Parody is still legal, as it was back then.
It’s how Seth MacFarlane got to star in Star Trek after all.
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Or maybe not. They already did an animated series spinoff in 2008 and it wasn’t exactly beloved by audiences or critics.
Sometimes it’s best to just leave the classics alone.
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First of all, the title of the sequel is Spaceballs 2: The Search For More Money. And while dealing with the mouse could add some wrinkles most of what I’ve read is that getting Moranis to sign on was always the biggest challenge. Brooks always said that he wouldn’t do it without him.
Here’s a story from 2015 for example:
I admit that I haven’t watched the long-awaited History of the World Part 2 yet because of the middling reviews.
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I had no idea this was a thing, and will need too look into it.
The original Spaceballs came out at the exact right time for me to find it hilarious.
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No, simply gauging by volume, it’s a pretty common skill.
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I don’t know if he plans on making a full comeback, but he’s going to be in the next installment of the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids franchise. It’s possible he could be convinced to join a third Ghostbusters movie if one happens…
I agree. It was a fun movie that never had a chance because of assholes on the internet. According to Leslie Jones (so, grain of salt because I don’t know if it’s suspicion or if she confirmed it), it’s not just that the misogyny-fueled mob was already influencing opinions before the film came out, fears of the online mob influenced people behind the scenes and resulted in an edit of the film that went abroad of what the stars were expecting. I don’t know if the extended edition is closer to what she expected or if there was more changed. As much as I did enjoy the movie, I’m disappointed that there’s possibly a better version out there that we’ll never get to see.
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Right? Peck was a jerk and made some errors but he was asking the right questions. Venkman was the sociopathic one.
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Afterlife was a touching love letter to the original films, but it wasn’t funny. The one annoying kid was the only comic relief in the entire film. Where were the JOKES? Sure, McKenna Grace was did an impressive job of carrying the whole film, and it was great nostalgic fan service, but that’s ALL it did.
The 2016 remake genuinely captured the mix that made the original such a classic- Both slapstick and subtle humor running the whole range from crude to sophisticated, with just enough horror, mystery, and jump scares to keep things interesting.
Moreover, Answer the Call was FUN, something that’s sorely missing today, and one of the things that made the 80s so memorable- The Goonies, Indiana Jones, Back to the Future, Batman- They were FUN in a way that only a handful of pictures now are doing. Ghostbusters was FUN. 2016’s wasn’t a perfect movie, but it was damned good and I think it’s an absolute shame the girls aren’t getting a sequel, and I will totally die on that hill.
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Exactly! Even Larry King mentioned there was controversy about the Ghostbusters’ methods and with fears of toxic substances it made sense the EPA should look into it.
When the public’s health is potentially at risk because of hazardous waste chemicals whom are you going to contact?
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Why, the busters of ghosts, my good chap!
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There was a massive amount of fan service in Afterlife, but I think it was done pretty well. While in the 2016 remake the setup and solution to defeating the boss tracked right along with the original. I already saw that movie and it was really good, you aren’t going to remake it better. It’s the same criticism I have of Star Trek: Into Darkness. I find it the weakest of the three JJ Trek films, because I already watched it once and no amount of tweaking and changing what happens to what character is going to make me fawn over it.
Rewatching those 80’s movies with my kids I find they are a lot more raw, gritty/violent, and darker in tone than movies today. I remember Kindergarten Cop being a “fun” type of movie…until the bad guy gets a hole blown through him by Arnold in the school bathroom.
I agree. I loved Answer the Call because of how much fun it was. Afterlife was okay, but there was a moment during the middle of it when I realized the tone was very different from the first couple of movies. I still enjoyed it, but not nearly as much as Answer the Call.
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I dunno. I think the 2016 film’s biggest sin was that it wasn’t all that great of a film. It had a tremendous cast and tons of potential but it just couldn’t ever really decide if it was a tribute, remake, reboot, or spin off. By the end it went entirely off the rails into farcical territory.
Afterlife had a lot of heart and potential as well, but I agree that it wasn’t all that “fun”. It retread the original film entirely too much rather than telling a new story which at least the 2016 film did. It also kept reminding me over and over again that not just Egon Spengler but Harold Ramis was dead and we’d never get another proper Ghostbusters reunion with the original cast. That made me sad.
Anyway I’ll definitely be watching the new one (probably on streaming) and I hope it tries something new without being as heavily encumbered by the past films. But given it has much of the surviving original cast in it, I am skeptical of that.
Watching the original characters suit up and have the same job they had 40 years ago kinda makes me sad.
Why, that’s James Acaster! I’d forgotten he was going to be in a Ghostbusters movie.
I’m definitely going to watch the new one because I LOVE the franchise. I’ve seen the original films dozens of times, along with multiple viewings of the cartoon. I doodled the ghost logo on all my middle school notebooks and dressed as a ghostbuster for Halloween when I was 12. I think at one point, I even made it most of the way through the GB3 script that’s floating around the net.
I have my criticisms here and there. I think the villain in Answer the Call was a little too on the nose, and the movie suffered because of it, but overall I give it pretty high marks. I LOVE how the use of real early 20th century parade floats at the end anchors it in NY history. Like I said- I think that Afterlife really missed the mark tonally, and the CGI appearance at the end was too heavy handed, but It DID absolutely deliver on the fan service and gave a nice sense of closure to the first two films.
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