Movie of the Week: Ghostbusters

[jacey]

This week has been busy at the cinema and because we know we'll be seeing Star Trek next week, we did two consecutive days at the movies this week with Tarzan and Ghistbusters (and we still haven't seen 'Now You See Me 2').

So... Ghostbusters.

A remake with plenty of nods in the direction of the original movie. This Ghostbusters has an all-female team with Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones sitting easily in the lead roles. (I don't always like Melissa McCarthy in movies, but I did here.) Two physicists, an engineer and a native New Yorker are pitted against creepy Rowan (Neil Casey) and a hoard of vengeful ghosts. There's a lot here that's familiar (proton packs and slime) and a lot of nods to the original movie including cameo appearances by all the major (surviving) stars.

It's good-hearted and downright funny in places with plenty of euwww-slime moments. In itself that's not enough to sustain the humour, but Chris Hemsworth, playing against type as the dumb beefcake receptionist (Clark Kent strippogram!) who can barely answer the phone adds charm. In fact he gives a very creditable performance.

Expect lots of pop-culture references as the ladies 'go for the ghoulies' and enjoy this movie for what it is - a summer popcorn flick. It's never going to replace the original and it certainly can't deliver any real surprises, but it was a fun way to spend Wednesday afternoon and - hey - the cinema has air conditioning! Sit through the credits, because there's an easter-egg right at the end.