Unless you’ve been living under a rock (how’s the wifi down there?), you’ve likely heard that there’s a new team of Ghostbusters in town.
The trailer for the new movie dropped yesterday morning.
There’s been a lot of words thrown around about it in the past day. Not many of them very supportive. Some of them down-right mean. 

Some of the complaints I’ve read:
It’s a reboot (maybe?). It isn’t going to be our classic team (from 30 years ago? Who honestly expected that to happen?). It’s a group of female comedians taking up the proton packs (how DARE they). “Proton Knuckles”? What are they THINKING?!?!?

I’ve been pretty happy with the new crop of comedies. I like a lot of the modern comedians out there. That feeling of the baudy comedies of the 80s that we all loved so much, in my opinion, is back. Seth Rogen, James Franco, Amy Schumer, Kristen Schall, Paul Rudd, Nick Frost, Edgar Wright, Evan Goldberg, the kids from The State, and on and on and on. It’s as good a time for comedy as it is for comic books. So despite a lot of words to the contrary, I really don’t think that keeping things status quo with the old Ghostbusters series would be the best way to go.

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE the original movies. I loved the cartoon. As a kid, my friends and I used to strap cardboard boxes to our backs with a piece of wire strung to a super-soaker and “hunt ghosts” in the patch of woods at the end of our street.  A few good friends of mine are part of a national Ghostbusters cosplay group (I dread to hear what they have to say about this!). So I get it, there’s a lot to love about the original series and people fear that somehow these changes will hurt the legacy. However, we need to remember, rebooting a movie franchise does not remove or delete the originals from existence.

Another thing to note for the detractors is that Ivan Reitman who produced and directed the original is on board with this film. Bill Murray has given it his blessing. I mean all of the original folks (including SLIMER!) are making appearances in this. So why are so many so ready to dismiss it based on a trailer?
I understand, I have leant myself to an opinion based on trailers. If there’s a self-declared geek/nerd out there who claims they haven’t, I’d call them a liar to their face. I’m still very wary about BvS. There it can be argued that there is a basis for comparison or opinion there with the direction they’ve already gone in Man of Steel, and yeah, that trailer looked great but I wasn’t too hot on the movie itslef, it’s no secret that I’m not alone in that opinion. My point here is, there’s so much vitriol being thrown at this movie since before the trailer even landed. I think that’s unfair. I get that “we fear change”and it’s just new. We simply don’t know yet, let’s give it a chance…or at least a few more trailers. That’s what I’ve been trying to do. I’d rather not remain that knee-jerk reactive, “it’s gonna SUCK” type of guy. I don’t like that type of person.

Sometimes, a reboot helps to revitalize the franchise.
I’ve argued that if it weren’t for the Star Wars prequels, we wouldn’t have had the amazing Clone Wars cartoon series, or Rebels for that matter. It’s possible the Force Awakens would never have been made if Lucas didn’t keep getting bothered by fans smack talking him forcing him to just want to wash his hands of everything and selling the franchise to Disney. Look ahead! Even if this film is abysmal (for the record, I’m open to it, it looks like it could be fun), it may open the doors to have a better Ghostbusters film come out in the future.

We don’t have to constantly be so negative about things. Which would you prefer, something new coming out of a franchise you love or nothing ever again? If you’re in the camp of the former, well, enjoy your time living in the past. I’m going to enjoy and look forward to all the new and exciting stuff yet to come. The good, and the bad.

And now, ladies and germs, the trailer: