Just picked this up from the library today. I'd read the reviews pointing out the dependence on nostalgia and rehashed elements from the first film, so I didn't have very high expectations. But it was pretty good for what it was. Phoebe was a terrific character. I love it when a movie centers on a smart, science-minded character and celebrates it as a heroic trait. They even portrayed her as implicitly autistic -- "I don't show emotion like other people" -- and didn't treat it as a negative. I liked her initiative and the subtle relationship she developed with Egon's ghost. I cheered when she told her mom "I'm a scientist." I thought she was going to say "I'm a Ghostbuster," but this was even better.
Podcast could've been an annoying character, but Logan Kim gave a terrific performance that made him likeable. Paul Rudd was pretty good. I wasn't as fond of the mom or Trevor, but they served their roles in what was really Phoebe's story. And Lucky was kind of hot.
I do feel the story relied more on nostalgia than it needed to. The narrative of Egon estranging himself from his friends and family because he recognized the need to stand watch against an apocalyptic threat could have worked just fine with a new demonic force rather than just a rehash of Gozer. Turning the adult romantic interests into the Keymaster and Gatekeeper just felt like going through the motions of an homage. There was plenty of satisfying nostalgia with the busting gear and ECTO-1 and the old cast returning. We didn't need
everything to be a reference to the past.
My favorite bit of nostalgia was the reuse of Elmer Bernstein's themes. I don't consider that a rehash; the whole point of a musical leitmotif is that it recurs, that it continues to represent something throughout a work or series of works. I'm often disappointed when sequels, revivals, etc. compose new themes instead of continuing the originals. And I always liked Bernstein's score to
Ghostbusters. So the embrace of his themes was welcome.
As for the return of the OG team, it was fairly satisfying, although the callback to "Are you a god?" felt very forced and pandering. Particularly because it didn't make sense in-story, since they'd just said moments earlier that Gozer remembered them, so Gozer would have no reason to ask that question again.
But wow, Ernie Hudson has aged far more gracefully than the others. I mean, he's five years older than Bill Murray, but looks a decade or two younger. I love it that Winston, who was very much a fourth banana in the original movies, turned out to be the most successful one in the long run, and the one who seemed to be reopening the firehouse at the end for a potential sequel. (In the animated series, Winston was much more of an equal partner, and he always came off as the most down-to-earth, level-headed Ghostbuster, so it feels in character for him to be the one who has his life together the most.)
I did like the irony that Ghostbuster Egon Spengler came back as a ghost to help his teammates, and his granddaughter. The CGI was a bit uncanny-valley, but I guess that's fine for a ghost.
What i absolutely loved was the tribute they did to Harold Ramis... and kudos to the writers for avoiding having him speak - no matter how well they would have adapted his voice it would have still felt off.
I would've been fine with having Maurice LaMarche do his voice, as he did on
The Real Ghostbusters. His Egon voice started out as a strikingly good Harold Ramis impression, though it evolved over time to be more of a suggestion than an impression.
