Four stars
Certificate 12A
FROM the outset, director Paul Feig (Bridesmaids, Spy, The Heat) had an uphill battle to climb.
The prospect of updating a beloved comedy classic for a new generation, now with a female cast no less, was a bold move that has already drawn some truly ludicrous behaviour from (mostly male) fans of the original determined to see this fail at all costs.
As it turns out, this star-studded reboot is a delight to behold, a well-judged and slyly knowing sci-fi action comedy that carves out a rebellious, joyously goofy personality all of its own.
It begins with an equal parts funny and intriguing haunted house set-piece that hints at the ghostly mayhem that will inevitably ensue. We then centre on Erin Gilbert (Kristen Wiig), a former paranormal enthusiast and now disgraced teacher because of her school’s discovery of a book about ghosts she wrote years ago with estranged friend Abby (Melissa McCarthy).
After angrily confronting Abby she soon becomes convinced once again of the existence of the paranormal and the two friends team up – along with Abby’s offbeat nuclear engineer lab partner Jillian Holtzmann (Kate McKinnon) and subway worker Patty (Leslie Jones) – to form the Ghostbusters in preparation for an impending attack on Manhattan.
Feig explores a new version of a familiar concept with confidence and flair, delivering a film that’s acutely and sardonically self-aware of its own status as both a reboot of an adored classic and as a target for nostalgia-obsessed, vitriolic fans of the original.
One moment even sees the team react to the YouTube comments on a video of a ghost they encountered – a thinly-veiled middle finger to the sort of hateful and sexist comments the mere existence of this redo has conjured.
Much has been made of the fact that the cast is now all-female. But its girl power is an unending strength and with its brilliantly assembled cast we find a sparky, fast-talking chemistry that makes the group an utter riot to be around.
Wiig is the relative straight woman of the lot, while McCarthy is also toned down from her usually brash persona; both draw their laughs from their enthusiasm for the ghostly as much as their reactions to it.
It’s Jones and McKinnon who are the surprises here, two comediennes mostly known to fans of Saturday Night Live who introduce themselves to a wider, big-screen audience with attention-grabbing, rib-tickling effectiveness.
McKinnon oozes eccentric charm with an arresting style of line delivery full of quirkiness and sarcasm; her spectral gadget-obsessed Holtzmann is comfortably one of the characters of the year. Jones, meanwhile, endears with comically exasperated reactions to the various beautifully rendered supernatural entities. Chris Hemsworth is also a hoot as the group’s handsome but dim-witted new assistant.
There are some very nice tips of the hat to what came before, from wink-wink in-jokes and cameos to working the famous theme song into the score, but it never oversteps its mark.
It first and foremost functions as a newfound franchise-starter full of belly laughs, crackerjack chemistry between its cast and a surprising amount of thrilling, visually striking and oftentimes genuinely scary action.
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