Movie Review: Ghostbusters

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Entertaining and fun

Cons: 80's cheese and effects

The Bottom Line:

Laughs and a few scares

Definitely dated film

Who you gonna call?

This Review is Slime Free

Child of the 80's that I am, I just now go around to seeing Ghostbusters.  Oh, I'd seen the logo and heard the song.  But how did the movie measure up?

Nobody takes the poor trio in the paranormal studies area of the university seriously.  So even after they first encounter a real ghost, Peter (Bill Murray), Ray (Dan Aykroyd), and Egon (Harold Ramis) are fired.  Suddenly on their own, they decide to open Ghostbusters.  Things get off to a slow start, but when word of their work picks up, the trio are soon extremely popular - and wealthy.

One of their first clients was Dana (Sigourney Weaver), who claimed there was something in her apartment.  Peter investigates, mainly because she is beautiful.  But when something does start to happen, it is big.  We're talking end of the world big.  Can the Ghostbusters stop it?

The movie is a weird mix of comedy, action, and the supernatural.  A few of the scenes boarder on horror, but they are very few and far between.  For the most part, everything is played for laughs.  For the most part, it works.  I laughed at many of the situations and some of the lines as the guys tried to work their way through the various crises they faced.

The laughs come with a heavy dose of 80's cheese.  There's really nothing like an 80's comedy for it, and this movie just screams 80's.  Of course, part of that is the hip, cool look that the cast has.

The special effects also date the movie.  Then again, with how far we've come in the last 25 years, how could they not?  Still, it is usually pretty obvious when a special effect is involved in the film, and I don't think that's just because of how spoiled we've gotten in the last decade.  Surely they could have spent more of their budget on the effects?

The story also has a few flaws, most noticeably a dropped plot point and a couple of convenient coincidences.  Really, I'm nitpicking at this point because the movie flows well enough.  And I got caught up in the events that I honestly didn't care that much.

See, the movie is just plain fun.  And that's why it was such a hit then and still so popular now.  The adventures of our three leads are outrageous, but they are appealing characters that make us what to believe it is happening.

Which means the cast stays grounded quite well.  Bill Murray really felt like the lead character to me, and he is perfect at it.  Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis have their fair share of laughs as well.  Sigourney Weaver pulls off the most difficult acting job in the film without missing a beat.  Truly, the only weak link in the film isn't even the actors fault.  I like Rick Moranis, but his nerdy neighbor Louis just grated on my nerves.  Fortunately, when he became an important character in the second half, he had changed enough that I could like him.

Yes, Ghostbusters has its flaws, mostly because it is dated.  But if you are willing to look past that, you'll find a fun film.  It's not great film making, but it is highly entertaining.