There’s something strange in the neighbourhood… who ya gonna call? GHOSTBUSTERS 3 it seems!

The internet has been in mass hysteria over the news that a new Ghostbusters movie is now in the works so soon since the reboot came out in 2016. With a teaser appearing that was less than a minute long, it seems our theatres will be met with none other than a third installment in the Ghostbusters franchise, something that Dan Akroyd had been trying to get off the ground for over 30 years. It looks like it’s finally going to happen and the fans might finally get the Ghostbusters movie they’ve anxiously been waiting for. As the resident Ghostbusters fan at Screenhub Entertainment,  it only made sense that I would throw my two cents in on the whole hub-bub that’s being made across the web.

Of course, with the news came a slew of positive reactions and an onslaught of negative criticisms as well. Especially from Ghostbusters 2016 star Leslie Jones who claims “This is something Trump would do” in a recent tweet. A rather bold and harsh statement to make, especially seeing that all we have is about 56 seconds of footage to work off here. Seems like a slight over-reaction on her part, but I guess I could expect that from an actress who screamed and yelled her way through the reboot. The irony of it also quite delicious basically proving she’s no better than all the people she spoke out against when the reboot was being marketed. Kind of funny you would call these people out for criticizing a film before they even seen it when you are doing the exact same thing.

Ok, so I’m not here to call her out on her actions and I can see where a lot of the criticism is coming from. A lot of people who worked on the film are afraid that their hard work will be completely erased and their efforts looked past. Which is fair, but I can boldly say that they have nothing to be worried about. It won’t be erased at all, just merely forgotten. A sort of stand-alone story on the side of the franchise and not part of it as a whole. I don’t want to be mean to the film, but at a certain point, the defenders of the reboot need to take a step back and accept that… they didn’t really do a good job at making a Ghostbusters movie. I’m not the only person saying this, a quick google search and you will find a plethora of critic and fan reviews tearing this film to pieces. Of course, form their perspective it’s easy to say that all the negative criticisms are coming from a place of misogyny, people just didn’t want an all-female Ghostbusters because the leads are all female. I won’t deny, these people exist, of course, they do and they were disgustingly vocal about it, however as a true fan who’s talked with other fans and has read and watched critiques by other real fans, I can proudly say none of our criticisms had anything to do with gender. The movie just wasn’t good.

I could go on and talk about how the leads seemed to spend more time trying to spout out as many funny one-liners as they possibly could instead of focusing on actual characterization that would make them seem like grounded and relatable individuals. I could go on about the plot being weak and the villain being incredibly forgettable and sub-par. I could go on about how the movie is called Ghostbusters and they barely even bust any ghosts or how the ghosts look like they’re straight out of a Pee-Wee Herman’s CGI fun time. It’s kind of cringe-worthy when the film spends more time on improv comedy (they would do multiple takes of the exact same thing just with the actors saying different one-liners) instead of caring about the story and the people within it and what they’re going through that would make the whole thing engaging and interesting to watch.  Could go on about all this but Redlettermedia does an excellent review of the film and they speak all this in much better words than I ever could.

Where am I going with this? Trust me I am going somewhere with all this. You see, with something like Ghostbusters an important factor is the fans. Some would not like to believe the fans are all that important, but the reality is the fans are what make the franchise what it is. The success of Ghostbusters would have never occurred if it didn’t get such a large cult following in the 80s. It has one of the most devoted fanbases and the first thing you shouldn’t do when making a Ghostbusters film is anger the fanbase. With the reboot’s marketing campaign basing itself primarily on throwing a huge middle finger to the whole fanbase and basically doing everything they can to NOT make a Ghostbusters movie, they basically doomed themselves from the beginning. They might think otherwise, but the fans have spoken and the box office returns to prove that failure.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I am in no way saying make the exact movie the fans want. Listening to the fans is not always the best thing. But at the very least you need to make a Ghostbusters movie that feels like a Ghostbusters movie. That’s ultimately what the reboot failed to do. It seemed to be made by a bunch of people who either never watched the original or had no idea what made the original so great and left a mark on so many people. Even Ernie Hudson went on record to say that it didn’t feel the same:

“Well I love the ladies who were a part of that movie. I’m a fan of all theirs. I think they did a wonderful job. I don’t quite think it was… there’s a vibe or feeling that Ghostbusters has; it was a little bit different.

It was uniquely theirs, which I guess it should have been, but I wanted to see something sort of extended from… This was a reboot.

I would like to have seen a movie that takes place 30 years into the future, which is where we are. So I loved it, I think they did a wonderful job, I enjoyed the movie, but I’d like to see us bring the real Ghostbusters, whatever that means.

No disrespect to Paul Feig and I enjoyed working with him, but I just think it was different.”

He’s putting it very respectfully but is essentially saying the reboot did not feel like a Ghostbusters movie. It was very much its own thing. For better or worse is up to debate, but when one female supporting character from the original Ghostbusters (Janine) as way more personality and depth than the four leads combined I don’t really think there’s much left for debate. Also, Janine kicks absolute ass, I would have loved to see her as a Ghostbuster. The essence of Ghostbusters was its wide variety of characters with depth and personality and it’s dry comedy wit that came out of these personalities and situations. I mean this is some of the most basic aspects that made the original what it is and the reboot managed opt somehow fail at that. That’s all the fans want, a Ghostbusters movie that captures the spirit of the original, the essence of what made it so great, the vibe and aura, the experience one had from watching it. You might call me nostalgic, but I was born in the 90s and wasn’t alive when it came out, so nostalgia ain’t a factor for me, it’s just pure love for a great movie. Hence, the massive disappointment that came with the reboot.

So why all the mention about the spirit? Well, the new Ghostbusters will be directed by none other than Jason Reitman, son of the original director of the Ghostbusters movie, Ivan Reitman. Who else than the son of the original director should make this movie? No one else, that’s who. Only Jason, who spent his childhood years learning about movies and understanding his father’s work, could make a new Ghostbusters movie that can capture the spirit of the original. He’s the only person who should have because Paul Feig clearly had no idea what he was doing. If anyone can do it right, It’s Jason Reitman and I feel positive we could have something the fans have been waiting for for a long time.

Now comes the part that I’ve been leading up to. As a fan how do I feel about the prospect of a new Ghostbusters? To be honest, I’m definitely excited at the idea but I will remain a little skeptical as well. Based on the director, I have confidence that it will be exactly what it needs to be, but at the same time, it could still manage to be a disappointment. Sequels have a history of not being as good as the original. I enjoyed Ghostbusters 2, but I can’t deny it’s nowhere near as good as the original. The fact that this will be the third installment already has that playing against it but doesn’t mean it will be bad at all. Also, the original is a hard product to follow, how can you even achieve that level again?

Also, to be fair, how can I really make an assessment just yet when all we have is a teaser of The Ecto-1 flashing it’s butt to us in a barn? These 56 seconds are already ten times better than just about anything in the 2016 reboot but it really doesn’t give much to work with in terms of opinion. We do know a bit about the story, that it will be about two teenagers (boy and girl) and they will have another boy/girl pair join them and these teens will possibly become the new Ghostbusters. We know it’s a direct sequel to Ghostbusters 2 and we know that Dan Aykroyd is a part of it and he’s confident Bill Murray will join him. If the creator of the original feels this confident about it than we’re already headed in the right direction and I definitely like the idea of the old mentors passing the torch to a younger generation of Ghostbusters (which is what the reboot should have been). What we don’t know is if this new version of the film will in any way reference or acknowledge the reboot. A lot of people hope and a lot hope not. I personally hope it stays as far away from the reboot as possible. I do not want another movie filled with Chris Hemsworth covering his eyes because he heard a loud noise or Melissa McCarthy complaining about Wonton soup for an abhorrent amount of time.

All we can really do at this moment is wait and see where this will go. It could go in so many directions at this point that anything is possible. I hope it really tries to be its own thing separate from the reboot and continues the spirit of Ghostbusters we’ve all been waiting to see since the second one left theatres. I’m not going to hold my breath or anything yet, but I will excitedly wait to see what’s next for Ghostbusters 3. Before you go, be sure to check out our latest, including our top anticipated films of 2019 and whether or not Tom Cruise should be deserving of an Oscar this year.