Online Backlash Against Positive Reviews For New Ghostbusters

Just when you thought the online furore against the new, rebooted ‘Ghostbusters’ couldn’t get any more ridiculous, there’s now a backlash against positive reviews the movie has received.

The movie, helmed by 'Bridesmaids’ director Paul Feig and starring Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones, is currently sitting rather pretty with a 76% 'fresh’ rating on reviews aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes.

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Many critics, doubtless heading into the movie theatre with trepidation, have afforded the movie solidly decent reviews.

But it seems that’s not good enough for some, who are now slating critics for posting positive reviews, and even accusing them of being paid off by the studio, Sony Pictures.

The Sun’s critic Jamie Lee has been fending off attacks from Twitter users all weekend, after tweeting: “Ignore the haters - #ghostbusters is really, really good.”

Some of the remarks were bizarrely personal and offensive:

Meanwhile, over on a Ghostbusters page on Reddit, some users were seeking ways to discredit positive reviews, and even protest the opening night.

Empire magazine has been receiving similar flack on its Facebook page:

See also Hitfix:

After months of controversy over the rebooted movie, the reviews seem, in the main, largely very positive.

Robbie Collin, giving the movie four stars in the Daily Telegraph, writes: “The 2016 vintage of Ghostbusters speaks to its time with the same withering comic accuracy and hot-air-balloon-sized sense of fun as the 1984 original.”

“Sliding into theaters on a river of slime and an endless supply of good vibes, the new, cheerfully silly 'Ghostbusters’ is that rarest of big-studio offerings - a movie that is a lot of enjoyable, disposable fun,” writes Manohla Dargis in the New York Times.

Nigel M. Smith in The Guardian says: “Fun oozes from almost every frame; likewise the energy of a team excited to be revolutionising the blockbuster landscape. Let’s just hope everyone will enjoy the view.”

Time magazine’s Stephanie Zacharek adds: “Feig’s Ghostbusters is its own definitive creature, an affable, inventive riff on Ivan Reitman’s proton-packing caper that exists not to score points, but only to make us laugh. For a summer comedy, there’s no nobler purpose.”

Not everyone loves it, however.

Writes Vanity Fair’s Richard Lawson: “It spends so much time doing battle with its legacy that it forgets to be its own movie, putting a talented cast to waste and marking another disappointment in this dreadful summer movie season.”

Entertainment Weekly’s Chris Nashawty adds: “Is the new Ghostbusters funny? The answer is: Kind of, but not nearly to the degree it should be considering the talent involved.”

Meanwhile, David Rooney in The Hollywood Reporter says: “It’s all busy-ness, noise and chaos, with zero thrills and very little sustainable comic buoyancy.”

The movie has been variously trolled online ever since its announcement, with objections to everything from the female cast to the roundly disliked new take on Ray Parker Jr’s theme tune.

So this feels like Feig has (almost) pulled off the impossible.

Image credits: Sony/Twitter/Reddit