‘Ghostbusters’ Reboot Receives Mixed Reviews: Critics Called ‘Sexist’

The first reviews are in for the reboot of Ghostbusters, and they are not as bad as people have expected. However, people expected generally horrific reviews for Ghostbusters, so that’s not saying a lot. The reviews released today have been very mixed, and there are rumors that many of the disastrous reviews have been held off under an embargo.

In any case, Manohla Dargis of the New York Times thinks people will enjoy the new Ghostbusters.

“Sliding into theaters on a river of slime and an endless supply of good vibes, the new cheerfully silly ‘Ghostbusters’ is the rarest of big-studio offerings — a movie that is a lot of enjoyable, disposable fun.”

The review adds that that there isn’t one performer who dominates the movie, although Kate McKinnon comes close. Entertainment Weekly‘s Chris Nashawaty wasn’t as kind with his review and gave Ghostbusters a “C+.”

“But with a cast as daring and quick as this one, Ghostbusters is too mild and plays it too safe. Somewhere, I bet, there’s an R-rated director’s cut of the movie where these women really let it rip. I want to see that movie.”

Even though Nashawaty didn’t mention anything about having problems with an all-female cast in his review, some of the commenters accused his review of being sexist.

“The reviewer needs to acknowledge his white male privilege before reviewing films. FU, EW!” screams @PurpleCactus.

“Figures EW gives the movie a bad review. They are sexist and they are known to be Donald Trump supporters,” says @OliveTepee.

“While the actors [Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig] worked together effectively in Bridesmaids, there’s minimal evidence of a connection in their scenes here, which are often flat and sagging under the weight of dead air. Concept suffocates comedy at almost every step.”

The review adds that there are some nostalgic nods to the original movie, but they serve only as a reminder of the charm that is lacking in the reboot. Once again, some took to the comments section to claim that the review for Ghostbusters is “sexist.”

“Wonder what this review would have been if a woman had reviewed it — this so-called ‘estrogen-infused’ reboot. Seeing it anyway, thank you,” says Quendrith Johnson

“Why do you hate women David?” CRnuts asks the reviewer.

Ghostbusters has been a subject of ridicule from the very beginning. There were people who genuinely didn’t like the fact that an all-male cast was being replaced with an all-female cast and their thoughts were heard all over the internet. Then, there were those who didn’t mind the all-female cast, but thought they were being used to spread a political message. Many original Ghostbusters fans were outraged that the film was being remade at all.

When a trailer for Ghostbusters was released in March, it received a record number of dislikes. Sony immediately went into damage control and deleted some of the negative comments. However, the fact that comments with very misogynistic language were left up made people question Sony’s PR tactics and if they were using the “Sexist” card to garner sympathy for the film.

There were many people who don’t like the trailer for Ghostbusters, and it had nothing to do with sexism.

“I wanted to like it. I really did. When the movie was first announced, I thought that a reboot was a really bad idea, but I held my tongue. I was cautious in my pessimism. I didn’t want to lumped in with the myriad of voices that were opposed to it for reasons that were petty and sexist (you may recall that Donald Trump was one of those voices),” claimed Roger Weisman from the Huffington Post.

Ghostbusters opens up next weekend and Sony has set a relatively low expectation of $40 million to $50 million — that’s good for any other film, but not for a film that cost $140 million to make. It will be interesting to see if Ghostbusters lives up to those expectations.

[Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images]