Imperioratorex Caprae said:
Sure it could be a bad trailer, but I'm also struggling to recall any movie that has had a poor trailer that turned out to be excellent. The opposite has been true, with great trailers hiding awful flicks though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vntAEVjPBzQ
There's your example of "bad trailer turns out to be good movie."
Anyway, I've been keeping silent about the trailer up until now. My reaction was negative initially, but with everyone treating this like the coming of Gozer himself, I really didn't want to jump on the hate train. So, in fairness, I'll try and give it pros and cons:
Pros
-So it's not a reboot, and the events of the previous films and associated works happened? Personal pro - it's kind of similar to "NuWho," how you could start from series 1 without knowing about any of the old continuity, but that continuity still exists.
-Like the effects myself. Very ethereal, have a creepy vibe, but aren't overly scary. Fits the Ghostbusters tone on that front.
-The three main scientist/enginer characters seem likable enough. They have their counterparts, but they're not entirely flipped. For instance, the particle physicist seems to be the de facto leader (e.g. Venkman), but is more akin to Egon in that she's also the smarts of the group. Likewise, the engineer girl seems to be close to Egon (the tech), but whose personality seems closer to Venkman (apathic about the whole ghost thing). The Ray equivalent seems to be akin to Ray 100%, but while the characterizations will be a con as well, I'll give some credit in that they're not entirely based on the original characters.
-So, in this scenario, while we have a doomsday situation for New York, we have mass ghosts being the threat (seemingly) and new proton pack designs (e.g. the pistols and the punching). That...sounds kinda awesome actually.
-Some good humour (e.g. the "let's go" scene).
Cons
-By virtue of same continutity, one has to ask why ghosts are even an unbelievable thing in New York by this point in time. Also, the plot beats are being followed exactly - three characters form a paranormal hazard organization that removes ghosts for a living, are joined by a fourth who isn't a scientist, get a secretary who's the opposite gender of the main four, and have to save New York when the entire city is threatened. Oh, and their base and transport are practically identical.
-The black girl character is a walking cliche. Sassy, street-smart, loud-spoken, etc.
-Annoying humour (e.g. the possession thing).
-It hasn't convinced me that it needs to exist. Nothing about it screams that this was something the studio wanted to make, as opposed to wanting to cash in on nostalgia.
Overall, I'm mixed. If this was the first Ghostbusters film, I'd probably be far more interested. Looking at it in the context of the wider series, I'm kind of "meh." However, I'll hopefully be able to see it and give it a fair chance. Honestly, this could have looked much worse, but I'm not expecting it to be anything more than decent entertainment that fails to hold a candle to its predecessors.