Ghostbusters Review - Who Ya Gonna Call? These Guys, Actually!

That's not to say Ghostbusters 2016 is an original-threatening success. It has issues. Big issues. Just not the issues that have been plastered everywhere on the internet over the past few months.

For starters, some creative choices are just plain odd; a scene at the start feels like it’s from a garish 90s set, early dialogue scenes are dominated by flat blocking and shot in a simple one-two style, and while it isn’t played in its entirety, Fall Out Boy’s version of the theme is a travesty (it’s telling they played the Ray Parker Jr. original - which is reprised a lot - on a loop for the hour before the UK press screening).

Where the film really falls down, however, is in the basic narrative department. Like most other 2016 releases, the pacing is all over the shop, with interesting threads skipped over and the third act happening just because we’re two-thirds of the way through. It doesn't help that the story is rather thin, repeating the original just with a different threat, so things going wrong are that more glaring; the heroes immediately know what the villain’s up to just because the audience does, and entire set-pieces can be rushed and incomprehensible (the possession/Exorcist one is a particular groaner). One perplexing exchange appears to be attempting the old ‘hero leaves then comes back at the last minute’ plot point, but there’s no leaving scene, so “You’re back!” is more “You left?!”

This makes the whole thing at points feel like a montage, especially in individual sequences, which has the knock-on effect of hurting any sense of conflict. Never does it feel any of our Ghostbusters are actually in danger, so for all the surprisingly inventive action (and extremely surprisingly good CGI) there’s a distance to it all. If the film didn’t come in at 116 minutes, I’d suggest this was sliced down from a longer cut, but I can’t actually see Feig doing that (he’s not Snyder). More likely this is a side-effect of an ensemble heavy-production and a reaction to criticisms of the movie’s humour quotient (that Exorcism scene for certain).

But for all that, success ultimately comes down to one question: is it funny? And, yes, yes it is. Not a complete knock-out - there’s some eye-rollers, and the quoting of populist classic films varies from the sublime (recognition that the mayor’s the real villain of Jaws) to the crass (quoting Scarface because that’s all people can say when holding a gun) - but when the first chortle comes twenty seconds in and the rate is maintained pretty much throughout, you know you’re in good hands.

So, finally getting to the big talking point, the cast do their job well. Their characters may not be all that refined - when not thinking of her past, Wiig is a smitten ditz; McCarthy doesn’t really register; despite Jones not being as much “the black one” as it at first seems, Patty’s never really seen bonding with the others - but there is a chemistry here that makes the whole thing feel incredibly welcoming. Kate McKinnon is the standout of the four, with an infective eccentricism that may not always get belly-laughs, but is consistently chucklesome and engaging. Although, as I already said, Hemsworth is the reason to buy a ticket; every joke he makes lands with such impact that he’s already cemented himself as the fifth Ghostbuster.

With all this humour, it’s worth commenting on the effect of context. Like Jason Statham in Spy, many of the groaners from the trailers work so much better in the film, getting genuine laughs despite their telegraphed nature - the moment where McKinnon's Holtzmann shocks Erin wearing a wig and a hat is actually the middle of a bigger sequence and scored to creepy music - which makes me wonder what the pre-release mood for the film would have been with a different marketing team on the job.

But, as I said at the start (and failed to stick to because it’s so interesting to discuss), that pre-release hate doesn’t matter when we’ve got a genuinely good, enjoyable film that, despite a wealth of shared problems, brightens up a pretty lacklustre summer of forced sequels. And, with that in mind, perhaps the biggest success of Ghostbusters is this: in the post-credits scene they tease the return of a fan favourite and you realise you want to see that. You've not just enjoyed this, but you're excited for more.

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