Ghostbusters: Movie Review

"Ghostbusters" the reboot has had a lot of negativity towards it for quite awhile. Beyond the gender issue, the film has had a lackluster and rather disappointing momentum before it's release. Just watching its numerous trailers and even the single from Fall Out Boy and Missy Elliot, does not bode well to the film's quality upon release. But who could deny the inherent talent of Paul Feig (as the director) and the all-women lead cast of the film? The women are exemplary in terms of comedic chops, the cream of the crop, surely if anyone, they could pull this off. Sadly, our greatest dread had come through. This reboot is a big pile of a dud. And nope, don't answer the call.

Years before, Dr. Erin Gilbert (Kristen Wiig) and Dr. Abby Yates (Melissa Mccarthy) co-authored a book which posits the existence of paranormal phenomenon such as ghosts in scientific form. The book, not surprisingly, proves unpopular, Gilbert distances herself and eventually becomes a science professor at Columbia University. But when Gilbert learns that the book has been republished which threatens her reputation and her bid for tenure, she reunites with Yates and, in exchange for getting the book out of publication, agrees to assist Yates and her partner Dr. Holtzmann (Kate McKinnon) on a paranormal investigation. Amazingly, the group witness and document paranormal entity during their investigation, renewing Gilbert's belief in the paranormal, but a video of this is posted online and they're all dismissed from academia. To continue their research, they open the "Department of the Metaphysical Examination" - targeting to be the first people to contain a ghost in a laboratory environment and proving that their book is actually legit.

Have you heard of Fall Out Boy's take on the Ghostbusters theme song - Ghostbusters (I'm Not Afraid)? If not, you should right now. The feeling you get after listening to the catastrophic single is mostly the same sentiments you'll get from watching film. It all uninspired drivel. The package may be new but it cannot deny that at its core, the music and the film is rotten. Not everything is bad for "Ghostbusters". The first few segments were actually amusing. The story from the get-go was interesting enough and it had its fair share of laughs and even some scares. But after the first quarter of its run time, things started to get boring pretty quickly. Earlier quips and one-liners fell flat, the story was hardly going anywhere and scenes generally just got stupider. Even the outstanding cast couldn't do anything to salvage the film. And as much we wanted to give the film a chance, we just couldn't find ourselves getting into a groove with "Ghostbusters".

Rating: 1 and a half reels





Why you should watch it:
- the first quarter was actually good

Why you shouldn't watch it:
- the film is uninspired and boring at best