“Reboot” has in general become a dirty word over the last few years, but very few Hollywood do-overs have received the type of scorn leveled at Paul Feig’s all-female reimagining of Ghostbusters. I’m not going to get into the details of all the flak thrown the way of Feig, the sheer internet ugliness aimed at stars like Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig, or even the ridiculous stat that the second trailer for the film became the most disliked trailer on Youtube in history. What I will point out though is this: None of the people who are slating the movie have actually seen it.
Sure, the trailers are there, and they have been underwhelming for the most part (though the latest one is definitely an improvement), but when it comes to the actual full length film, it’s all still a mystery. It may surprise us and be great (and Feig’s track record when it comes to McCarthy collaborations does offer plenty of hope), or it may actually suck so hard that your childhood memories will implode. Either way, you won’t know until you see it.
You know who has seen it though? Dan Aykroyd, the star and co-creator of the original films. And here’s what he had to say about it when he popped up on WhoSay the other night.
“As originator of the original: Saw test screening of new movie. Apart from brilliant, genuine performances from the cast both female and male, it has more laughs and more scares than the first 2 films plus Bill Murray is in it! As one of millions of man-fans and Ray Stantz, I’m paying to see that and bringing all my friends!”
That’s some damn impressive praise. But let’s just be upfront of this: Aykroyd has some invested interest in the success of this movie, as he does have a producing credit. But it is more of an honorary one than anything else though. That being said, if the movie was genuinely bad, it would be easier for Aykroyd to have rather said nothing than go out of his way to praise it online. Surely there’s something in the movie that was good enough to persuade him for this bit of free PR, not to mention actually getting Murray to join the cast after he pretty much gave any previous attempts to restart the franchise the proverbial cold shoulder.
Personally, I won’t say that I’m “excited” for Ghostbusters, but I’m also not dismissing out of hand based purely on some perceived nostalgic sanctity. I will wait until I’ve actually seen the movie before I have an opinion, but Aykroyd’s statement here at least gives me a glimmer of hope that the final movie is a bit better than the trailers we’ve seen.
Last Updated: May 31, 2016
