance to such a notion is merely kneejerk sexism that shouldn't still be lingering around in 2016, and this planet will be a much better place when it isn't. I thought Ellen Ripley and Sarah Connor crashed through that glass ceiling a long time ago. Trust me, you didn't want to see Seth Rogen chasing apparitions. Ben Stiller didn't belong in that khaki-colored jumpsuit either. That's what a pass-the-torch-type scenario with the old guys would've looked like. Things worked out for the best.
Before I delve any further into this female-centric CGI fest, we have to go back to where it all began. My mother put together a Ghostbusters Halloween costume when I was six years old that made me the envy of my first grade class. You're about to understand why.
"Ghostbusters"(1984)
SNL original and all-around paranormal enthusiast Dan Aykroyd started working on a script in 1982 that would reunite him with blues brother John Belushi and hopefully replicate the success of the 1980 hit that made them both big screen players. Sadly, Belushi died of a drug overdose that very same year, but Aykroyd's ideas were too good to discard. Enter Harold Ramis, the unsung SCTV vet and director of "Vacation" and "Caddyshack", to smooth out the rough edges of Danny's supernatural screenplay. Ramis rightly believed that the film would be better, funnier and far less expensive if the ghost-hunting happened in present-day NY rather than a fictional city a hundred years in the future, a sentiment shared by "Stripes" director Ivan Reitman(now also on board). It's ironic that the man most closely identified with the whole enterprise arrived late to the party, but Bill Murray(stepping into Belushi's vacant role) perfected his sarcastic-slacker shtick as the team's de-facto leader Peter Venkman, becoming a bonafide movie star in the process(a position he has yet to relinquish). "Alien" star Sigourney Weaver increased her stature as his reluctant love interest Dana Barrett and Rick Moranis rises the laugh quotient as the nerdy neighbor nearly played by John Candy.
"GB" was a genuine phenomenon in the summer of '84 that topped the box office for ten non-consecutive weeks(that DOESN'T happen today), besting such towering titles as "Gremlins", "The Karate Kid", and "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom". Ray Parker Jr.'s theme song("Who Ya Gonna Call?") was inescapable, and a popular animated series would add to the omnipresence. Reitman achieved moments that are ACTUALLY scary as we're hurled toward that high-rise showdown with Gozer("The Exorcist" meets "Saturday Night Live" was an apt early description). Film comedy doesn't come any more iconic than this.
"Ghostbusters II"(1989)
It took five years to get the band back together because they never planned on a sequel. Columbia Pictures basically DEMANDED one in 1988, after tiring of the group's inability to swiftly follow-up on one of the decade's biggest crowd-pleasers. Studio mandates rarely lead to artistic triumph, and "GBII" would become one of the more divisive sequels ever created. Murray has voiced his displeasure with what ended up being little more than a remake of the era-defining 1984 smash. This clearly illustrates the eternal dilemma with sequels. We want them to be the same, but different. "Back to the Future Part II" figured it out, "Ghostbusters" didn't. With that being said, this movie is still a lot of fun. It's got an evil painting and a pink river of slime and most importantly, it's got Peter, Ray, Egon and Winston(let's hear some love for Ernie Hudson!) running around NYC in proton packs. We wouldn't ever get to see that again.
"II" was sandwiched in between "Batman" and "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade"(the two highest-grossing films of the year) during the ultra-competitive summer of '89. It managed a healthy $112 million, but was a far cry from the first film's dominant $220 million domestic performance. The Statue of Liberty didn't have the staying power of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, and the general consensus was that they simply waited too long to fully capitalize on the(mass)hysteria(a sequel would've surely generated more money and interest in 1986 or '87). Nevertheless, both films took up permanent residence on cable and Murray is the ONLY reason a third installment failed to materialize with the original crew(the hipster god fancied himself a serious actor, and occasionally was). It certainly wasn't for a lack of trying. Ramis' death in 2014 would ultimately lead to a full reboot, but nobody could have foreseen what form that would take.
"Ghostbusters"(2016)
Wait a minute, is that four chicks standing outside the Ecto-1? That's a lot of estrogen for a summer tentpole. "Bridesmaids" director Paul Feig enlisted that film's two stars when he got the call that sent the internet into an uproar. These talented women cured my hyper-masculinity and silenced my inner eight year old and should do the same to anyone with an open mind. I didn't leave the theater covered in slime. We didn't need Walter Peck to shut this thing down. Kristin Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon(a consistent scene-stealer) and Leslie Jones create likable characters with distinct personalities and gel effortlessly as a team. Chris Hemsworth's himbo receptionist was a good hire, and plays an integral role in the FX-heavy finale(admit it, the effects in the first two were never great). Murray, Aykroyd, Hudson, Weaver and Annie Potts all pop up in cameos to show their support. The filmmakers obviously respect their 1984 inspiration very much.
I say give these girls a sequel. And a cartoon show. They earned it. "Ghostbusters" isn't as sacred as this project's stubborn detractors would have you believe anyway. It's not some vast universe with limitless possibilities like "Star Wars" or "Star Trek"(not YET anyway). It's creators weren't really interested in unlocking the true potential of the original premise and expanding the(paranormal) world. Maybe Feig's female foursome or another future group will be. What I'm trying to say is that "GB" fans should be happy. This brand is no longer dormant. Even if I'm reaching, we should all rejoice in the fact that this film isn't the childhood-crushing cataclysm that nostalgia-junkies were prophesizing like guests on Venkman's short-lived talk show. Go watch "Ghostbusters II" for the hundredth time if you don't like these ladies. I've answered the call.
Updated- Nov 2021
Director Jason Reitman proves that there is life after reviled reboots in his "Force Awakens"-style relaunch of his father's beloved property. The polarizing 2016 film has been swept under the rug, in favor of a legacy threequel that attempts to honor and extend the original story more than three decades later. Egon Spengler's grandkids(McKenna Grace, Finn Wolfhard) are our teen protagonists for an Oklahoma-set showdown with Gozer and Zuul, a cross-generational Crossing of the Streams, if you will. Paul Rudd's easy charm probably brought more than a few Marvel fans onboard, as a cool science teacher that remembers how eerie New York was in the '80s.
