The good and the bad

I just watched this and I thought I'd chime in on my thoughts.

First of all, I'm a huge fan of the original movie. I think that the writers did the right thing by saying they were the "Denver Ghostbusters" because that sort of avoids needing to stay true to the original characters. After all, I do remember Peter saying something about the franchise rights in the original movie, so I guess this is a Denver franchise.

Much of the acting in this movie definitely felt scripted. I can't explain in what way, but just watching some of the scenes I felt like the actors were reading lines off of a paper. I guess that is just the difference between experienced actors and amateurs. But I don't hold that against them. However, some scenes (even some with the same actors) were performed very well. So it might not be the actors so much as just not having enough time to re-take each scene until it is right. The bar scene is an example of a bad acting scene.

The special effects are good. Not quite up to hollywood standards, but that is fine with me because I feel like so many Hollywood movies today try to write a movie around the special effects instead of trying to use special effects to compliment the story. In this case, the special effects are secondary, and that is how it should be in all movies. However, some movies (think BBC productions in the 1970's and 1980's) were SO bad that they detracted from the story. So I would say the effects in this movie were just right.

The storyline is good, but it lacks refinement. Some scenes feel like they should have been expanded on (for example, when they were arrested and their equipment confiscated). Also this connection between Pavel and the evil guy was never explained.

The Music is top-notch. I'd say most hollywood movies could learn a thing or two from this movie. (obviously the theme song is ripped from the original Ghostbusters, but the incidental music appears to be custom)

I also thought it was odd that the back of the ghostbusters vehicle said "braxton films" on it.. but I can forgive that.