Ghostbusters Review Roundup

Sony's Ghostbusters reboot hits theaters this coming Friday, July 15. Ahead of that, reviews for the controversial paranormal action film have started to show up online.

We've now collected some excerpts from reviews and put them together into a review roundup to help you determine if the film is worth your time and money.

Ghostbusters stars Melissa Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones as the Ghostbusters. The first two Ghostbusters films, released in 1984 and 1989, featured male actors like Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson, and Harold Ramis in those roles.

The female casting for the reboot, among other things, has drawn some amount of controversy. The director of the originals, Ivan Reitman, recently said he didn't realize "how vicious" the response to this casting decision could be.

Sony Pictures boss Tom Rothman said in June that the "online bashing" of his movie is actually "the greatest thing that ever happened."

In addition to the movie, Activision is releasing a new Ghostbusters game right around the movie's launch. Though it's not directly tied to the film, a premium version of the game comes with a ticket to see the new movie.

For more on the critical reaction to Ghostbusters, head to GameSpot sister site Metacritic. Also, we'll report back with box office numbers once the movie finally hits theaters.

• Film: Ghostbusters
• Director: Paul Feig
• Distributor: Sony Pictures
• Release Date: July 15
• Rating: PG-13

GameSpot:

"When you invite direct comparisons like this, the new Ghostbusters film sadly comes up as the lesser of the two. But when the film breaks free, when it focuses on its outstanding new characters, when it plays within the world and mythos of the Ghostbusters universe without slavishly referencing the original movie, it shines. It may not be the 1984 film, but it's now 2016, and on the strength of this joyous, fun movie, these new Ghostbusters have the potential to build a strong new franchise all on their own. The old Ghostbusters are dead. Long live the new Ghostbusters." -- Randolph Ramsay [full review]

CNET:

"While none of them runs away with the film the way Bill Murray did in 1984--Wiig's character in particular is a bit of wet blanket for much of the movie--the breakout star is Kate McKinnon. The camera constantly cuts to her reactions as if it can barely keep up with her scene-stealing energy. And yeah, they all happen to be women. The new Ghostbusters doesn't so much pass the Bechdel test--an informal measure of how women are represented in fiction--as ace the Bechdel test. It should win a Bechdel Prize for showing the rest of the world how it's done. It shouldn't be novel, but it is.

Ghostbusters is fun and silly, and if you don't like it you don't have to watch it." -- Richard Trenholm [Full review]

The Hollywood Reporter:

"The unfunny mess that hits theaters Friday, like a big goopy splat of ectoplasm, will no doubt make those naysayers feel vindicated. But the fact is that an estrogen-infused makeover, particularly one with such a comedically gifted cast, was a promising idea. Sadly, that's where the inventiveness ended." -- David Rooney [Full review]

Time:

"No one has to love Paul Feig's new Ghostbusters, or even like it. But anyone who continues to stand against it on principle--'My childhood has been defiled! I don't like its stars! The trailer was bad!'--is an unimaginative schmuck. Because Feig's Ghostbusters is its own definitive creature, an affable, inventive riff on Ivan Reitman's proton-packing caper that exists not to score points, but only to make us laugh. For a summer comedy, there's no nobler purpose." -- Stephanie Zacharek [Full review]

IndieWire

"By blatantly reworking the dynamic of the earlier films, Ghostbusters is more explicit in its progressive agenda and admirably achieves at least that. Its flaws lie elsewhere. At the end of the day, no amount of culturally enlightened intentions can rescue another undercooked studio product." -- Eric Kohn [Full review]

HitFix

"The original Ghostbusters will always be a classic that means something special to me. The good news is, there's a whole new generation that’s about to feel that way about this one. And more power to them." -- Drew McWeeny [Full review]

The New York Times

"Part of what makes Ghostbusters enjoyable is that it allows women to be as simply and uncomplicatedly funny as men, though it would have been nice if Ms. Jones had been given more to do. (If this were a radical reboot, she would have played a scientist.) In the end, these are Ghostbusters, not Ghostbusting suffragists, even if there's plenty of feminism onscreen and off. It's hard to know if the movie started off being as meta as it now plays, but when these Ghostbusters are labeled frauds--or crack jokes about ugly online comments or take on a fan boy from hell--it sure feels as if Mr. Feig and his team are blowing gleeful raspberries at the project's early sexist attackers." -- Manohla Dargis [Full review]

Variety

"All reboots are haunted by the specter of the movie that inspired them, but Sony's new gender-swapped Ghostbuster--which substitutes comediennes Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones for the previously all-male paranormal exterminator squad--suffers from a disappointingly strong case of déjà vu." -- Peter Debruge [Full review]