Why You Shouldn't Hate On The Ghostbusters Remake

Ghostbusters is out in a matter of weeks and the online chatter around the film is getting more and more intense. When it was just a couple of people moaning about recasting the original lot I could shrug it off, sexist or otherwise, but a month or two back we had prominent reviewers start saying they refuse to see it and now people are readily calling it one of the worst films of 2016 despite nobody outside of Sony having seen the damn thing.

Now come on. The rule should be, as it always is, “innocent until proven sh*t.” I know I wasn’t exactly the most optimistic for Batman V Superman, but I waited on passing judgement until actually seeing the film (and when the Warner Bros. logo came up on screen I couldn’t help but getting a bit giddy). What makes this so different?

OK, first let’s address the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man in the room - it admittedly doesn’t look amazing. The first trailer was poor, with bad jokes and shocking comedic timing. The later ones, which were released initially on Twitter and Facebook where they can’t be downvoted to oblivion, were a little more punchy, but did little to sway the deep-set opinion. And then we got Fall Out Boy’s new version of the theme and... well... it’s almost like they want people to hate it.

But I can’t. Not yet. Maybe it’s because I don’t quite love the original Ghostbusters as much as most people so don’t have that same seething rage, but I still have hope for this one. Like the Doctor, trailers lie, especially trailers for action comedies. Nowhere is that better seen than with Paul Fieg’s last film, Spy; that looked like it was going to be a total dud too and wound up giving us a fair few laughs and Jason Statham’s best ever performance.

The main reason I want it to be good, though, is because I kinda wanna support the little guy. People want to hate this. When the Entertainment Weekly cover came out, people ravenously tore apart the reveals for more signs of sh*te, even though there wasn't much there to really get at (I spent most of the time trying to figure out who’s groping Kristen Wiig). And it’s not just super fans or sexists either. Ghostbusters is a complete pariah in the online movie community.

But why is it this film. Why Ghostbusters? Why weren't people this angry at the grim and joyless Total Recall or a RoboCop that can’t even pronounce satire? It’s not like Ghostbusters is even the most poorly-conceived remake coming out in the next year; just a month later we get Ben-Hur, a remake of a film that won 11 Oscars, and then a month after The Magnificent Seven, which was already one of the best remakes of all time. And what about all the sequels this year that are just as legacy besmirching? Where were the campaigns against them?

The answer is that they just aren't as nostalgically motivated - the "voice" of the internet is people who were kids around the time the first movie released and that initial backlash made it OK long ago to make this the pariah.

However, in a bid to distance the hate from sexism, the thing has shifted to be called a protest - a way to show Hollywood that we’re done with lazy cash-ins of old IP and want good, new original films, something Ghostbusters itself was in 1985. And that’s where it's get interesting, because while that is fair, it won’t actually solve the problem.

If you don’t see this film, no Hollywood exec will care - with these massive releases the online community is insignificant next to the power of the general audience, who despite only see a few films are year are so sizeable they cast the deciding vote. To just not buy a ticket isn’t enough - you need to put that money where it matters. If you really want more original films, support the raft of original films that are already made and, despite slighter budgets, struggle to turn a profit. Everyone I’ve met who saw The Nice Guys loved it, yet it was a box office bomb because it wasn’t a franchise and this many didn't go out to watch it. See that movie. Every week there’s so many films released, you just need to look. If you’re not happy with the big franchise one, don’t just see it anyway just because the marketing’s sucked you in; find something good.

In the meantime, cut Ghostbusters a break. If you don't want to see it, go watch Men And Chicken (UK) or The Infiltrator (US) on July 15th instead, but don't automatically assume it's dreadful. Otherwise there's no point in actually watching movies at all.

Ghostbusters is in UK cinemas from 11th July and in the US from 15th July.