Ghostbusters (2016)

How did we get from June to August? Where the hell was July? Have I been concussed all this time and somehow managed to miss an entire month? Wouldn’t surprise me. But yes it is August, so Happy August everyone! Pinch, punch and all that jazz. Someone needs to look at this time  marlarkey though because it’s all wrong. Who ever thought of working 5 days a week should be slapped around the face with a wet fish. It should be 2 working days and then 5 days off. See this is why I should be Prime Minister. Because I know what makes people happy. I would also bring in more bank holidays too because at the moment there’s not enough. There would be a Netflix day where everyone can binge their favourite shows. A beer day where you spend it down the pub with your mates. Okay, that was only two ideas, but that’s two awesome bank holidays more than what we have right now. So who’s going to vote for me? Don’t worry I’ll let you think on it.

So I went to the cinema twice last week so got two super mini reviews coming your way. The first film was Ghostbusters. And before you say anything you need to know that my friend Gee forced me in to watching it. She gave me the whole “You can’t say it’s shit without seeing it” speech. And there’s just no good counter argument to that. And in my defence the film was getting good reviews so it just seemed like the right thing to do. I will admit I was someone who was adamant about not seeing it. And it’s not sexist. I’m all for girls getting big lead in films. It was just the fact it was Ghostbusters being re-made. Ghostbusters is a cult classic. Too many cult classics are getting the remake treatement. There were so many rumours that a 3rd one was going to happen but nothing ever came of it. And it would have only been for a quick profit. I like it when actors say they would only do a sequel if there is a story worth telling. That’s how it should be. So straight away I wanted to hate this film and everything it stood for. But then I realised to hate it, I needed to see it. I needed hard evidence.

So I gave in. And it sucks to say that it’s actually not that bad. It’s definitely not amazing. But it’s not terrible either. The 4 leads are likeable. I liked the fact Melissa McCarthy is not her usual self. There’s a calmer presence from her here and it’s refreshing to see given her previous roles. Kristen Wig is hilarious. But she’s always been funny. She has the awkward comedy style nailed. I’ve forgotten the names of the other two. But they were just that. Forgetful. There’s nothing to their characters. And they didn’t have as many of the funny lines as Melissa and Kristen. But the funniest character believe it or not is a man. And that’s Chris Hemsworth’s super dumb receptionist. I knew Chris can be funny. Some of the deadpan lines he has in Thor had me in stitches. But I didn’t know he could be this funny. He’s so hilarious and steals the show. When he’s on screen it lacks in the LOL department. Which is strange considering the director is famous for his previous comedys. Maybe he bit off more than he can chew on this one. It just doesn’t work. It starts almost horror like in the beginning and that was awesome. But then the tone quickly shifts towards, well bugger all. Nothing. The pacing is all wrong. It’s a slow build up then boom the finale is over in a flash. And the original ghostbusters show up in cameos as random anybody’s. It’s pointless and a “nod” that the audience didn’t need. Actually the more I think about it the less I start to like it so I’ll move on…

The other film was The BFG. I’ll be honest I don’t have much to say about it. I never saw the original. I’m starting I was deprived as a child. There are so many films I haven’t seen. My IMDB watch list has like 400 films in. I’ll never get round to watching them all. I would have to take a year off. And that would only happen if I become super rich by winning the lottery. It could happen. Just need to start doing the lottery…Anyway yeah The BFG is okay. It’s ultra kid friendly. Which I guess is no surprise. Like I said earlier I can’t compare it to the original but I can imagine it was much the same. The CGI is superb though. BFG did look pretty life-like. And bravo to Mark Rylance for the voice work. Some of the lines were quite funny. Other than that it was all just a bit meh.

What did you guys think? I love a good chinwag about movies. Feel free to tweet or DM your views, thoughts and feelings. My social media is open to anyone. But you do have to bring brownies!

That’s all from me folks, catch you next week!

@surrealkevbo