Ghostbusters (2016)

I really hoped this film would surpass its uninspired marketing campaign. Unfortunately, after seeing the movie I think better of the trailers. Ghostbusters is a lackluster mess with terrible writing and abysmal comedic timing. The four leads were likable, and performed well considering the sludge they had to work with. I especially liked McKinnon and Jones; they seemed to be coloring outside the lines a bit while everyone else was paint-by-numbers. Zach Woods was the only supporting cast member that brought anything funny, and I would have liked to see more of him in the film.

Sadly, the story amounted to a disjointed stream of gags that were marginally funny at best. None of the characters were relatable, and I was never invested in what happened to any them. The film had no heart, no grounding, nothing for the audience to grab a hold of and identify with. The bones for a good movie were there, but everything else was phoned in.

Perhaps Paul Feig simply cannot relate to a PG-13 audience. His usual rough edges and raw wit were gelded in this film, resulting in flat dialog from characters that barely resembled human beings at all. The jokes were such obvious pablum that I half expected a "laugh" sign at the bottom of the screen. Frankly, that might have helped.

3/10
Content is acceptable for young teens