5 Things Ghostbusters Haters Have Already Done To Make The Film Fail

Will there ever be a time when we can talk about Ghostbusters 2016 without bringing up the tumultuous pre-release? If there is, it's a long way off. Not only is the aurora of distaste surrounding this film just so strong, but it's integral to the plot and themes of the movie itself, which seems to have both pre-empted and reacted to the online discussion.

I've already expressed my thoughts on the movie itself (in both long-form and list style), but since the embargo lifted the hate campaign has entered a new phase, with some going to increasingly crazy ways to ensure the movie flat-out bombs. Yes, seriously.

It's worth stating, before taking a look at how they've done it, that these people aren't representative of everyone who dislikes the film, nor those who have no interest in seeing it. Neither are they a sizeable proportion of the audience (and some of the reported hate is not quite as it seems). But these extreme haters are there and, unlike more passive detractors of the film, they're making their presence felt.

What's interesting is that the debate goes both ways, with the mainstream press as reactive to the hate as the detractors are to the reviews. So what's the truth in all this? What's really been said and what's been exaggerated? Let's find out.

While the hate around the film had been there in some form since the cast was first announced, it wasn’t crystalised until the shoddy first trailer was released. Although even then it didn’t become a full-on movement until Cinemassacre got in on the act.

Seemingly at random, The Artist Formerly Known As Angry Video Game Nerd posted a video called "Ghostbusters 2016. No review. I refuse." (no link, I refuse) where he passively explained why he wouldn’t be seeing the new film. His main points were that you shouldn’t have to pay for it and that using the same name discredited the original, although there was a distinct underlying sense of unfair love of the 1984 flick and hurt over Ghostbusters III never coming to fruition.

There’s flaws in the logic there (some of which I touched on in another piece), but this was the expansion of the hate, giving it (at least on an insular perspective) a rational viewpoint; a fan-cum-critic thought it was so bad he wouldn't see it. There were even others who posted their own snide “no reviews” in an attempt to jump on the bandwagon.