I had no plans to see Ghostbusters: Answer the Call. I liked the first movie, but not so much that I would rewatch it when there are so many awesome things that I haven’t seen just sitting unloved in my queue. I would watch Sigourney Weaver in anything, and I think that it could be a requirement of being fully human to love Bill Murray. I am also not a fan of remaking, rebooting or reinvigorating a franchise; however, people are trash and were mean to Leslie Jones so I bought a full price ticket to sit in an AMC movie theater, not my favorite local theater with amazing real butter popcorn, counting down the two hours until I could eat again.
Ghostbusters: Answer the Call stars Melissa McCarthy, the summer movie hit maker at her most subdued, Kristen Wiig, who plays the central character and is the straight woman of the ensemble, Kate McKinnon, who is delightfully unhinged, and Leslie Jones, who works as a three-dimensional character. Ghostbusters: Answer the Call is about a Columbia professor, played by Wiig, trying to distance herself from her paranormal roots and former co-author, played by McCarthy. Wiig loses her job when Charles Dance, everyone’s favorite disapproving authority figure, discovers Wiig’s supernatural history. Wiig decides to bring the band back together and rejoin McCarthy, who has been working with mad scientist McKinnon, to investigate an uptick in malevolent ghost activity in NYC. Jones joins them when she visits their office to request assistance in investigating a ghost at her job. They uncover a madman’s plot to bring about a ghost apocalypse by opening up NYC to a ghost dimension.
While Ghostbusters: Answer the Call was amusing, I never really laughed uncontrollably. Ghostbusters: Answer the Call was so worried about building a credible origin story for the team that it wasted the team’s comedic and physical talent. Ghostbusters: Answer the Call is not funny enough to succeed as a comedy and not physical enough to succeed as a horror action film. During Ghostbusters: Answer the Call’s final battle sequence, the ladies showed that they could have been doing amazing fight scenes throughout the film, but instead the film relied on slapstick and Nickelodeon sliming gross outs. It was a missed opportunity that I hope the franchise does not repeat in sequels.
Ghostbusters: Answer the Call did a superb job referencing the original Ghostbusters movie and its stars. Viewers should stay for the post credits scene for one hint as to what the ladies can expect in the sequel. The twist on the hot, dumb, blonde secretary trope was terrific, and the extended dance sequence in the credits was fun.
My biggest pet peeve of Ghostbusters: Answer the Call is the mythology of ghosts and demons. Apparently ghosts and demons can possess people, but ghosts were former living beings who died. Then who were the weird figures in the nightmarish reprise to the Thanksgiving’s Day parade when they were alive? I’m way too into supernatural movies and TV shows to let there be sloppy paranormal mythology. The Ghostbusters franchise needs to tighten up.
Ghostbusters: Answer the Call is a mediocre summer flick as most reboots or sequels are and is definitely not a must see movie. If you are a fan of the franchise, then check it out if only to see how they tied this installment with its predecessors, but Ghostbusters: Answer the Call is probably better suited for fans of the cast.