No one was convinced that Ghostbusters 3 would be a good idea. Even fewer people were convinced that a Ghostbusters reboot without the original cast would be a good idea. And yet, here we are, 30 years later, and the new Ghostbusters is not the disaster that many expected (or even hoped) it might be.
In fact, most critics seemed to actually like it.
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Although reviews are still trickling in, the Ghostbusters reboot is currently sitting at a respectable 75% on Rotten Tomatoes, with 55 fresh reviews and 18 rotten ones.
Here’s what Manohla Dargis had to say in her review for The New York Times, which praised both the performances of the females stars and the refreshing lack of genre tropes one expects in a female-centric comedy:
“It’s at once satisfyingly familiar and satisfyingly different, kind of like a new production of “Macbeth” or a Christopher Nolan rethink of Batman. As it turns out, the original “Ghostbusters” is one of those durable pop entertainments that can support the weight of not only a lesser follow-up (the 1989 sequel “Ghostbusters II”), but also a gender redo.”
Jesse Hassenger’s review for AV Club wasn’t quite as overwhelmingly positive, but he too was drawn in by the hilarity of the film’s stars:
“As enjoyable as this movie is, sometimes it feels like it’s holding back; no one’s id runs wild. But the limitations of Ghostbusters make Wiig, McCarthy, McKinnon, and Jones even more valuable. They make a big franchise-starter warmer and more endearing than it needs to be.”
That’s not to say that everyone fell in love with Wiig and company. Richard Roeper, writing for the Chicago Sun-Times, seems to have hated the new Ghostbusters more than any movie he’s seen in recent memory:
Of course, people were voicing these opinions without having seen the entire movie. Well, I have seen it — and while I believe the concerns about racial stereotypes were overblown, “Ghostbusters” is one of the worst movies of the year for multiple other reasons, including:
- Bad acting.
- Uninspired directing, editing, cinematography and music.
- Cheesy special effects.
- A forgettable villain.
- A terrible script.
Yikes. Ok, so Roeper appears to be in the minority here, but Ghostbusters clearly isn’t the complete bust that it could have been. It’s probably not going to win any Oscars, but it’s also not going to destroy the legacy of the original movie.
