Jan 31, 2019

Ghostbusters... beating on a dead horse...

I need to set things straight. I disliked GB 2016 because it wasn't a good movie. I was against the ALL-FEMALE cast because it wasn't an organic decision. It was a decision mandated by the studio from the get-go. Then they chose the director poorly. Instead of making a paranormal mobie with comedic elements peppered in; he made a comedy with paranormal elements instead. We saw the results. Now SONY is trying to recatch Lightning in a bottle.

They couldn't do it with the sequel (which was slightly toned down and it played it a bit too safe.) They didn't with the gross-out comedic reboot. Now they expect to catch it with Children... Spoilers: They won't. Simply because Children are a gimmick inspired by the GB tribute on Stranger Things. The tribute WORKED FOR Stranger Things BECAUSE it was a Tribute. Having the actual Busters be kids doesn't work, because of the same reasons the Orkin Man isn't the Orkin Child.

Now, I agree on passing the torch to a new Generation... I was expecting College Aged Students


Because it's the sensible age to do so:
They are old enough to drive, have a basic understanding of the equipment they use WITHOUT entering Wesley Crusher territory...  (also, Hwil Hweaton sucks more than Wesley)
Where was I?
Ah, yes, Ghostbusters. How would I do it? Well, I'd take SOME inspiration from Extreme GB, but not have it be Extreme GB.

So after the Vigo incident, paranormal activity spikes up across the country and Venkman tries to open up franchises. The niggest 3 being managed bu Original GB. Business booms until the late 90s when Spengler's New team on New York captured an important ghost whose name I don't know. One of these new Busters died (Probably Eduardo) to save the world. After that incident paranormal activity across the globe begins to die down. The GB are basically retired. Egon remained at the firehouse in New York city to take care of the North Eastern Containment Unit.
Ray moved to somewhere on the Bible Belt where the former GB HQ was turned into a Museum/Occult bookstore.

Venkman and Zeddemore... well more Winston, (who got his Ph. D after his life as a Ghostbuster) than Venkman take care of the West Containment Unit. Peter lost sight of what being a Ghostbuster meant and basically has been attempting to whore out the GB brand. The 2016 movie was Venkman's attempt to have a "version" of the Gozer incident "edited for the sake of storytelling and entertainment" with names changed due to interference by the Government. (Namely Walter Peck)

Egon (voiced by Maurice LaMarche) passed away quietly. His ghost kept working at the Firehouse for a few weeks until he realized his own passing. Egon attempts to contact The remaining Busters. (Namely, the remaining originals,  and surviving members of NY Team2) Only Ray and Kylie answer the call. (Yes, I'm kinda making Extreme canon) Now they have to train a new team of Busters to stop a new Ghostly menace that is threatening to overthrow the balance between life and death Starting with the Members of the Ghostbusters. (If Bill Murray wants to be a dick, he can be killed off-screen and have his ghost be played by Dave Coulier.)
The team would be 6 busters, some might be the (adult) kids of some of the Busters from the other Franchises. There would be visual diversity AND Diversity of opinion amongst the team.

The villain's plan could be something about sacrificing the souls of thoae who slayed Gozer and their progeny (not genetic) to bring back the Ancient Summerian deity. This causes the new team to be split in 2 as they trot across the US to save the Ghostbusters from certain doom (and the world). For the final showdown, you have Original Busters, Kylie (representing the toons and 2nd Generation busters), the New Busters stopping this great evil. If Leslie Jones hadn't fired off the handle, the 2016 Busters would've gotten a cameo as well... (they would acknowledge that they are actors who played GB on the screen, but once a Ghostbuster, always a Ghostbuster.)
I'd end the movie with the Original Busters riding off inyo the sunset on Ecto-1 with Kylie becoming the de facto chief of GB

Would this idea be good? I have no clue. The idea was insoired in Aykroyd's plans of having a GB "universe". Instead of simply tying it down to movies; I attempted to make space for a multimedia Universe... Toons, comics, movies, videogames... You name it.

The main problem with Ghostbusters is that the movie itself was a fluke. No matter how you try to reinvent the wheel, itl'll never be as good as the first. To be honest, the idea can thrive as a series, but it wouldn't be cost-effective in live action.

Yes, I'm aware, I made the movie idea a bit convoluted just to canonize everything  (within the movies)  Hell, you could split this in two movies...

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