Movie Review: Ghostbusters

Last Friday, I went to see the new Ghostbusters movie starring Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones. I didn’t originally plan on going to the movies that day. I was supposed to go to see hot air balloons go up around sunrise for their practice runs for the weekend’s NJ Hot Air Balloon Festival, but the weather put a damper on that (pun intended). So my friend and I decided to go to lunch and see Ghostbusters instead. A solid backup plan!

I was looking forward to watching this movie because the trailer looked really funny and I usually love whatever Melissa McCarthy is in. I knew there was a lot of “controversy” with this movie since some people were not happy that they decided to remake the movie with female ghostbusters. Personally, I don’t see what the big deal is. It’s an updated version to the movie and is a spin on the original. The original cast even gave their blessings, made cameos in the film, and it was produced by Dan Akroyd! So really, if the original cast is not even upset by it and actually fully supporting the film, then why should any of us be offended?! And it’s 2016, are you really going to tell me that a woman can run for president but she cannot be a ghostbuster?

Anyway, when the movie first came out I saw a lot of Facebook statuses about how people were pleasantly surprised by the movie and it exceeded their expectations. I haven’t seen the original movies in a very long time so I don’t really remember anything other than the fact they fight ghosts and there was something with the Statue of Liberty. My friend pointed out that maybe it was better that I hadn’t rewatched the originals recently so I could watch this movie with a clean slate. Well, I can’t say whether I would have more to say if I had rewatched the movies, but I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed the new Ghostbusters and thought it was really entertaining and funny!

My friend and I went to an afternoon showing so the theater was only about 1/3 full and I swear we were probably laughing the loudest. There was one scene, and if you’ve seen the movie you know what I’m talking about, involving Chris Hemsworth and his glasses. Before it was acknowledged in the movie, I turned to my friend and was like “Did he just…” (not going to spoil it for you!) and she said she saw the same thing and we both started cracking up.

The ensemble works well together and I think this might be the first movie I’ve seen Melissa McCarthy in that she is the most sane out of all the characters.Basically, it’s a movie that lets you escape reality and have some feel-good laughs for just short of 2 hours. Overall, I really enjoyed the movie and I think they did a good job of paying homage to the original films while still making it their own.