Ghostbusters 2016

Ghostbusters ~ My pre-viewing problems with the 2016 remake/reboot/reimagining of Ghostbusters had nothing to do with the gender or talent of the actors involved. Maybe.

I didn't care about the gender switch, and I actually thought the idea that only the women were competent and the men are idiots was pretty clever. My problem was with the Bridesmaids connection, a film I did not like, and Ghostbusters has its director and two of its stars. That was my problem.

And I'm also not one of those folks who worship the original and don't want it remade, because it's 'sacred.' Hey, yeah, the original was awesome, still holds up, is freaking hilarious, and is an almost perfect movie, but nothing changes that. The 2016 Ghostbusters is not the 1984 Ghostbusters, but let's be honest - what is? It's hard for such lightning to strike twice. Don't believe me? Just ask Ghostbusters II. Bam. Yeah, that was me dropping the mic.

The theme is roughly the same as the original, three scientists and a fourth team member chase ghosts in New York, until a larger threat rears its ugly head for the final battle. In this case, it's not an extra-dimensional entity trying to break through on its own, but someone in this world trying to bring the netherworld here, and become the king of ghosts. The story works, despite some plotholes that may be the result of worrisome editing - I won't hold it against the movie.

Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig are adequate but funny and believable, and it was a blast seeing Chris (Thor) Hemsworth playing mimbo, but the prize performances in this flick are undoubtedly the wonderfully hilarious Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon who steals the movie whenever she is on screen. She easily out-weirds Harold Ramis from the original.

There are also appearances from the original cast as well, most notably Bill Murray as a disbeliever who is so mean and humorless one had to wonder if this was acting or how he really felt about Ghostbusters. Either way, he's good. Too bad Rick Moranis couldn't be convinced to show up out of retirement.

The 2016 Ghostbusters is a great summer popcorn movie, and a hell of a lot of fun. It is thankfully no Bridesmaids, and certainly not worth the harassment many fans of the original have put it through. It's just great entertainment, check it out, you'll love it too.

Thor The Dark World

Thor The Dark World ~ Any Marvel movie at this point is an event, not just a promised blockbuster, but a legitimate mainstream event. Everyone wants to see the next big Marvel movie, and with the news this past week of Netflix's picking up five different Marvel Comics projects as live action additions to their streaming own line-up that includes "House of Cards," "Orange Is the New Black," and "Arrested Development," the next Marvel movie is big, and that movie is Thor The Dark World, a movie so big, it opened alone this weekend.

One thing I was happy to see, that even though the Marvel superheroes are now part of everyday pop culture and even your grandmom is aware of Thor, the powers that be aren't afraid to mine the source material for ideas rather than going off on a weird Hollywood tangent. One of the best Thor runs in the comics, other than the classic Stan Lee/Jack Kirby originals, would be the Walt Simonson run in the 1980s. Simonson did so much in his short run. He brought the character back to his roots, removed Don Blake from the equation, turned our hero into a frog, froze the planet, brought on both Surtur and the Midgard Serpent - and he also created Malekith and Kurse.

These two new characters were among the most powerful and dangerous the god of thunder had ever fought in the comics, making them more than adequate fodder for movie villains. I was more than pleased with former Doctor Christopher Eccleston as Malekith and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje from HBO's "Oz" as Kurse, but I just wish they had had more to do and less make-up, as they're both terrific actors. In both cases, Kurse more so, the make up hindered their performances.

Sadly, what I said about source material goes by the wayside quite quickly. In the comics, Malekith releases Surtur and opens the Cask of Ancient Winters amongst other evils, but here, it is a mysterious aether that is the MacGuffin and magical weapon of choice. I really got the sense, especially when seeing that a different group of folks wrote the screenplay than wrote the story, that this was a plot from something else that had been transplanted into this Thor movie - sort of like how 1987's Masters of the Universe flick was a rewritten abandoned New Gods script.

Nevertheless, I like Thor The Dark World quite a bit. The cast was back in full force, and Chris Hemsworth seemed more comfortable in the title role this time, Natalie Portman was not as annoying, and as always Tom Hiddleston steals the show as Loki. I did think Anthony Hopkins looked a bit tired, and I was glad to see Idris Elba getting more screen time as Heimdall. I like Kat Dennings more every time I see her, sigh, I guess I'll have to break down and watch that "2 Broke Girls" show. I was also delighted to see Chris O'Dowd, as well as (spoilers) Chris Evans.

I really enjoyed the movie, despite it sorta taking a lighter, more Avengers tone than the first Kenneth Branaugh directed film. I liked the new language of the Dark Elves, I liked their spaceships, and their weapons, especially the space warp bombs. It was a bit of a distraction to have guns going 'pew-pew' and I freely admit to saying out loud at one point, "Coruscant is under attack, where're the Jedis?" Now, that said, the first movie made a concerted effort to explain that Asgard was not magic, but technology so advanced it appeared to be magic, so this does fit the Marvel Cinematic continuity.

Thor The Dark World was really cool, I'd see it again, and I'll definitely get it for home viewing when it comes out. I didn't think it needed much improvement, but female friends we ran into after the flick, as well as The Bride, all commented on the same thing regarding Chris Hemsworth. More bare chest. And butt, more butt. On that note, don't forget to stay for the after credits stingers, this time there are two.