Now, I'm sure everyone has heard about it by now, but there's a new Ghostbusters on the way, and the trailer came out earlier this week.
Normally I don't really think so much of a trailer, but this one is...it's just so...talkative?
Now, before anyone says anything, no I don't have a problem with an all female cast. Saying that, I would have prefer a mixed gender team, like Extreme Ghostbusters did almost twenty years ago. But I don't have a problem with a team that only allows one gender. What I do have a problem is that if anyone has a problem with Paul Feig's Ghostbusters, they're automatically accused of being sexist. People have bad things to say because the new Ghostbusters looks shit. Got it?
Now I will start this by saying that I didn't hate the trailer...as much as I thought I would. But all the problems I thought it would have are there. Firstly, the cast. Kristen Wiig is her ususal comedic self and Melissa McCarthy is her usual uncomedic self. Yeah, I am not a big McCarthy fan. She generally tends to play the same lovable, clumsy but vulgar character who everyone loves in the end. Granted we don't see THAT character in the trailer except for that clumsy persona.
But my main talking points are on Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones' characters. Firstly, Jones' character Patty, who is only there because, unlike the other people who live in New York, she knows where things are in New York. They have gone down the stereotypical black person route, which is extremely evident in the part of the trailer where McCarthy's character is possessed and Patty exorcises the ghost by bitchslapping McCarthy. I am fucking serious.
You may remember in the original 1984 film Sigourney Weaver's character is possessed by Zuul. Apparently all Billy Murray's Venkman had to do was punch her in the face, can you imagine? It's almost like saying Patty's role is bigger than Winston Zeddmore's and in reality she could be replaced by a bloody sat-nav. Then again a sat-nav wouldn't have been able to do a Southern Baptist impression.
Now McKinnon's character, which is so obviously a rip off of Venkman. The only real difference (apart from being female of course) is that she comes off a bit more...punkier? Either way, she's the Venkman knock off. That's really my only problem with her, but if you're going to do a remake (or reboot, whatever term the kids want to use these days), how about you make the film your own and not rip off the original? There is a returning character though, Slimer, who does look good.
Speaking of the original, it would appear the first ghost the team comes across is the Librarian. And in all fairness, the 2016 Librarian does actually look pretty cool, with the glow and the design, it actually looks pretty scary
until it starts throwing up
and then it looks fucking stupid.
It's really quite amazing how hope is raised here, and then it is quickly dashed. It is the sign where the seriousness of the Ghostbusters franchise is gone and becomes the vulgar and crude Paul Feig comedy which only teenagers should find funny. Which, in relation to my earlier "make it your own film" comment, well, congratulations you made it your own subpar comedy. I'm calling it now, the new film will have a scene where the characters are scared of a spider.
Of course, the original films had its own case of silly looking ghosts, demons, and/or Gods. Like we had;
um...a dragon? Godzilla?
and...whatever this is
and...whatever this is
But when you have ghost which looks like a weirder thing to see walking around New York than the Stay Puft marshmallow man, you have a problem
Oh, and as you probably heard from the trailer, someone is apparently behind the supernatural phenomena. So it will most likely be Wiig's love interest. Maybe McCarthy's. Also, just want to quickly point out, Kristen Wiig is really the only cast member who can pull off the scientist character to me. McKinnon I've never seen in action before, that's why my only problem is the Venkman rip off, I've no idea how funny she can be. Though if the best she can do is put on a silly wig and hat...admittedly that brought a smile so it may be good. McCarthy though I can't take seriously as a scientist. It's like how they made out to be a superspy in 'Spy', I just can't believe it. Admittedly this is most likely because I absolutely hate Melissa McCarthy.
We also get a glance of the gadgets used in the new film, and like the ghosts, it starts off with a cool factor, before immediately going "what the fuck?". The good bit, are the pistols (I assume we'll just call them proton pistols), which McKinnon's character has to emphasize by licking one of the pistols...which, if they are the same machinery as the proton packs, is actually really stupid to do since they will be radioactive. Also, since we see these pistols don't have a power source like the proton packs, then presumably these will run out of power quickly, or there's no need to carry around the heavy proton packs anymore, unless they charge in the proton packs...I've just written myself out of liking the proton pistols.
Alright, the other gadgets...McCarthy has a proton knuckle duster. I...I can't even...who the hell came up with this?! Who the hell thought "we need McCarthy to punch a ghost in the face to be funny"? Obviously this is supposed to be a joke because no-one would take punching a ghost with a special knuckle duster seriously. Yes, I know this is about women taking on ghosts.
And yet, the proton knuckle duster is NOT the stupidest look gadget in the film. That belongs to the ghost bear trap. I am serious. They develop a bear trap for ghosts. This, I can only assume, is a prototype and nothing more. Firstly, how the hell are they going to carry that thing?! Look at it! It's bigger than their bodies! Secondly, how is it meant to trap ghosts? I'm sure they'll explain/show in the actual film, but for now it looks like the ghost can get through that big gap you see when the trap is closed.
Let's go back to the original films and look at the simple yet effective ghost traps, They look like they can actually trap something, and as shown in the 1984 film, also allows a simple method to put the ghosts in the containment unit, and is easy to carry around.The bear trap looks heavy, complicated, and stupid. It's a clear sign they're going flashy with the gadgets instead of actually thinking about the design.
And that's really all I can say from the trailer. It was more miss than hit for me, and definitely confirms what I was worried about; that they are only doing this for a quick buck, with no thought about the originals and what made the originals so great. Obviously we will need to wait and see what the whole product delivers but right now, it's not good.
Thanks for reading guys, obviously it's something different to what I have posted in the past and I may do more 'Trailer Talks', improving it here and there...and may come up with a different name, who knows. I am sort of thinking of doing one for 'Batman vs Superman', maybe as a way to help get me back into posting regularly.