Ghostbusters (2016): Review

Laura really wanted to watch this in the theater, because she loves the cast.

We just never got the chance before, because Mal.

We finally rented it and (except for Mal...more about that later) universally agreed that it's *great*.

Laura hedged her immediate review by prefacing it with the fact that the original is a classic. At the time, its special effects were incredible. It was a ground-breaking movie. She feels like this one did a great job of balancing homage with deeper emotional investment in the characters (even though they're ridiculous).

I don't have Laura's education, exposure, or general good taste when it comes to movies and theater.

I watch the original, and I remember the way my stupid adolescent boy-brain/body reacted. I literally spent *years* thinking that "sleeping above the sheets" was probably some signal that a girl's a freak who's likely to put out.

Or something like that.

I watch it now and realize that it was probably just some line that Bill Murray improv'd, like the one about cats and dogs sleeping together.

I'm making an assumption about both of those.

The one about cats and dogs seems more likely, since the f/x team actually had to rig Sigourney Weaver for the floating scene.

Whatever. The original seemed much more random. There were a lot of scenes and lines that worked on first viewing back in the mid 80s...but leave me (as a middle-aged adult watching it with a young child) wondering "What *were* they thinking?!"

I'm not trying to bash the original.

As Laura pointed out, the original *is* a classic.

This "new" one makes a ton of references back to it. Which is great. I think they got every major cast member (except Rick Moranis *sob*) who's still alive to make a great cameo.

I think there were also quite a few references back to the cartoon, too.

The Internet hated it. Well, males did. It got really good reviews from females.

That sucks.

I'm sad about that. I think the reboot is great.

We can spend all day discussing whether we think it's better or worse than the original.

What bothers me is that Mal spent a *huge* chunk of the movie complaining that he wanted to watch "real" Ghostbusters.

The last time I heard anything about it, Laura basically told him to either shut up or go away. Just for the record, this generally does not happen in our household. She paused the movie 2 or 3 times after this to let him talk.

I *think* his complaints hit the climax around the end of Act I. We moved on from all the boring character build-up to the action. After that, either he got sucked into it or I did.

Hopefully both. (update: Laura says that he finally got it when they put on the coveralls).

I want Mal to understand that women can be Ghostbusters too. I don't know how we've missed missed the point on this one: every time we play, he's the hero, I'm the villain, and Laura's the woman who needs to be rescued, unless he needs her to rescue him. So at least he gets the point that girls *can* rescue boys. (Another update: Laura thinks that he just fixates on his first impression of anything. She thinks that, if he'd seen this one first, he'd be horrified by the original. Which is comforting, in a way).

I also want him to understand that the "heroes" aren't just the characters walking around with the proton packs. The original didn't give anywhere near enough credit to Janine.

(We recently bought a Playmobil Ghostbuster Firehouse set. It does not include Venkman. I had an interesting time combing through their catalog trying to find one that does. Janine seems to be a much more popular figurine, and good for her! We'll probably get Slimer first). (update: And now my phone is plastering me with Playmobil ads).