Letter to the Editor

By: 
Travis Fischer

Who Ya Gonna Call?

 

     "What's your favorite movie?" is such a strange question to ask somebody.

     The only reason to identify a movie as your "favorite" is so that you have an answer when somebody asks that question.

     That said, I do have a go-to answer.

     "Ghostbusters."

     As far as I'm concerned, it's just about a perfect movie. Particularly because of how it manages the delicate balance of being a comedy and a sci-fi/fantasy film. It's rare that a sci-fi movie can include so much humor without crossing into parody territory. Likewise, it's rare that a comedy can incorporate good sci-fi without ruining its jokes. Thanks to Dan Akyroyd's real-life interest in paranormal activity, we got a movie that pays great reverence to its supernatural elements rather than just mining it for cheap laughs.

     And for a thirty year old movie, "Ghostbusters" holds up remarkably well. Even some of today's digital effects can't outdo the practical movie magic that let Slimer run rampant through the Sedgewick Hotel, and I dare anybody to make a more convincing sequence of a 50 foot marshmallow man climbing the side of a tower.

     And that's to say nothing of the comedic powers of Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis in their prime. One might wonder what we would have gotten had John Belushi not died or if Eddie Murphy and John Candy were available to play the roles that were written for them (Winston and Louis, respectively) but it's hard to argue against the cast that was ultimately chosen.

     "Ghostbusters II" is a controversial movie. It is, by all accounts, a reluctantly made cash-grab. The problem of it being essentially the same movie all over again is only mitigated by how good the original was in the first place.

     It's probably because of this that the idea of a "Ghostbusters III" is such a conflicting prospect. I do want more Ghostbusters, but I've seen enough disappointing sequels and reboots to be careful what I wish for.

     For a while, it seemed like it would never happen. Dan Aykroyd has been working on a third Ghostbusters movie for years now, resulting in little more than a new rumor every few months about a script still being developed. After Harold Ramis' death earlier this year, it seemed like the project was finally put on hold for good.

     At least until last week, when Paul Feig announced that he would be directing a reboot of the movie. This doesn't feel like another false start. I think this time it may actually be happening.

     With Feig's announcement comes confirmation of the rumor about a Ghostbusters movie featuring a female cast in the lead roles.

     This has people worried about "gimmick casting," but I'm not terribly concerned. Feig's previous movie, "The Heat" was a buddy-cop movie that also had two female leads. The gimmick however, was that it wasn't a gimmick. It was just a buddy-cop movie that happened to have two female leads.

     What gets me is that Feig's movie will apparently be a complete reboot of the franchise, which makes no sense to me. Not necessarily because Ghostbusters has a deep and rich mythology to consider, but because it seems like a waste of a really good premise.

     What if all the paranormal activity that the Ghostbusters dealt with between 1984 and 1989 just abruptly ended? How would today's society deal with that? Knowing that there are inter-dimensional demi-gods out there, but they have no effect on daily life. That haunted paintings nearly destroying New York City with slime was just something that happened in the 80s. Like leg-warmers or parachute pants.

     Likewise, I worry that Feig lacks the subtlety that made "Ghostbusters" so enjoyable in the first place. Melissa McCarthy, who will almost certainly be cast in the movie, is many things, but subdued is not one of them. "Ghostbusters" was built around dry humor, not flashing neon signs that say "The Joke Is Here!"

     I'll see it, of course, but I'm not entirely confident that this franchise shouldn't be left to rest in peace. And without the involvement of the original cast, it'll be hard to see the movie as anything but a missed opportunity.

     On the other hand, if it is rubbish, then it's a lot easier to ignore a reboot than a full-fledged sequel, so there are pros and cons about each.

 

     Travis Fischer is a news writer for Mid-America Publishing and hopes the next crew gets the proper licenses for their nuclear accelerator backpacks.

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