I was left thinking... I kind of hope this is the last one. The old guys are certainly done, and honestly the new cast just isn't strong enough to carry it. I actively can't stand Podcast, the rest are just... there. I still really hate that it's focused on kids... the humor would work much better with a group of adults. Always thought a new GB team would be a new set of up-and-coming comedians.
Well, the ladies from the 2016 movie were adults, and they were funny, but not for most of the loudmouthed dudebro fandom (and their female auxiliaries), plus
Frozen Empire's made mad book at the box office, so there will be more with this new cast of characters (there are two adults, Coon and Rudd, so that balances out the need for adult characters as part of this new team); also, Grace, Kim, Wolfhard, & O’Connor will all be adults soon, so I don't see the haterade for the young ones, nor the need to create all-new adult characters (although the inclusion of the older 'Busters could be limited to them being the ones that send the younger 'Busters out to do the 'Bustin' while they sit back at the firehouse monitoring them by radio, as Egon did in
Extreme Ghostbusters.)
I saw the film on IMAX on Saturday but I'm only just getting the chance to review it now. While is perhaps a little overstuffed as it tried to service all of the characters, both old and new, I really enjoyed the overall adventure and new mythos.
If it hadn't done that, people (especially the people at
this site and this site would be complaining about how O'Connor/Lucky was shortchanged, and all of the attention given to the main white female character and her mom.
Once again, Mckenna Grace stole the film from the plethora of stars around her. That said, I do wish there had been more focus on Phoebe's story arc, which was easily the most engaging part of the film. I particularly wanted to see more of her relationship with Melody, especially since we've never actually seen such a strong interaction between a human and a ghost in the films (Slimer doesn't count). Plus, the trajectory of that relationship reminded me of the Webby/Lena story arc in the new DuckTales, with the added layer of Phoebe's sense of rejection and abandonment pushing her into that relationship. I say all of this despite fully predicting that Melody was using Phoebe, would apologize for betraying her, and would ultimately redeem herself. If the film had focused more on that relationship instead of trying to balance everyone, I think that arc would've felt more fleshed out and less blatant.
As I've said before in other posts in other discussions, the American movie industry needs to bring back the
roadshow theatrical release that allows for a longer cut of a movie to be seen, even if people sit on their butts too long.
That all said and focusing on what film we did get (instead of harping on what could've been), I still greatly enjoyed the various mini-arcs that played out within the Spengler family and the original Ghostbusters (but I wish Janine had more to do and with that nifty wrist device during the climax!). Unsurprisingly, the biggest highlight was Gary trying to find his place within the family and his relationship with Phoebe. Even if it was a bit cliché, I felt he earned her calling him "Dad" at the end.
It worked well enough for me, but I was
slightly annoyed by Phoebe just trusting in Melody, considering that Garraka was manipulating her. I also found what Phoebe did with the spirit machine to be dangerous.
I liked the new mythos of Garraka and the ancient history built around him, and I particularly liked how it reminded me of Raiders of the Lost Ark. I'm certain someone on the internet is either calling it derivative or a straight-up rip-off, but I liked the allusion to the Indiana Jones adventure. While I do think adding supernatural abilities to humans was a bit much, but at least it was limited to one lineage specific to this particular mythos.
Considering what we've seen in most of the other movies and that this is science fictional fantasy, the idea of an ancient order of people that also 'busted' ghosts by containing them in magical receptacles using fire was a great concept (and a better semi-retcon of the franchise with a future history than what was seen in
Men In Black International.)
In addition to Garraka, I loved all of the new ghosts introduced in this film. I especially loved the Possessor, even if it forced me to look past the obvious plot hole of Winston's engineers failing to re-secure the cracked glass of its enclosure, which only happened to ensure its escape and helping Garraka's own escape.
That was carelessness on their part and the part of the writers, yes.
Much like Afterlife, this film is a passing of the torch between generations, and I really hope any potential future films focuses strongly on just the Spengler family. As unlikely as it seems considering the lukewarm reviews (but at least the opening weekend box office take is the same as Afterlife), I would love to see even more of the Ghost Corps beyond the Spengler family in a separate film and/or series. A guy can dream!
*
I think that sticking to the Spenglers, Lucky, & Podcast is a better idea than restarting with new people that might not be popular with (some of) the fans like the ladies from the 2016 movie; as I said, longer cuts of movies like this one are needed, even at the risk of people having to spend a lot of time in seats (which really doesn't exist because of the intermission that was a part of roadshow theatrical release.)
As much I as I enjoy this film, I agree that there are certain plot holes. While I'm willing to look past most of them (including the ones you talked about and the one I brought up), I do agree there is a significant pacing issue as direct result of its overstuffed nature. The Phoebe/Melody relationship in particular stood out to me when I realized that it had been sitting on the back burner until it was time for Phoebe to accidentally let Garraka free.
Again, this comes from too much cutting and not having said roadshow theatrical release that would allow for a longer cut with an intermission for event movies like these.
Speaking of whom, I loved the worldbuilding with Winston's engineers, even if all we really got to see were Dr. Lars Pinfield, Lucky the intern, and Janine, all of whom mostly disappear during the third act due to the overstuffed cast and plot. I wish we had gotten more of that worldbuilding instead of some of the more convoluted aspects of releasing Garraka.
Refer to what I said above about needing the roadshow theatrical release coming back.
I was surprised Lucky's near death was cut short when the trailer explicitly teased it.
I thought she was going to die too, and I was afraid that if it had actually happened, the backlash from Afro-American media and feminist media as mentioned above would hurt the movie; therefore, I was glad to see that the moviemakers had the sense to keep her alive, knowing what black media would say about how too many black people die in movies.
Yeah, I got the sense a lot was left on the editing floor, for better or for worse. That said, considering the film's overstuffed nature, I'm not sure how what was cut could've fit in.
Again, see what I said above about my belief that the major American movie studios need to bring back the roadshow theatrical release so that movies like this can have an entire story told.
*This was an edit because i had a little slowdown with my PC while I was composing this post, so I came back and edited it.-Shaka
