In 1984, writers Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis penned a brilliant script for a group of New York ghost hunters who would save the world and create a franchise that is still celebrated over 35 years later. Director Ivan Reitman would milk every ounce of comedic genius from his talented cast that included Aykroyd, Ramis, Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver and Rick Moranis. That film would introduce the world to the fascinating characters known as the Ghostbusters.
The original Ghostbusters film was a culmination of quirky jokes, New York nostalgia, and an endless series of “what if” questions around converting the Big Apple into one big haunted house. Murray and Ramis had already established comedic timing in Stripes. Aykroyd and Murray were both Saturday Night Live alumni. Moranis introduced an oddball approach to his character that turned him into something beyond bizarre (and one of the film’s most quotable roles.) Hudson, in comparison, inhabited the role of a chain-smoking realist whose skepticism resonated with audiences.
Over 30 years later, Columbia Pictures would introduce a new version of the Ghostbusters to audiences worldwide. In 2016, director Paul Feig and writer Katie Dippold would take the familiar story of the Ghostbusters and tell it from a female-driven perspective.
The 2016 Ghostbusters isn’t a reboot. It doesn’t rewrite the original movie in any way. Instead, it creates some compelling ghost hunters and paranormal researchers who are key to telling their own story. The heart of the movie is the relationship between researchers Erin Gilbert (Kristen Wiig (Bridesmaids)) and her best friend Abby Yates (Melissa McCarthy (Mike & Molly)). They are asked to investigate a potential haunting and that confirms for the pair that ghosts are real. They reach out and hire others with complimentary skills.
The new recruits offer parallels to the original cast along with a fresh take on how the busters view ghosts. Leslie Jones (Masterminds) plays Patty, a transit worker who sees ghosts face to face and becomes very eager to join the team. Kate McKinnon’s character, Jillian Holtzmann, is more than willing to join the team so that she can build out all of the experiments that routinely dance around in her head. Her contributions lead to the team’s advantage against the ghosts who want to overtake Manhattan.
The 2016 film is far from a straight reboot. The visual differences are an immediate contrast as CGI has evolved over the decades. The villain is no longer a nebulous god, but a downtrodden wannabe in the form of Rowan North (Silicon Valley’s Neil Casey.) That doesn’t keep the writers from plenty of nods to the original film, including cameos by some of the cast and side characters like Slimer the Ghost.
Chris Hemsworth (Thor) creates a new dynamic and a new comedic opportunity as the Ghostbusters’ assistant, Kevin. He gets plenty of one-liners like “an aquarium is just a submarine for fish.” His dance number is one of the highlights of the film, and the filmmakers know enough to revisit it a second time. This version of the Ghostbusters got some internet backlash for having a female-driven cast (because…the Internet) but it is faithful to the original and provides a showcase for some of the funniest actors around. Wiig and McCarthy provide an emotional bond that allows McKinnon and Jones to be as outrageous as they can be. The result is a 117 minute long combination of action, comedy and nostalgia that will entertain viewers of all ages.