Hollywood screenwriter Max Landis has spoken out about the new Paul Feig-directed ‘Ghostbusters’ and his reaction is less than enthusiastic.
He took to Twitter to declare the film “pretty whatever,” then embellished saying:
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3rd act gets really horribly dumb. Racist stereotype character is as advertised. Very funny parts. 5/10 The only really horribly cringey stuff in Ghostbusters has to do with there being like zero internal consistency with how the ghosts works. That and the stereotype of a “BIG SASSY YELLING BLACK WOMAN” which is like…Literally as advertised, the whole character. Really weird.They say they have to catch the ghosts. Then they kill the ghosts with energy bullets and by stabbing them with knives. Not kidding. Kate McKinnon is awesome. So yeah. They made a new Ghostbusters and it is pretty bland and kind of funny and parts of it don’t make sense and some of it’s racist. Part of me wanted it to be bad because reboot/gimmick/shallow, part of me wanted it to be great to piss off misogynists, I got neither. I’ve talked to people who HATED Ghostbusters 2016 and people who loved it. After seeing it, I’m amazed they had any kind of strong response.
The critical response to the movie has been mixed but more positive than negative. It currently sits at a 77% freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but that’s down from the 79% it was sitting at yesterday. If you look at the negative reviews, they generally reflect Landis’ criticisms.
It should be noted that Landis has no direct connection to ‘Ghostbusters’ beyond having pitched his own idea for a reboot before this one. (More on that in a second.) Landis is known as a screenwriter who penned the acclaimed 2012 super hero revisionist film ‘Chronicle’. He also penned a few flops like ‘American Ultra’, ‘Mr. Right’ and ‘Victor Frankenstein’. He submitted a treatment for the upcoming ‘Power Rangers’ film and is still listed as a screenwriter, but as he himself has said that his “experience” with that film, among others, drove him out of the big budget movie game, it doesn’t sound like his script is the one being used.
If you are curious about Landis’ pitched ‘Ghostbusters’ idea, you can read about it on his personal website.
Jax's earliest memory is of watching 'Batman,' followed shortly by a memory of playing Batman & Robin with a friend, which entailed running outside in just their underwear and towels as capes. When adults told them they couldn't run around outside in their underwear, both boys promptly whipped theirs off and ran around in just capes.
