I had no problem with the ghostbusters being female. I'm not one of those who think women can't be funny. The women in this film weren't funny but there were plenty of men in the film too, and they weren't funny either. Hell, 3 of the original ghostbusters were in it and they weren't funny! The problem was with the whole approach and the writing.
The ghostbusters themselves were annoying and eccentric . Look back at the original film and they're actually quite subdued. It's not the funniest film in the world, but when it is the humor comes naturally, it's not forced.
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Reply by Will Barks
on March 1, 2017 at 10:08 AM
I think the casting was quite good actually. It's like you said, the screenplay is just lacking.
Reply by JustinJackFlash
on March 1, 2017 at 10:19 AM
Yeah, I had no problem with the casting, Melissa McCarthy aside (I'm not a fan). But they were clearly told to act all zany. If the script had been good they could have played it fairly straight and the humor would find itself naturally.
Reply by SirTJ
on March 1, 2017 at 11:20 AM
I hated the idea from the start , but it turned out to be decent. My kids loved it and with how hard it is to live up to the ghostbuster name. It was fun
Reply by theburbs
on March 1, 2017 at 12:23 PM
I'm a woman, and I really just have no desire to see it. I like all of the actors in it, and I don't blame them if the film is terrible.
I thought all of the "You don't want to see this movie because you hate women!" accusations were ridiculous. Same with "Men don't want to watch movies starring women!" Last time I checked, men watched movies like Alien and Terminator 2.
Sometimes a movie is just bad, or people aren't interested in seeing it.
Reply by JustinJackFlash
on March 1, 2017 at 1:50 PM
Damn right. We do. If there is a good film or tv show starring a woman I'd probably be more likely to watch it because we get it less often. It's more original and more interesting. In the past women have been badly represented in cinema, but that's down to bad writing, it doesn't mean we have no interest in watching them. It all comes down to writing.
The reason men aren't enthusiastic about watching romance films is because the vast majority of them are sanitzed, cliched and repetetive. But when a romance is done well, I won't hesitate to give it a go and will probably enjoy it. Before Sunrise and When Harry Met Sally are great. It's in the writing.
People make assumptions about what people like based on what they've consumed or dismissed in the past. But we don't get much choice in what we consume or dismiss because we're fed the same kind of thing.
Movie studios will assume we don't like films about women because they gave us Aeon Flux and Elektra and we threw them back in their face. They don't blame their own inept job, they blame us. 'Films about women don't make money' they claim. But then Tarantino puts some effort into Kill Bill and we lap it up.
The lesson Hollywood will take from Ghostbusters' failure is that ensemble women casts don't work and they wont risk it again. But with TV frequently taking risks, Hollywood can't go on this way. It needs to adapt in order to survive.
We too as a public have a responsibility to let Hollywood know exactly why we don't like something. Because it was badly made. Not because it starred women. Not because it's R rated. Not because a certain genre is out of fashion at the moment or any other excuse they'll come up with for their failure.
Reply by SaltyGirl
on March 1, 2017 at 2:10 PM
Fell asleep halfway through and didn't feel the need to give it a re-watch the next day...
Reply by tmdb53400018
on March 1, 2017 at 2:20 PM
Reasonable thread. I didn't go see it -- because I don't go out to the cinema currently -- but I wouldn't go anyway, because they had a batch of new Ghostbusters in it. I just read that some of the original ones were in it, too, but anyway, I figured it'd stink because I thought the original crew wasn't in it. I knew that one of those guys had died. I figured it wouldn't be that good, and this thread is affirming my suspicions.
Reply by RodimusConvoy
on March 5, 2017 at 12:00 AM
I remember conversations like this on the IMDB boards before they shut down. The one thing that was fascinating about the "YOU ONLY HATE THIS MOVIE CAUSE WOMEN ARE THE STAR!!!111!1!" crowd? They'd ignore women like YOU who would say "Um, I'm a woman and I didn't like it/want to see". Like clockwork. It was actually kinda funny. They had no rebuttal, soooo out of sight out of mind I guess. shrugs
Funny thing is, I'm a guy and I gave it a fair shot. It was just not that funny or really well made. I laughed at two jokes (more like gags really) and I thought Weaver's cameo was funny. The rest of the movie was oddly mediocre with an underwhelming villain and CGI that strangely reminded me of Playstation 2 renders.
Reply by RodimusConvoy
on March 5, 2017 at 12:08 AM
Everything you said is of course right, but I think something else was going on here in regards to Ghostbusters 2016. I think Sony knew they had a turkey on their hands so they had to get in front of it the best way they knew how since it was too late to shelve it. I think this controversy was manufactured and was an attempt to shame people into seeing the movie. "You don't want to be a misogynist do you? Then support this movie!" was the implication I got. Problem is people tend to dig in their heels and do the opposite of whatever you're trying to shame them into doing.
I think they irony is if they had left the so-called controversy alone and let the movie sink or swim on its own merits, it actually would have done better than it did.
Reply by theburbs
on March 5, 2017 at 11:52 AM
From my experience, most people who believe "all women are oppressed," "all men hate movies starring women," "we live in a patriarchy," etc. aren't interested in opposing viewpoints, even from women.
Reply by JustinJackFlash
on March 8, 2017 at 4:33 AM
That certainly wouldn't surprise me.
It's odd. I never seem to meet these people in real life. They only seem to be on the internet.
Reply by Marr 🇳🇱
on March 10, 2017 at 10:26 AM
I liked it, if only because of Melissa McCarthy. That woman can do no wrong.
Reply by MickyMac
on May 11, 2019 at 2:50 PM
Always best to go with a mixed cast, a female ensemble was never going to appeal to any major demographic.
Reply by VHS-VANDAL
on May 11, 2019 at 2:59 PM
KATE MCKINNON IS F@#KING AMAZING...I WONT ARGUE WITH ANY OTHER CRITIQUES.
Reply by MickyMac
on May 11, 2019 at 3:05 PM
The film was tonally different from all Ghostbusters that have could before to the point it was incongruent, the original has a very unique style that 2016 GB doesn't come close to, the original cast had a strong on screen chemistry that the female cast doesn't top or come close to.