Ghostbusters

The new take on the Ghostbusters, the film that every fanboy has loved to hate since its inception and the most disliked trailer on youtube (really guys?), has finally landed and it’s definitely a mixed bag that, as a massive fan of the original (who isn’t?) left me ultimately feeling a mix of nostalgia and conflict. Ghostbusters (a.k.a. Ghostbusters: Answer the Call) is directed by Paul Feig and stars Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones as the new face of the busting crew. After a falling out in their teenage years, Abby Yates (McCarthy) and Erin Gilbert (Wiig) reunite to investigate a haunting at a local historic house that, in turn, leads to the pair combining forces with Jillian Holtzman (McKinnon), Abby’s kooky and slightly unstable assistant, with Patty Tolan (Jones) joining them along the way. From here, the group must attempt to stop a full-scale spook-pocalypse from descending on New York before its too late.

The positives: As a person who (unpopular opinion!) had no problem with a female-lead Ghostbusters cast, I really enjoyed the character’s relationships and the quick, witty banter between them was well written (nice to see a film with a lot of positive female friendship that didn’t involve someone getting jealous about a guy). Standouts by far were Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon who brought the thunder for this movie and ultimately gave us the most entertaining characters, which is ironic as I was expecting that from the big names of Wiig and McCarthy. There were definitely a few chuckles here and there, and more than a few homages and cameos from the original cast that pop up when you least expect them to, which was a nice touch. The special effects were well done and the spooks were much, much scarier this time around. I particular loved how the film took jabs at the fact that it had such a negative reception from die-hards fans, especially those who had a problem with the fact that they were women, and doesn’t try to take itself too seriously. As a side note, the new ghost-busting equipment is also seriously badass.

The negatives: One of the big issues that I had with this film had to be the villain. Although I understood the premise of why he was written i.e. to be a foil against the Ghostbusting group, he essentially could have been played by anyone and was overall pretty bland. The final end standoff that we saw in the trailer was really the only time he shone. While the film was on the whole funny, some of the humour lost its flavour by being taken that one step too far, for example with their receptionist Kevin (played by Chris Hemsworth). We know he’s a bit of an idiot (okay, a lot of an idiot) within the first few moments of his character’s arrival, and I liked that he was a parody of some of the ridiculous characters women get cast as in order to be eye-candy, but Kevin’s cartoonish actions can only entertain an audience for so long before it starts to get old and I’m not entirely convinced Hemsworth was the right casting choice. My last concern has to do with the pacing in this film: it tended to lose its momentum in places and lose my attention, however when I tuned back in not much had happened, which isn’t the best sign for such a highly anticipated film.

The film is ultimately nowhere near as bad as people were wanting it to be, but also not nearly as good as I was hoping it would be, and would possibly have been better as an homage in itself to Ghostbusters rather than a fully fledged ‘busters movie. It had its funny moments and I loved the whole girl power aspect (I’m sure there will be many tiny Ghostbusters this Halloween) but there was definitely room for revision and improvement and I wish that it had been able to stand on its own a little more. On the plus side, the kids are gonna love it and let’s face it, its no longer about our childhood, its about theirs.  

Fall Out Boy's Ghostbusters Theme Song Not So Great

Despite having a few underwhelming trailers, I have been trying to remain positive about Paul Feig's upcoming Ghostbusters reboot. I'm of a mind not to judge a movie until we've seen it a let it speak for itself. But one thing I can comment on is the new theme song that has been released by Fall Out Boy featuring Missy Elliott. Let's just say it doesn't quite capture the classic essence of Ray Parker Jr.'s original hit.

Check it out below:

Here's the original if you want to compare (and because you can never have too much of the original).

Spy

Parodies of the spy film and in particular the James Bond movies have been around for as long as the genre has existed, with notable entries being Johnny English and the Austin Powers movies. But these parodies have never really been executed too well using American characters (although Austin Powers were Hollywood movies, the character was still British), so I had little faith in Spy, something that was soon proven wrong.

Susan Cooper (Melissa McCarthy) is a CIA agent who handles field agent and super-spy Bradley Fine (Jude Law) from the CIA headquarters in Washington. After a mission goes wrong where Bradley is killed and the covers of all CIA field agents is blown, Susan is the only person who can go undercover and recover a nuclear weapon being sold by villainess Rayna Boyanov (Rose Byrne). Susan must also contend with the arrogant rogue agent Rick Ford (Jason Statham) who doesn't believe she can complete the mission on her own and wishes to garner all the glory.

The film parodies a lot of the elements of a James Bond movie, and quite well too. Everything from the cars to the gadgets to the glamorous women appear. The opening title sequence is even a perfect match to one of those films. The movie does try to delve into some of the more in-depth subplots that involves a double CIA agent that is played by Morena Baccarin. This seems a little out of place and only adds confusion to a rather simple and enjoyable plot.

The film however is very self-aware and sure of itself as a spy parody. It understands all of the ridiculous elements of the movies and each character is an archetype of those movies. Jude Law's Bradley Fine is very much the gentleman spy and Statham's Rick Ford is a cross between Jason Bourne and his own character from Crank or The Transporter films. Susan Cooper is very much the tough female protagonist and it was quite cool to see Melissa McCarthy kick ass, although her reactions to when she kills someone could have been removed.

So while McCarthy does play a strong character, she still is playing the same crass woman that she has been, although it was rather dialled back in this film. Rose Byrne shouldn't really venture into mainstream comedies like this. While she's good in quirky and offbeat comedies, I think she should just stick to serious roles. I'm sure Jude Law was glad to have a chance to play James Bond in this movie and he looked like he was having a fun time. It is refreshing to see Jason Statham return to comedy after almost twenty years because it seems everyone has forgotten that he made his debut in two great comedies (as the characters of Bacon and Turkish). Miranda Hart makes for great support with Allison Janney as Susan's boss at the CIA. The real show stealer for me was Peter Serafinowicz, who was a delight in every single scene as Italian agent Aldo.

A surprising foray into the spy parody for Feig and McCarthy which pays of with some fun laughs, but mostly presented by the other characters. Jason Statham and Peter Serafinowicz shine in the supporting roles.

The Heat

Much in the style of the buddy cop movies of the late 70s and early 80s, The Heat offers a refreshing and interesting look at the genre albeit in a hilarious gender reversal.

Special Agent Sarah Ashburn (Sandra Bullock) is a super successful member of the New York office of the FBI. When an opening for a senior level position is opened, she naturally goes for it. Her boss, Hale (Demian Bichir) will give her the position if she goes to Boston to solve a set of grisly murders in the criminal underworld, all involved in the drug trade. There, she teams up with local detective Shannon Mullins (Melissa McCarthy), a tough cop who has her own style of cleaning up the streets.

This film really works and is really funny. Good buddy cop movies are really hard to pull off (Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot, anyone), but Paul Feig has a comic sensibility that is perfect and I really feel as though he has found a muse in McCarthy (Bridesmaids).

Sandra Bullock has never really appealed to me as a comedienne (although I know she can make fun of herself, having personally received the Golden Raspberry for All About Steve), but she can really hold her own and has a great chemistry with McCarthy.

McCarthy is just hilarious playing this tough cop who will do anything to bring down the bad guys, including playing Russian roulette with a man's balls. Her tough exterior is brought down in her relationship with her drug dealing brother, whom she wants to rehabilitate. The rest of her family is a fantastic caricature of a Boston family unit, complete with everyone dropping their r's.

There is also a ton of great cameos from a range of comedic actors, including Tony Hale (Arrested Development), Kaitlin Olson (It's Always Sunny) and Thomas F. Wilson (Freaks and Geeks, Back to the Future).

Verdict: A hilarious twist on the buddy cop genre with plenty of laughs, but also has a sensitive side to it.