BEST NEW FEATURE
Paul Feig's reboot of Ghostbusters was destined to be controversial from its very inception, not only because of Feig's already divisive style but also because of the expectations brought about by such a popular brand name, not to mention a smorgasbord of other factors, the worst of which being Sony's subpar trailers for the film. Thankfully, although it's not without its flaws, this new Ghostbusters, subtitled in some media as Answer the Call, is highly entertaining on its own merits, even if it doesn't quite meet the bar set by the franchise's legacy.
Erin Gilbert (Kristen Wiig) is a scientist at Columbia University who is awaiting tenure when she discovers that an old friend, Abby Yates (Melissa McCarthy) had released a book on the paranormal which she thought she had destroyed. When Erin goes to confront Abby, she's convinced to follow her and her friend Jillian Holtzmann (Kate McKinnon) to a ghost sighting, where she discovers that ghosts are in fact real, leading to her later joining Abby and Jillian to become ghost hunters. Later, they are joined by a subway worker, Patty Tolan (Leslie Jones).
Much like the 1984 original, Ghostbusters: Answer the Call (which I will refer to it as from here forward) lives and dies by the charisma and chemistry of its cast, and thankfully all four of the leading ladies are up to the task. While Feig's characters thrive more on large personas than the quirky personailites of the original, they do provide a high quantity of laughs, and in part this is due to the frequently hilarious script. Despite the abundance of gross-out humour in the trailers, it's far from omnipresent in the film proper, though when such jokes do appear they very rarely land. Answer the Call is somewhat more kid-friendly than the original, with significantly fewer adult-oriented gags, but purely from a laugh-per-minute standpoint it comes out better.
Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean that the new film is better, as it also has a higher quantity of elements that don't quite work than the original, and more importantly, it has fewer immediately quotable lines. However, it also goes away towards fixing my biggest issue with the original, which is the general focus on character-driven comedy over inventive ghostbusting scenarios. Answer the Call spends more time on a greater variety of ghosts, and while it lacks the Zuul mythology that was so memorable in the original, it provides some of its ghosts with more grounded backstories, and its genre elements are a fair bit stronger, to the extent that the new film is actually a bit creepy at times.
This partially arises because of the film's modern blockbuster sensibilities. There is a fair bit of action in Answer the Call, and while it's not necessarily brilliant, it is often fairly exciting, largely because many of the action scenes are genuinely inventive but also in no small part due to the light show of the special effects. The CGI is serviceable if never exceptional, but the film boasts a fun gimmick where it plays with its aspect ratio. The ratio remains constant, with black bars at the top and bottom of the screen, but objects frequently drop out of the frame into the bars. This makes for a particularly fun 3D experience, especially given that the film frequently throws effects at the screen, resulting in a picture with a stereotypical but very enjoyable 3D effect.
Perhaps the most significant difference between this reboot and the original Ghostbusters isn't the gender-flipped cast, but the fact that the main villain is a human. For a film series where the main hook is ghosts, having a human as the main antagonist feels slightly misguided, but at the same time, this antagonist is a lot of fun to watch, and ties in somewhat to some of the film's more interesting plot elements -- no spoilers. Despite begging comparison to the original, Answer the Call in many ways is more similar to Feig's 2015 film Spy, right down to eventually featuring an assortment of cool gadgets. It's got the occasional flat gross-out gag, a narrative of women being underestimated (although for different reasons), and action scenes which are obviously not Feig's forte but which are lots of fun regardless. If it doesn't live up to the expectations of a Ghostbusters movie, it certainly lives up to the expectations of a Paul Feig movie.
It's unfortunate, then, that the action-paced final act is also where the film coasts the most on past successes. Up to this point, there is the occasional awkward callback to the first film, but the final act not only mirrors the original but contains several unsubtle nostalgic references which stand out awkwardly amidst some of the film's most enjoyable sequence. It's unfortunate that the film is ultimately so devoted to paying homage to its predecessor, because each and every blatant reference falls flat, and it ultimately detracts slightly from the film having its own identity. There's an after credits scene, but it's arguably the film's worst scene and a particularly shameless in its blend of sequel baiting and nostalgia pandering.
Nonetheless, fans of Paul Feig will find plenty to enjoy in Ghostbusters: Answer the Call, and fans of the Ghostbusters franchise who go in with an open mind might find themselves pleasantly surprised. This is a very funny comedy which pays homage to the original within the confines of a modern blockbuster, while boasting an excellent set of lead characters who greatly elevate an already entertaining film to one of the most purely pleasurable films this summer has offered thus far. It's a blast.
8/10
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