YNMS: Ghostbusters
Friday, March 4, 2016 at 8:30AM 
As promised weeks ago, the trailer for the female-led Ghostbusters arrived yesterday.! Twitter immediately erupted with a wide range of responses from unbridled enthusiasm to outright disdain. Of course there were plenty of "problematic" call-outs, which can be expected like clockwork these days to almost any property seeking broad appeal.
One of the more delightful elements of the trailer is its instant gif-ability. As if we didn't already get new comedy gold from star Kate McKinnon this past weekend at the Indie Spirit Awards - including the delightful Carol spoof - she emerged as the clear audience favorite already. How many times did everyone see this flawless moment today?:
Speaking of best shots, don't forget Hit Me With Your Best Shot returns next week with the original Ghostbusters! You can stream it now for free on Amazon Prime and it's also available on iTunes and Netflix rental. Make sure to send us a link so that we can include you in the fun!
We'll break down the Yes No Maybe So of it all, with the trailer after the jump...
YES
- Yep, McKinnon is the major takeaway here. Every joke lands and she's going big with a character that is already wildly divergent from the original Ghostbusters
- Leslie Jones in a major role? When can I buy a ticket?
- The "let's go" bit promises the type of chemistry we demand from this team and franchise
- After Spy, Bridesmaids, and The Heat, Paul Feig has earned our blind support
- Chris Hemsworth can kick down my door any day of the week
- Gun licking! Ghost punching! Jet pack-ery! What an unexpected dose of ass kicking!
- A comedy in IMAX! Even with the 3D enhancement, it's delightful to have something less overtly action-focused on large format
NO
- The color palette is dangerously close to Alice in Wonderland garrishness
- Leslie Jones is a public transit employee and the other heroes are scientists? While she seems to drive more of the plot than perhaps McKinnon, we have another example of unbalanced representation for a woman of color
- Every word out of Melissa McCarthy's mouth is frighteningly expository. Is Feig's star player going to have the least fun this time around?
- A conspicuous lack of Kristen Wiig. Hmmm...
- The "30 Years Ago" titles at the beginning are confusing. Weren't we told that this team would have nothing to do with the original Ghostbusters?
- ANOTHER reboot of a beloved property
MAYBE SO
- The more opulent CGI seems like it's targeting kids and don't forget that the original remains a family-friendly favorite. Here's one potentially for the whole family that doesn't wholeheartedly pander to the youngest in the group!
- Are those knowing Wiig-McKinnon glances hints at a queer bent to the film?
- All of the retreads to the original feel like welcome nostalgia that's been thoughtfully reinvisioned
- Keeping those cameos from the original stars hidden is smart. Let's hope it stays that way until opening night.
- By the time this opens, we'll have had enough of the big spectacle brooding that early summer has scheduled
This is a resounding YES! There is still plenty of time to resolve those concerns, especially as this is still a brief glimpse of what to expect. The teaser is extra exciting for promising girl power outside of the standard YAS QWEEN or badass depictions that heroines have been limited to - these are heroes to get truly stoked for! And if it fails, at least it has gifting us with that gif of Kate McKinnon winking.
Ghostbusters (2016) opens on July 15.
Reader Comments (24)
From the moment Kate McKinnon stepped out on SNL with a completely random yet somehow completely enthralling Penelope Cruz impersonation, she has been my favourite person in the world (or at least, equal favourite with Kristen Wiig).
Watching her ascendance to stardom is giving me endless delight, while also serving my organism's demands for regular doses of McKinnon goodness.
This looks funny and I'm sure all 4 women will be amazing but I had to pause a bit at the fact that all the white women are scientists and the one black woman is not at the same socio-economic level.
Leslie Jones isn't having any of anybody's lip about the job disparity thing on Twitter, btw. She cussed some woman out last night about it.
I had to pause a bit at the fact that all the white women are scientists and the one black woman is not at the same socio-economic level.
Jones has the outsider black guy role. Her purpose is to provide the humor of a less intellectually curious person.
As others have already said, McKinnon is the clear standout here despite having, I think, only one line. She's been SNL's brightest light for a few years now (and will hopefully stick around, since she's such a great Hillary).
As for the trailer as a whole, it's, well, a Ghostbusters movie. It looks pretty much like what you'd expect. It doesn't appear to have either reinvented the wheel or damaged it.
What a perfect cast. Sigh.
If we needed any more proof that the comments section (not this one, of course) is the armpit of the universe, look to any article about this and you'll find almost every comment is misogynistic and horrifying, even more than I'd anticipated. And the Youtube likes/dislikes ratio is appalling. I was already an anticipatory Yes but now I want to see this movie 5 times just to further enrage some fuckboys.
I hope the humor is sharper than what's shown and smarter than McCarthy's usual fare.
Jason - I adore her sentiments, especially as seeing the trailer is not seeing the movie. I think the trailer also hints that her character will drive the plot more than the other 3, which will make her more than an unfortunate stock caricature.
Sean - given the reaction McKinnon has received, does she even have to speak in the film if we get more of this? Even her reactions on the sidelines are divine
Olivia - SAME! I didn't mention them in the article because I didn't want to Beetlejuice them into existence here
Apart from McCarthy none of these ladies are very well known in the uk.I'm a Yes as I love Melissa and Feig.
YES PLEASE - I am in the tank for this because Paul Feig/Melissa McCarthy are so very good at making me (and others) laugh.
Spy was under-appreciated (not here) so I'm very hopeful this will be just as smart. His gift for casting smaller parts and cameos is particularly good - my fingers are crossed for a Sigourney cameo.
Rabid sexist fans of the original are making themselves look stupid, I'm even more determined to go because of them. (When will they go away? seriously?)
SO. MUCH. YES.
Big, fat hunk of burning YES. McKinnon looks incredible and her one line in the trailer is the easy highlight. The effects look exactly as they should for a Ghostbusters movie, and the tone seems on point, too. Plus, Jones looks HILARIOUS. I am all for her and McKinnon stealing the film from Wiig and McCarthy.
How is this not a yes? All of Paul Feig's movies are good, and the cast is perfect.
I am very excited to see what they do with the cameos....
I'm a yes and I haven't even seen the trailer yet.
This is a flat, poorly cut trailer, but the cast makes it an automatic yes, with fingers crossed that it's *just* the trailer that's flat and poorly cut. I trust Feig and the rest not to fuck this up.
This honestly looks like garbage. I must be watching a different trailer than all of you.
^^^That's why I don't watch trailers for movies I'm interested in. I'm a yes, even though I haven't seen the original and don't plan to any time soon. (Sorry, HMWYBS.)
Paul Outlaw the original is a four star movie. You're also denying yourself one of the highlights of Sigourney Weaver's filmography.
Just was never interested in it, even when I've stumbled onto it on TV and watched a scene or two. For the most part, mainstream US movies from the '80s are not my thing. I have a pretty conflicted relationship with that decade and its culture.
These are the choice parts?
Fuck those haters who got sand in their vaginas, I'll go see this film. If there's some ladies sitting next to me knowing that I'm laughing with them and appreciate my own support of feminism used in a funny way. OK, more pie for me!
I was looking forward to this as much as just about anybody, but I agree with Roark that the trailer is a huge disappointment. Instead of looking like an amazing all-female reboot it just looks like a belated Part III to something. I hope the film is better than this trailer; assuming the reviews are decent, I'll certainly go see it.
It would have been better if they focused on Kristin Wiig being a smartass scientist, but it's a cartoon so it's in the can and studio made for kids. Melissa McCarthy is no genius.