- October 31st, 2016, 5:06 pm#4884882
I've talked a bit about this previously but I thought a topic on it might yield an interesting discussion. One of the reason's GB2016 didn't work for me was because it was really trying too hard to be funny. Every character had quips and the improv felt very forced & obvious. When I was a kid, I had zero idea that Ghostbusters was a comedy. I just thought it was a fun action movie where Ghosts get busted. It wasn't until I was a bit older that some of the jokes started to land. With that being said, Ghostbusters is a very dry comedy. For the most part, the humour comes from the characters. We've all heard stories of how there was a ton of improv on the set of GB84 & yet it doesn't feel like improv in the modern sense of your typical Judd Apatow/Seth Rogen way(a good example of the obvious improv I'm talking about is in 40 year old Virigin and the "you wana know how I k now you're gay?" bit).
I would say there are more jokes in GB16 than in GB84(runtime isn't a factor I'm referring to). Yet the dialogue and jokes in GB84 are classics and very well known, even among non hardcore GB fans. "back off man, I'm a scientist" or "listen! Do you smell something" or "I collect spores, mould and fungus" are all memorable. In contrast GB16 has very jokey jokes(Chris Hemsworth and the telephone thing, the testing of the equipment when Mcarthy goes flying). The two films have very different style of humour. I still laugh at GB84 and I've seen it countless times. Will GB16, for those who thought it was funny, have that same quality?
If someone were to calculate the jokes per minute ratio, I'd think GB16 would come out on top. I think GB84 takes the material more seriously, hence my confusion as a kid(I'm not sure any kid would be confused that GB16 is suppose to be funny)
While also being a great comedy, one of the best of all time, GB84 works as a great sci fi action film. Take out all the comedy and I still think the movie would've been huge. When I see a GB film, I'm not just looking to laugh. I love the mythology. The pseudoscience. The techno babble. I'm interested in mystery of the villian and the case they are trying to solve. Was GB16 missing that angle? Was it trying too hard to be a comedy?
I would say there are more jokes in GB16 than in GB84(runtime isn't a factor I'm referring to). Yet the dialogue and jokes in GB84 are classics and very well known, even among non hardcore GB fans. "back off man, I'm a scientist" or "listen! Do you smell something" or "I collect spores, mould and fungus" are all memorable. In contrast GB16 has very jokey jokes(Chris Hemsworth and the telephone thing, the testing of the equipment when Mcarthy goes flying). The two films have very different style of humour. I still laugh at GB84 and I've seen it countless times. Will GB16, for those who thought it was funny, have that same quality?
If someone were to calculate the jokes per minute ratio, I'd think GB16 would come out on top. I think GB84 takes the material more seriously, hence my confusion as a kid(I'm not sure any kid would be confused that GB16 is suppose to be funny)
While also being a great comedy, one of the best of all time, GB84 works as a great sci fi action film. Take out all the comedy and I still think the movie would've been huge. When I see a GB film, I'm not just looking to laugh. I love the mythology. The pseudoscience. The techno babble. I'm interested in mystery of the villian and the case they are trying to solve. Was GB16 missing that angle? Was it trying too hard to be a comedy?