Be Aware of Ghostbusters!

Release Date：Jul/15/2016

Genre：Action/Comedy/Fantasy/Sci-Fi

Director：Paul Feig

Cast：Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Chris Hemsworth

Viola's Rating： 6.4

Not only super hero feature films are trending, but also reboots. “Ben-Hur” and “Ghostbusters” both were released in 2016, and even though “Independence Day” is a sequel, it stirs as strong nostalgia as what “Ghostbusters” brings to us.

Following a ghost invasion of Manhattan, paranormal enthusiasts Erin Gilbert and Abby Yates, nuclear engineer Jillian Holtzmann and subway worker Patty Tolan form a group to stop threat from the other world.

This fantasy sci-fi comedy which also contains many action scenes was originally released in 1984, and its popularity led to the “Ghostbusters media franchise” which included a sequel, two animated TV series and several video games. Even if you’re not old enough to see the original, you might have seen “Extreme Ghostbusters” during your childhood. Just because it got so many aficionados, when the trailer of the reboot was launched, it received severe criticism due to changing the characters’ gender and mediocre editing.

It was critically acclaimed 32 years ago because special-effect techniques weren’t as good back then, its release was a breakthrough, and turning a ghost related plot into a comedy was unprecedented. However, audience can’t experience any groundbreaking special effects with the reboot at all.

Since most of the movie talks about how those five people gather together and form “Ghostbusters”, the pace is rather slow, and moviegoers don’t really get to see many scenes of them catching ghosts which should be fascinating with the special-effect techniques now. This might give the old fans a feeling that this is not as surprising as when they first saw the original one.

For those who hope to remind themselves of the 1984 film, two most significant parts must be Bill Murray’s cameo and the same theme song that drew them back to the good old days right after the flick starts.

Since director Paul Feig doesn’t want people to think that it’s just a normal reboot, as mentioned before, he not only changed the ghostbusters from men to women, but also the sexy secretary to a cute six-pack men. Of course die-hearted fans will not like the setting, but the four actresses actually did pretty good job acting, especially Kate McKinnon. Yet the most ironically is, being a comedy, all of the funniest parts in the motion picture surround Chris Hemsworth, who’s not the main character, but an embellishment to the story.

All in all, if you grew up with the original “Ghostbusters”, and miss Bill Murray’s acting in it, you’ll probably love what this entertaining movie gives you. Otherwise, you better like Chris Hemsworth very much so that you can immerse yourself and enjoy the picture.