When it comes to movies, I feel like I am the worst person. Sometimes just the style of the font in the opening credits is enough for me to judge a film on its theme, budget and quality and hate it before it has even had a chance to get going. I'm not afraid to walk out of a cinema (Alice in Wonderland 3D) or turn off a movie after the first 10 minutes (Dumb and Dumber 2). I'm happy not to watch the film everyone is talking about (Fifty Shades of Grey) or watch the same film a hundred times (Uncle Buck) and still laugh in the exact same places.
Predictable things in movies can instantly annoy me or even ruin the entire film half way through. For example, If the son is called Zack or Cody, he's always possessed. If a little girl starts whispering she's a genius. If a character has a British or Russian accent they're the bad guy. If the dad misses a baseball game at the start, you know for the next 90 minutes he's about to embark on a life changing journey worthy of an Instagram meme and if the mum misses a phone call you know someone's dead. There's a rhythm and a pattern, that quite often leads to obvious reveals and ultimate disappointment.
Of course there are some are unwritten rules in filmmaking, that have to be adhered to. For instance, Meryl Streep is allowed to play any role. The prime minister, the boss, the mum, the dad, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. No matter what year it was filmed or set, Dame Maggie Smith will always play a 90-year-old woman, and a part of Samuel L. Jackson must feature in every movie ever made at some point in it's narrative, even if it is just his beret.
If I was making the rules, I'd add the following:
If the original had Arnold Schwarzenegger in it, don't re-make it, if it's an 80s classic, don't re-hash it, if it's based on a best selling book, don't butcher it and if the working title has spider-man in it, don't event think about it.
So, what I'm getting at is, by my own code of movie conduct, I should HATE the new Ghostbusters movie. It's a reboot of an absolute cult favourite from my childhood, of which I must have watched a thousand times and in my mind was perfect the way it was. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for feminism. I'm a feminist myself, to some extent, but my feminism also has a code of conduct and one thing I hate, is when it feel like it's "for the sake of it".
When I first heard it was an all girl line-up, I groaned. It felt so forced. There I was imagining Sandra Bullock and Cameron Diaz karate kicking their way through New York in their pink boiler suits with the hopes and dreams of every 80s film fan, being sucked into their ghost traps, never to be released again. Immediately the online back-lash started, and at first, I was all for it. But then I saw the director's name, Paul Feig, and suddenly there was a 'Ray' of hope (excuse the pun).
Bridesmaids was one of the most refreshing comedies pumped out of Hollywood I had seen in a long time. Again, billed as the "female version of The Hangover" it wasn't allowed identity within it's own right and had an uphill struggle from the get-go. But when it hit our screens in 2011, I felt a sharp slap of wit to the face and it left a mark.
Girls. Are. Funny.
It took me back to that feeling I had as a kid watching French and Saunders sketches. Man, I wanted to be them so bad. I wanted to be funny, and part of a double act, in fact, any act. I saw role models, not comedians and the hilarious performances in Bridesmaids made those emotions as raw as they were then.
So the casting, by Feig, for Ghostbusters, was actually as perfect as it was for Bridesmaids. Here you have a group of fantastic actors. Impeccable comedians. Sharp performers. Really, the only people who could fill those ever-so-epic boots of Murray, Ramis, Aykroyd and Hudson. You see, rather than sitting there, stewing in your cinema seat, directly comparing male actor for male actor, dreaming up your Rotten Tomatoes review and actually wishing you had a couple to throw at the screen - you get a refreshing homage to the original, with no distractions.
I've realised that you quickly accept whatever Hollywood gives you. Girls can play lead roles. Guys can play the eye candy. 80s movies can be rebooted.
As a huge Ghostbusters fan, I really felt this version did the original justice. Packed with action, bucket loads of comedy and gallons of slime it really gives old and new fans alike a rollercoaster ride from start to finish and with a strong storyline riddled with cameos from the original cast, it feels as though it has everyone's approval. It's nice for the next generation to see a film like this on the big screen, and I have to say (the feminism is kicking in now) in a world full of Kardashian's and Rihanna's, it's great for young girls to have women like this to look up to.
You're allowed to hate it, but you're also allowed to like it. So go and see it and don't be afraid of the girls, they may just surprise you.