Ghostbusters: My Two Pennies Worth

By now you’ve probably seen loads of reviews and opinions about the Ghostbusters remake which came out on Monday and whether you’ve seen it or not you’ll probably have your own views.

Ghostbusters has received a huge amount of backlash ever since it was first announced, dubbed the most disliked trailer in Youtube history. Armchair critics were quick to declare how crap the film was the moment the trailer was released without even giving the film a chance. This sort of thing happens all the time but it’s rare that a film creates such a huge divide in opinion before it even comes out.

There’s been plenty of chatter about the idea that people’s negativity is fuelled by sexism because of Paul Feig’s choice to cast female Ghostbusters, while many people hating on it simply claimed that the trailer looked terrible. A lot of people get irate about remakes, especially if it’s a remake of a particularly renowned film, and Ghostbusters does have something of a cult following.

Paul Feig is doing wonders for women in film. We bitch and whinge about how there aren’t enough female protagonists in films. We complain that the women are usually just there to play eye candy and don’t really get any good main roles, and then when someone comes along determined to change it we pull out our pitch forks and slate it before it’s even been released…what is that?!

I was excited about Ghostbusters from the moment I heard it was a thing that was happening. I love Paul Feig’s films and I’m a big fan of Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig. I’m all for films that try to be a bit more diverse in their representations of women and Paul Feig has proven that women can make kickass protagonists with films such as Bridesmaids and Spy. Perhaps a remake wasn’t the route to go down, maybe he should have considered coming up with a whole new concept for a female cast, but his choice to remake Ghostbusters achieved one pretty big thing; it got the whole world talking about it.

Personally, I really enjoyed Ghostbusters. I booked my tickets early and went on the day it was released and I wasn’t disappointed. It’s funny and to be honest, pretty well done. It has some genius cameos; including Bill Murray who, unlike many Ghostbusters fans, clearly wasn’t butthurt about the remake and the decision to cast women (take note, haters!) Switching things around and having a dumb attractive guy to play the eye candy whilst the women take the lead is refreshing and something that needs to be done more. Paul Feig is paving the way for better gender diversity in film; what’s to complain about?!

From what I’ve seen of Ghostbusters reviews since its release, a lot of people seem to be in agreement that it was better than they expected. So ignore the haters, ignore pretentious ‘film buffs’ and don’t be put off by iMDB or Rotten Tomatoes scores; go and see it for yourself!