Tonight I watched Ghostbusters in theaters. And as the credits were rolling, all I could think of was how fast can I get home to my computer to write about it. You can thank Ghostbusters for resurrecting this blog.
I have been waiting with bated breath for this movie since it's initial announcement. I have been excited for this movie since before they finished casting, before we even knew who our Ghostbusters were. It was an idea--to reboot a beloved franchise with female actors as the leads. I was in as far as a person could be in. I was pro-Ghostbusters reboot from the beginning.
The reboot has garnered its fair share of negative energy and I have felt combative, like a protective mother bear, since I first sensed the outrage. I was combative and defensive and aggressively pro-Ghostbusters reboot until about 5 minutes into the film. I stopped feeling defensive then because that was when I realized. I won.
We won. Anyone who had hopes for this movie is a winner. All the negative energy couldn't stop this beautiful, funny, action-packed film to get made. Not only did it get made. It got made well.
Not since--and I am not kidding-- 2003 when I first saw the trailer for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Black Pearl and six months later saw the film, have I been so excited by a trailer and so satisfied by a final product. Let me put it more simply. It has been 13 years since I saw a film that lived up to the expectations I set for it from the trailer.
I've had films that I was excited for that bombed in my eyes. Since I brought up Pirates of the Caribbean, a great example of this can be found in every sequel (including the one to be released in 2017) in that franchise. Plenty of people have been disappointed by films. And plenty of people have been pleasantly surprised by films they thought looked disappointing. By the looks of it, I had no faith in the movie Legally Blonde. Turns out, that movie is amazing and I will always be baffled that I initially wrote it off.
It is very rare (every 13 years?) that a movie you are very, VERY excited for is as good, or in fact BETTER, than you expected it.
Let me take you back to my mental state three hours ago. I was sitting in the theater before the previews started, fidgeting with my phone, doing all those compulsive millennial things like checking my Facebook or refreshing Twitter just to here the *chk-pop* sound. I was nervous and I was consciously trying to lower my expectations.
I had a theater teacher tell me and a group of young actors that she had seen so much good theater that she used to be disappointed by shows that other people thought were great because her expectations were so high. So, one day she decided that before every performance she saw she assumed it would be terrible. Then, according to her, she was always pleasantly surprised. Have you ever tried to lower your expectations? This strategy might have worked for my acting teacher, but I find it actually raises my expectations in a sort of self-imposed reverse psychology.
The previews started and my heart started beating faster. I crossed and recrossed my legs and I tried really hard not to seem like a crazy person having a fit in a movie theater.
But then the movie started. And I won. And I could relax. I didn't have to fight anyone and I didn't have to be disappointed. I could just enjoy the movie.
This movie is pure joy. I was smiling a big, dopey, toothy grin (again, sort of like a crazy person) for the entirety of this movie. I laughed out loud, I giggled joyfully, I cried out in childlike joy. This is the movie I was looking for. So much so that I don't care if it's not the movie anyone else was looking for.
All four women were perfectly cast. Kate McKinnon is magnetic and quietly hysterical. Leslie Jones is honest and comically relatable. Melissa McCarthy is passionate and bluntly pragmatic. Kristin Wiig is goofy and charmingly neurotic. They work well together as both a team of actors and a team of Ghostbusters. Their relationships feel real and probable, although I hope in future installments (pleeeease) delve deeper into their distinct relationships.
The plot is driving, the special effects are impressive, the humor is on point, and the action is well spaced. The last action sequence is so well choreographed I wanted to jump up and clap at the end of it. Kate McKinnon in particular has one of the most satisfying action moments of the movie (right after licking her weapon). I'll be honest, I fell in love with Kate McKinnon a little bit throughout this movie.
Just like Pirates of the Caribbean 13 years ago, I can't be objective about this movie. I love it too much. I loved it before I even saw it, and now that I've seen it I love it even more. I haven't fully processed it's merits and I sure as hell haven't thought about it's flaws. Please go see it.
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