I'll cross-post this statement from the other, less active Ghostbusters thread:
Ghostbusters fans don't get to unilaterally determine what is or isn't Ghostbusters.
We're talking about a film series that has only two films. Yes, there have been TV shows, novelizations, merchandise, and tons of other media developed from the films, but that's not unusual, nor should the films really be held to anything that occurred in those ancillary works.
For you to impose this long list of requirements on a two-film series is crazy. These movies don't have to operate under a James Bond-style checklist just because you say they should.
People in this thread act like Aykroyd and Ramis are the ultimate authorities when it comes to Ghostbusters, and several have complained about their lack of involvement in this film (Ramis' involvement obviously being impossible at this point).
Yet somehow the glut of ancillary Ghostbusters media, very little of which was created by them, is supposed to be gospel for the franchise? That's ridiculous.
My point is that the Ghostbusters film series is barely much of a series as at all, and therefore, it shouldn't be held to a massive checklist of rigid standards, especially when we're talking about a reimagining.
Ok, let's ignore EVERYTHING not done by Ramis/Aykroyd. That leaves the two movies and the game.
Staples of the franchise: Team of people who live in a rundown firehouse, they drive a car called the Ecto 1, use garage kit weapons to fight ghosts like Slimer.
If I was going to the theater to see a Ramis/Aykroyd Ghostbusters sequel or even a Ghostbusters reboot with their involvement, these are the things I would expect: A group of people who live in a rundown firehouse and drive some version of Ecto 1 while fighting ghosts with homemade proton packs.
If it was a sequel, I would probably expect another addition to the team, as Louis was "added" in GB2. I would also expect at least one of the following to be upgraded: their car or their gear, also as seen in GB2 with the new Slime Throwers and the range of crazy tweaks they go through in the game.
But if I went into Ghostbusters 3 and NONE of those things were there, I would be just as confused and angry. Why even call it Ghostbusters at that point? Why does a ghost hunting movie HAVE to be Ghostbusters or none at all? It's like how we ONLY get dinosaur movies if they're Jurassic Park films.
As I've said and others have expanded on, a BIG part of Ghostbusters are these specific characters and how they tie into the people that play them and wrote the story. If you're going to make a Ghostbusters thing, people and fans are going to expect it to be about the specific characters of Ray Peter Egon and Winston. You can add to that group but to erase them completely from the franchise
as well as removing all the other franchise staples is to raise the question of why are you even making a Ghostbusters movie in the first place and not a new/original sci-fi horror comedy movie?
Maya Rudolph would have been so rad as a ghostbuster.
Agree 100%, I know it would be reusing 75% of the Bridesmaids cast but I'd much prefer her to be in it. She had good chemistry with Wiig and the chemistry between characters is a very important part of why people like the movies so much.
WordAssassin isn't being sexist (though many posters here clearly are); he's just making a strange, inconsistent argument. He's been saying that this film is so disconnected that it shouldn't even be called Ghostbusters while also saying that it's a rehash of the origin story. It doesn't make an awful lot of sense.
I don't know how to explain it any further. I don't know what's so hard to grasp about "they're retreading a worn out story" as well as "they've removed the specific things that are key parts to the franchise".
Two women run a paranormal investigations "company" and one of them knows someone about to get tenure at a college. Peter Dinklage is a mass murderer who is given a death sentence. When he is electrocuted, a blot of lighting strikes and he becomes a ghost with the power to summon other killers from history. An MTA worker discovers him and contacts/joins the other three. Meanwhile a well-known skeptic sees videos of the team on YouTube, thinks they're full of shit, and sets out to disprove their ghost busting. They make some kind of sleek futuretech ghost equipment to take down the bad guy.
What are they using, if not proton packs?
They might still technically be "proton packs" but they're going to apparently be very sleek and cool looking now instead of things assembled in a garage. It's not been revealed if they throw protons to wrangle ghosts or what but part of the charm for a lot of people, again, is the feeling that this is just shit slapped together by this group of people, not any kind of fancy government tech.