‘Ghostbusters’ Trailer: The Good, the Bad, and the Slimy

Drew Dietsch
Movies
Movies

After what seems like forever, we are getting a new Ghostbusters movie; a reboot from Paul Feig (BridesmaidsSpy) starring Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones. Before we get into it, let’s watch the trailer:

There’s a lot to talk about in this first look, and I think we can break it into three categories…

The Good

  • Kate McKinnon. Out of the entire cast, she makes the best impression here when it comes to the comedy. Plus, she stands out the most visually thanks to her wacky attire. It has been said elsewhere and it bears repeating: Holtzmann looks to be a future cosplay standard.
  • The Ghostbusters gear. Besides the new proton packs — which look pretty cool! —we get peeks at some wacky new pieces of tech. The ghost trap now looks to be modeled after an actual bear trap, Holtzmann has proton pistols, and McCarthy’s character Yates uses what look to be proton knuckles. If I was an eight year old, those would be toys I wanted.
  • Potential for old gross-out humor. When Yates gets possessed, snotty ectoplasm oozes out of her face. If there’s more goopy fun like that, I’m in.

The Bad

  • This is not a good trailer. Removed from the material it’s attempting to sell to us, this simply isn’t a well-made advertisement. The opening text and stripped-down piano rendition of the theme (Jurassic World anyone?) are tacky and heavy-handed.
  • The humor just isn’t there. With the exception of Erin Gilbert’s (Kristen Wiig) line about ghost barf going into every crack and Holtzmann impersonating a mannequin head, nothing in this is very funny. Let’s hope the movie is keeping a lot of its bigger laughs for the film.
  • As cool as the ghostpocalypse looks in this film, the ghosts are a little too cartoony. Granted, this is a movie aimed at a younger audience, so they can’t make the ghosts too scary. But, does that mean we won’t get something as terrifying as Dana’s possession by Zuul?

The Slimy

  • The vitriolic response to the trailer. As of this writing, the YouTube trailer has 39,880 likes and 60,620 dislikes. It’s fair to be skeptical of this remake (I certainly am), but strong criticism should be reserved for after we’ve seen the film in its entirety. For those who are against Ghostbusters (2016) simply because they view it as an affront to the original, then go watch the original. It’s a classic movie and nothing this version does will ever effect that. Once the movie is out in the world, we should welcome opposing viewpoints just like we would with any piece of art.
  • Slimer is in this movie. …So, that’s slimy.
GIF_ghostbusters_slimer

I’m sure we’ll be seeing another trailer fairly soon for this, so let’s hope that one does a better job of selling this reboot. Ghostbusters opens on July 15.


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Drew Dietsch
Drew Dietsch has been professionally writing about entertainment for over a decade. His bylines include FANDOM - where he was a founding contributor and Entertainment Editor - Bloody Disgusting, SYFY WIRE, and more. He created and hosts GenreVision, a weekly film discussion show at genrevision.com.