Apologies, I haven’t been doing this for a while, since I’ve been sick for the better part of two weeks. Don’t do it. It’s not fun. No, I’m making this post because this week we have our first trailer for the new Ghostbusters film. The new film stars Kristin Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones as the titular Ghostbusters. Chris Hemsworth plays the receptionist. The idea of a third live-action Ghostbusters has been floating around since the release of Ghostbusters II. When the original film came out, it was a blockbuster sensation. It was a phenomenal comedy that was infused with paranormal and supernatural elements making the film a one-of-a-kind experience. It was written by Dan Aykroyd and the late Harold Ramis, and featured the exceptional talents of Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Harold Ramis, Rick Morranis, and Sigourney Weaver. With sharp and witty writing combined with state-of-the-art(at the time)special effects, the original Ghostbusters film was massive hit with fans world-wide. It has since spawned one sequel, multiple video-game adaptions(only one of them was any good: The 2009 game), several cartoons and now, a full-on reboot. It was announced about a year or so ago, that a new film was going to be made with female characters in the lead roles instead of men. Okay, I can deal with that. I like strong female characters, even in comedies. Now, we have a new trailer for the new film and….holy shit, and not in a good way.
What really made the original film work, and to a lesser extent, its sequel, was the perfect balance between comedy, visual effects, story and writing. The visual effects were a combination of miniatures and stop-motion animation. It also had some genuinely scary things in it, like the demon dogs. Those fuckers gave me nightmares when I was a kid, and even today they give me the creeps. The ghosts and proton pack effects were absolutely amazing. You also can’t forget Slimer. The 1984 film was a perfect storm of a movie that holds up even today. I consider the original Ghostbusters film to be one of my favorite films of ALL time, and many people would agree with that assessment. So, what is it about the new film and its trailer that puts me off? First off, the casting of the female actors feels less like a natural progression and more like Paul Feig caving into the demands from several Social Justice Warrior groups. That’s what it feels like to me. The only female character that actually looks the least bit interesting is the blond girl, who suspiciously looks like the female version of Egon. At least she has some personality. Next, the neon-style CGI: Oh. My. God. The CG looks incredibly awful. Lastly, the humor: 
That image is basically me reacting to the whole trailer. I’m not alone in this. Basically, the whole damn Internet is basically saying that this trailer is garbage. A good film trailer is supposed to get you excited for the movie that it’s previewing, and we’ve had MANY examples of that. We’ve also had many examples of really bad trailers. The first trailer for Ghostbusters 2016 falls squarely into the bad trailer category. This is NOT how you get people excited for your reboot of a classic film. That being said, if the film actually ends up being really good, I’ll eat my words, because we’re not really given a lot of information on what’s actually happening in the movie. There is a possibility that the new film could be really good. You shouldn’t really judge a movie by the trailer, but it does give you some kind of insight as to how the final product will be. I’m crossing my fingers, and hoping that this trailer is just a bad fluke, and that the new movie is going to be at least passable. This is just a really poor first impression, and I think it will damage the final film in some way.