'Ghostbusters' - Review

★ ★ ★ ½ ☆

Paul Feig’s cruelly-dismissed reboot of 1984’s chummy sci-fi comedy finally arrives on the scene wielding its proton blaster with unabashed confidence, stuffing the whinging, disembodied hordes into a box before turning to high-five the audience.

After her connection with paranormal researcher Abby Yates (Melissa McCarthy) is brought uncomfortably back into the spotlight, particle physicist Erin Gilbert (Kristen Wiig) is denied a position at Columbia University (the news delivered by a reliably grumpy Charles Dance). Erin begrudgingly joins Abby and oddball engineer Jillian Holtzmann (Kate McKinnon) in their new effort to prove that ghosts exist, using both the scientific method and the tried-and-tested practice of spouting techno-babble whilst waving around L.E.D.-smothered equipment.

Our trio are soon joined by Patty Tolan (Leslie Jones), a New York subway worker whose subterranean explorations alert the team to the sinister plans of Rowan (Neil Casey), a sweaty-faced, unfortunately-sideburned creep who plans to unleash a horde of spectres upon the city to pester the living. 

Ghostbusters is yet further proof that comedy of any kind doesn’t translate well to trailers: the flaky marketing efforts only seemed to add to the mithering disparages of the internet hive-mind, but the finished product puts paid to that within moments (“did he just say ‘face bidet?’”). Each member of the quartet brings something fresh, and set themselves apart from the sardonic, blue-collar nature of the original cast with quick-fire interpersonal energy. Abby is the earnest leader of the troupe, flitting between exasperation at her team’s failings and enthusiasm for science, whilst Erin is the put-upon optimist. Leslie Jones thankfully brings Patty out of the ‘street-wise’ racial stereotype suggested by the ad campaign: her contribution to the group is crucial, self-aware, and very, very funny (see the encounter with a dragon-like spirit at a metal concert).

But the real star of this film is, without a shadow of a doubt, Holtzmann. Kate McKinnon, Kate McKinnon, where have they been hiding you? A static-haired, mischievous wink of a character, Holtzmann is sporadic and unpredictably funny: you have no idea what she’ll say next, but it’s guaranteed to make you laugh, and her straight-faced witticisms subvert her companions’ bickering with the cheekiness of a gum bubble popping in a silent school assembly.

Just as in the original, what sells the film more than the innate talent of each cast member is the fun of seeing them gel. Regardless of how they’re brought together plot-wise, the four leads could easily have been friends for years; the chemistry between them is wonderful. An added bonus arrives when Erin’s efforts to flirt with smiling numpty of a receptionist, Kevin (Chris Hemsworth, illustrating a hitherto-smothered knack for comedic timing), are met with an oblivious grin from his ever-cheerful face and a doubled-over chortle from the audience. Indeed, Hemsworth appears in constant danger of unseating the ‘Busters themselves from the limelight several times, before McKinnon whips back into frame and shows everybody up.

The sense of outright liveliness contrasted with the ’84 film’s reluctant heroism is further exacerbated through the pin-perfect production design and candy-coloured aesthetic: the proton packs still pack a visual wallop, but the ghosts themselves – enhanced with the marvels of modern CGI – are wondrous, varied, and genuinely creepy. With the exception of a certain returning green blob, they all exist at the shiver-then-laugh level of the librarian. 

Though there are plenty of cameos from Ghostbusters past alongside references to the original (some subtle, others not so much), they’re odd little vignettes that occasionally feel crowbarred in, out-of-kilter with the bouncing energy of a film that seems so determined to exist (for the most part) on its own terms. For all the wrong ways it might attempt to honour the past, the propensity to deliver a great-looking, laugh-a-minute romp makes it near-impossible to dislike. Sequel, please!