Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Cast: Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Chris Hemsworth, Andy Garcia, Neil Casey, Ed Begley Jr, Charles Dance, Zach Woods, John Milhiser, Ben Harris, Karan Soni, Bess Rous, Steve Higgins, , Dave Allen, Kate Dippold, Nate Corddry, Daniel Ramis, Michael McDonald, Pat Kiernan, Adam Ray, Davey Jones, Jaime Pacheco, Ryan Levine, Dan Teicher, Ozzy Osbourne, Theodore Shapiro, Eugene Cordero, Michael Kenneth Williams, Matt Walsh, Annie Potts, Cecily Strong, Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver.
Get over the false premise of shock and supposed moral outrage that comes with remaking an institution, raise a salute to the intrepid nature of the original and then revel in a film that is just as good, in parts more aesthetically pleasing, and one in which dispels the absurd notion that’s scurries in some quarters, that women cannot be funny, they can and they are; especially when they taking on the much loved franchise of Ghostbusters.
Perhaps being fair, it might seem odd to have the much loved film re-worked, changed for a different time and with the four leads being portrayed by women…nope, it is not odd, it is not weird or excruciating; it is very good casting and one makes a valid point of gender and how it is perceived in the new century. If the great Maxine Peake can change the notion of what it means to be the indecisive Hamlet, then Melissa McCarthy can be a scientist investigating the paranormal and the brilliant Dan Akyroyd can be a smart lipped taxi driver with one of the best lines in the film…level playing fields after all and the true appreciation of what a woman can bring to a role, it is not much to ask of any cinema goer.
The film may rely heavily on the bankability of Melissa McCarthy and the excellent Kristen Wiig, as well as the original two films themselves being world-wide hits, it is though to the adorable and crazy as fruitloop Jillian Holtzmann, portrayed by the sensational Kate McKinnon, to whom the motion picture rides insanely with. The doffing of the scientific hat, but one which holds a thousand monkeys underneath, which makes the 2016 Ghostbusters comedy gold.
With the role reversal complete in having Chris Hemsworth playing the few pebbles short of a mountainside secretary and the original cast, save the much missed Harold Ramis, turning up in parts that go against the grain of their own film, the 21st Century Ghostbusters is a whole new ball game; one in which the rules have changed, the players revel in the freedom to be the actors they are and to whom the franchise is reborn.
Ghostbusters, you don’t need to call them, you should thank your lucky stars they found their way back.
Ian D. Hall