Run Time: 116
minutes
I
was apprehensive about seeing this film, because 27 years have passed since the
last one so my initial opinion was let’s let a sleeping dog, or in this case
ghost, die. Couple this with casting women who have no genetic connection to
the original characters and I sensed disaster.
I
was wrong. Not only did this work, it was extremely effective in giving the
plot of the story a new life. A brief appearance by Bill Murray as cynic and
disbeliever Dr. Martin Heiss is refreshing and takes us back to another time.
Perfect! Additional memories will be
accentuated by…well, you’ll see.
Kristen Wiig plays as Erin Gilbert,
a professor at Columbia University and unheralded published author on the
subject of the paranormal. A few years later, Gilbert lands a prestigious
teaching position at Columbia University. In the meantime her book resurfaces no
thanks to Abby Bergman (Melissa McCarthy) and she is
laughed out of academia. Speaking of laughs, McCarthy’s
sense of humor will diffuse the resulting tension between the two but I found
her delivery weak and sometimes out of sync. This would soon be forgotten by
the other ghost buster member, Jillian Holtzmann (Kate McKinnon). McKinnon is a tech nerd, brilliant with a
touch of sarcasm with a no none-sense approach to life.
Last, but certainly not least, is
Patty Tolan (Leslie Jones; Saturday Night
Live-1975) a NYC subway worker who stumbles across the focal supernatural
threat. This encounter catapults her into membership of this elite Ghostbusters
team. Her humor is also a refreshing addition. All together they form a
mismatched group of out of control paranormal fighters that eventually congeal
into a collaborative effort when ghosts invade Manhattan as they try to save the
world.
Several writers assembled to give
this sequel its new life. Of those is Dan Aykroyd whose own fascination with
the paranormal inspired the original concept in 1984. Conceived as a vehicle for himself and
for his friend and fellow Saturday Night Live alumnus John Belushi, the
original story was titled "Ghost Smashers." Very different than what
would be eventually filmed it involved a group of Ghostbusters that would
travel through time, space and other dimensions taking on huge ghosts.
While
there are no similarities in this installment either, it does beg the question of
where else can this team be taken? Stay tuned.
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