Finally got around to seeing this as the Blu-Ray was just released - and I'm just gonna talk freely about it, so spoilers abound below.
As Bassman said earlier in the thread, Ghostbusters is like my Star Wars - in that, so many people talk about Star Wars being this cornerstone of their childhood that just obsessed them as a kid, well, that's how I am about Ghostbusters.
Going into this, therefore, I had an awful lot of trepidation and having now seen it, I'll say this ... fuck me am I relieved!
There was literally only one shit bit that I would have scorched out of the script, which was the line by Lucky in response to Gozer being described as neither he nor she (something like "Wow, that's pretty woke for two thousand years ago") ... it's such a shit line that sticks out like the sorest of sore thumbs and just wasn't needed.
Also, I would have tweaked the scene of Phoebe first using the Proton pack just a bit - had her knocked over upon first firing, then she learns how much physicality she needs to put into it, and then get a blast going. Still, it wasn't too bad that moment, as 'Podcast' states she has her 'feet planted'.
Upon hearing of a character called 'Podcast' I cringed, especially as podcasting characters is almost a cliche at this point it's been done so often in recent years ... however, quite mercifully, the character was actually quite enjoyable and had good chemistry with Phoebe.
Speaking of, for a movie with so many young characters, they actually managed to find actors capable of pulling them off - as well as writing them properly. The kids weren't at all annoying and it never really felt like they were doing really stupid things for stupid reasons, the way certain scenes played out felt fairly organic and kind of like something getting out of hand by accident despite best intentions (e.g. when they chase after Muncher).
One of the other aspects I was concerned about were the Mini Pufts. It seemed too cutesy to me, almost a silly gimmick to play to audiences ... but in the context of the movie it actually works quite well, and it's actually pretty fucked up the stuff that they do to each other. There's so many little details of things that they do, like skewering their chums onto a spike to roast them alive (while one pulls itself along the stick to try and grab it's assailant).
There was a review I read somewhere, possibly in Total Film, where the end credits scene between Peter and Dana was somehow a #MeToo swipe at the original movie, or some such bullshit, but when I saw that scene there was nothing at all in there concerning that. Literally nothing (which is good news), but it just goes to show how fucking delusional some film reviewers can be and how rampantly obsessive identity politics really has poisoned people's world views whereby they can't see anything without twisting it somehow. The whole reason for that scene is to really establish only two things: 1) Peter and Dana are together and are happily married, and 2) Get Sigourney Weaver into the flick.
This leads me onto another thing: there's so many late in the day sequels that come along which love to tear down the beloved characters of the earlier films (e.g. Luke Skywalker), but here in this movie most of the characters are in good places and have lead good lives. Peter and Dana are still together and have been successful in life, Winston has been really successful in life and is supporting Ray who's happily working away in his old Occult Books shop. Even the backstory with Egon, while having some darkness in it, was all for a good cause that was true to his character and pursuit, and then the scenes where his daughter finds out he was still keeping track of her and still loved her was very sweet - indeed, those closing scenes with the orginal 'Busters together again were so nice to see, and it really did bring a tear to my eye when they finally showed Egon's ghost helping Phoebe guide her Proton beam.
They did a great job with Phoebe, a character on the autism spectrum, without making a big deal out of it - it was just who she was and she really did feel like a chip off the old Spengler block.
Speaking of Egon, that whole opening sequence had me hooked - the mystery of it, the energy of it, the subtle glimpses of Egon. A great set-up for the whole flick.
The "Who ya gonna call?" moment in the jail was a bit too wink-wink with the dramatic pause, but it was forgivable, and the final end credits scene was a nice touch between Janine and Winston with that touching little gesture at the very end.
The whole movie felt like it respected the franchise as much as the fans do, and it didn't feel like blatant 'fan service' or 'nostalgia bukkake' to me. It felt pretty organic. The music contained enough beats to tingle the senses, but it also played around with the notes and themes to put them into new places, and arguably a lot of references that tied to the original (e.g. scanning the original optical effects of the 'ghost trails') just works because the plot involves Ivo Shandor and the mine where the metal was mined from to build Dana Barrett's apartment building where the original movie's finale took place. Even if some beats of the climax repeat the events of the first, it felt justified.
It also wasn't just fan service because it was fairly restrained. The movie wasn't chock full of ghosts roaming all over the place (and, for example, there was no Slimer) and it kept a close focus on the characters who were well written and performed. You cared about these people, even though they're new characters, but you felt that connection because it's Egon's family. In lesser hands this material could have been fucked up considerably, but I think GB3 is a testament to a very thoughtful and respectful approach to the film. What they could do, what they should do, and what they shouldn't do.
So, yeah - major relief from me. I really enjoyed it and will be watching it again pretty soon, I reckon.
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Originally Posted by MinionZombie
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