Ghostbusters (2016) (sometimes referred to as
Ghostbusters: Answer the Call in publicity materials) is a reboot of
the 1984 comedy of the same name. Directed by Paul Feig, the movie stars
Melissa McCarthy,
Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones as the
Gender Flipped new team, with
Chris Hemsworth as their dimwitted receptionist Kevin.
The plot involves quantum physicist Erin Gilbert (Wiig) discovering that her estranged friend and former partner Abby Yates (McCarthy) has republished a book the two wrote expressing their belief in ghosts. Fearing that the book will destroy her chances of achieving tenure at Columbia University, Gilbert attempts to persuade Yates to take the book down from the Internet, only to become roped into an investigation into a supposedly haunted mansion conducted by Yates and her eccentric partner, engineer Jillian Holtzmann (McKinnon). When the investigation uncovers an actual, genuine haunting, the three — after being fired from their respective academic institutions — decide to investigate the increase in paranormal activity and conclusively prove the existence of ghosts. After MTA worker Patty Tolan (Jones) approaches them following a haunting at a subway station, the four women discover a terrible plot threatening all of New York, and join forces as the Ghostbusters to save the day...
The film is not a continuation of the previous films, but a
Continuity Reboot. There are a number of cameos from the cast of the original film but the cameos themselves are not
Role Reprisals, but new characters altogether.
Now has a
character sheet.
Ghostbusters provides examples of the following tropes:
- Accidental Murder: The Ghostbusters accidentally cause the death of Heiss by releasing a dangerous ghost on him.
- The Ace: Jillian Holtzmann's equipment not only works flawlessly (despite being prototypes), she also is completely fearless. She's arguably the best Ghostbuster yet, based on these merits.
- Action Girl: The new Ghostbusters are all women who are capable of fighting ghosts.
- Actionized Reboot: The special effects advancements of the 2010s have allowed the movie to feature actual fight scenes between the Ghostbusters and the ghosts, with punching and weapons. There is certainly more action compared to the climax of the original movie, in which most of the action from the Ghostbusters amounted to moving the tips of their proton blasters close together.
- Acrofatic: Melissa McCarthy, who is heavyset, is able to do a no handed cartwheel while wearing a proton pack. A proton pack she describes (in character as Abby) as feeling like it's compressing her spine so to pull off such a move is impressive.
- Affably Evil: Rowan the janitor. He is unfailingly polite even while murmuring dire imprecations to Patty. He speaks formally, addressing her as "Patricia". He also continues to be polite even as his plan unfolds and comes to fruition. However he doesn't hesitate to make it clear how low his opinion of most people is, and clearly has some kind of superiority complex.
- All Part of the Show: Mayhem, the demonic ghost, showing up in a metal concert. The lighting guy even has to say to the band it's not one of his effects.
- All There in the Manual: The tie-in edition of Ghosts of Our Past: Both Literally and Figuratively: The Study of the Paranormal reveals that apparently Martin Heiss survived being thrown through a window by Mayhem, was very badly injured, and renounced skepticism to become a firm believer in ghosts and the Ghostbusters. Until the next chapter, in which Erin and Abby reveal that he's actually a ghost who somehow managed to write the foreword for them.
- Amazon Brigade: The Ghostbusters in this film are an all-female team that bands together to fight the paranormal in the finale.
- Ambiguously Gay: Invoked on a meta-level. Holtzmann is constantly flirtatious with a mildly awkward but still flattered Erin. It's only "ambiguous" in name. Feig strongly implies he didn't come right out and make it plain only because the studio would have objected.
- And This Is For...: When Patty busts Mayhem using the "ghost shredder," she says it's because he sat on her.
- Apocalypse How: Rowan tries to unleash one in the climax, which could have been anywhere from a class 0 to a 3b.
- Appropriated Appellation:
- The team starts out with an official sounding name, but after the media starts calling them "Ghostbusters"—and they can't shake the name—they just go along with it.
- The logo is taken from a tag mockingly sprayed by a graffiti artist when he's asked if he's seen a ghost. He draws the "no" symbol when Patty tells him to stop. Everyone else rushes away, but Holtzmann takes a picture and later paints the image on the side of the Ecto-1.
- Erin was derisively known as "ghost girl" in school due to her haunting experience. At the end, Abby calls her this and she says that she will gladly accept it as a title.
- Arbitrary Skepticism: Erin and Abby never put any serious research into ley lines, which means it takes them a while to figure out Rowan's plan.
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Among the many serious regulations and laws the Homeland Security agents claim the Ghostbusters are apparently breaking is driving a vehicle "with a foreign-sounding siren".
- Ascended Extra: Slimer re-appears, making him the only character appearing *as* the same character in the entire Ghostbusters franchise of movies and TV.
- As Himself: Ozzy Osbourne and Al Roker.
- Asshole Victim: Martin Heiss' death is never brought up ever again. Though considering what a jerkass he was, nobody probably cared.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Instead of Mr. Stay Puft, the 'Busters have to deal with a giant version of the ghost from their logo. And prior to that, they do face a lot of Macy's Parade balloons, culminating in one of the Marshmallow Man.
- Author Appeal: Paul Feig's reasoning for having an all-female team is because he claims that it's his thing. Not too hard to see why, considering that his other movies all center around female characters.
- Badass Gay: Holtzmann, who subtly flirts with Erin and kicks ass. Technically speaking, it's a case of Badass Ambiguously Gay, since the movie never outright confirms Holtzmann's sexuality in-universe, but Word of God has confirmed that Holtzmann is intended to be gay.
- Bathos: There isn't a single serious scene in the movie that doesn't end with either over-the-top absurdity or toilet humor. Or both.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Martin Heiss wants to see a real ghost and he does. Unfortunately, it kills him.
- The Bechdel Test: The female cast members have lots to speak about besides men; technobabble, the supernatural, and of course, ghosts. There are several scenes in the movie where they pass with an A-plus.
- Berserk Button:
- The Mayor of New York really, really doesn't like being compared to the Mayor from the movie Jaws.
- Patty really doesn't like it when you pick on Kevin.
- The ever-laid-back Holtzmann loses it if her equipment is vandalized, almost as a mother would react to someone hurting her children.
- Beware the Silly Ones: While they all have their goofball quirks, Holtzmann and her uncanny ability to act wacky coupled with her skills at creating and utilizing dangerous science based weaponry makes her the scourge of most ghosts.
- Big Applesauce: The movie is set in New York City, just like the original.
- Big Bad: The main antagonist is a human named Rowan who intentionally becomes a ghost in order to unleash the apocalypse, due to his hatred of humanity.
- Big Damn Heroes: Erin saves the other three Ghostbusters as they're being crushed by the Stay-Puft parade balloon.
- She even coolly spits out a one-liner. Holtzmann has been rubbing off on her, all right.
- Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: Holtzmann, Gilbert and Yates.
- Bond One-Liner: "You've just been Holtzmanned!"
- Bowties Are Cool: Erin wears one as part of her professor outfit in the early part of the movie, which is dubbed the 'world's tiniest bow tie' by Holtzmann. The giant ghost also wears a red one, formed out of the red "no" symbol from the logo
- Brainless Beauty: Kevin, in contrast to Janine from the original movies being the Only Sane Man.
- Breaking the Fellowship: We don't actually see the scene where it occurs, but it is implied that this has briefly happened to Erin and the other Ghostbusters following the 'fake arrest' at the Mercado Hotel; Erin is notably separate from the other Ghostbusters for a significant portion of the third act, her plot and character arc has involved the tension created by her desire for academic respect / approval and her work with the Ghostbusters, and her Big Damn Heroes moment where she saves the others from the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man plays like the triumphant return of an estranged member of the band after a 10-Minute Retirement.
- Brick Joke:
- It's a Running Gag through the entire movie that Abby is a regular customer at a particular Chinese restaurant. She's on first name terms with the delivery guy. But she gets clear water instead of broth, one or no wontons, and one shrimp in her soup. Once the Ghostbusters save the city, though, Benny shows up with a large soup that is pretty much all wontons.
- The EVP-recording Toilet Humor gag is actually a setup for The Stinger.
- Patty says her uncle will be very upset when he sees the way they re-designed one of his hearse vehicles. Said uncle shows up in the final scene before the end credits (and played by Ernie Hudson), and he ain't happy.
- A minor one: Someone makes a comment that Patty's big gaudy hoop earrings draw attention to the ladies, which Patty brushes off at the time, but in the next scene, she's wearing posts, which she sticks to for the rest of the movie. One could also argue that this signifies her taking the job seriously.
- At one point, Kevin is submitting for an audition and shows the Ghostbusters two head shots, both of him shirtless and holding a musical instrument. He asks which one makes him look more like a doctor. In the credits, more of Kevin's shirtless head shots are seen. In one of them, he is wearing a stethoscope.
- Bring My Brown Pants: The tour guide of the haunted house from the start of the movie apparently soiled himself upon seeing a ghost, though he denies it.
- Broken Bird: Erin Gilbert. As an eight-year old child, Erin was haunted by the ghost of an elderly neighbour who appeared at the end of her bed. Every night. For a year. Everyone thought she was crazy, and right through to adulthood, Erin cares most about being perceived as sane and respectable.
- Broken Masquerade: At the end of the movie, it may not be a full Unmasqued World yet—the mayor is still denying everything to the public for one thing—but the Ghostbusters are starting to get respect and belief, and the mayors aid admits the cover up is "not working".
- Buffy Speak: Discussed, as Patty even says she's calling the weird device a "sparky thing" because she doesn't know what it is.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Holtzmann. She gleefully calls herself crazy and is enthusiastic about everything. But there is no doubt she knows her stuff. Everything she makes works—almost too well.
- California Doubling: set in New York City, yet filmed largely in Boston and other locations in Eastern Massachusetts. Wordof God says that Paul Feig so enjoyed filming The Heat in Boston that he was determined to return to the city to film this movie.
- The Cameo:
- Most of the original Ghostbusters cast reappear in minor roles.
- Bill Murray as a famed paranormal debunker mocking the efforts of the team. He is seen on tv and later visits them in person, only to be thrown out a window and killed by the ghost they previously caught.
- Harold Ramis shows up as a bust (with an amused expression) at Columbia when Erin is fired. Daniel Ramis also appears briefly in his late father's stead.
- Dan Aykroyd shows up as a cabby who refuses to help out Erin and appears unfazed by the explosion of ghosts in the city. He gets to say the line "I ain't afraid of no ghost."
- Ernie Hudson is Patty's oft mentioned uncle who runs a funeral home and loaned her the hearse they use for transportation. He shows up at the end asking for it back.
- Annie Potts is a receptionist at a hotel who is every bit as sassy as Janine, even saying "What do you want?" in a distinctive Brooklyn accent.
- Sigourney Weaver as Holtzman's mentor and equally quirky engineer in the ending sequence.
- Many frequent Paul Feig collaborators also make small appearances. invoked
- Dave "Gruber" Allen and Steve Bannos, from Freaks and Geeks, play the subway ghost and the flasher ghost in the finale, respectively.
- Jessica Chaffin and Jamie Denbo, who had roles in both Spy and The Heat, appear as a couple of diner waitresses bickering over who has to serve Rowan. Adam Ray, also of both films, appears as an opening act for Ozzy Osbourne, as well as voicing Slimer.
- Karan Soni, of Other Space, appears as an incompetent delivery boy for a Chinese restaurant. Joining him in smaller roles are co-stars Bess Rous as the Gertrude Aldridge ghost, Eugene Cordero as the bass player at the Ozzy Osbourne concert, and Milana Vayntrub as a homeless person in the subway. (And, of course, Neil Casey has a much larger role.)
- Canon Immigrant: This isn't the first time Ghostbuster use grenade weaponry if you recall the Proton Grenades from the IDW continuity.
- Chekhov's Gun:
- The Swiss Army knife Erin receives.
- Also the nuclear device on top of Ecto-1.
- Comically Missing the Point: The Mayor at one point calls out the team after the rock concert, saying that their activities are drawing too much attention to themselves.
Erin: Well, it's true that Patty wears big earrings.
Patty: Hey, if being beautiful's a crime, then guilty as charged!
- Connect the Deaths: The induced hauntings, plotted on a map, form an "X" with the imminent vortex's location at its nexus.
- Covered in Gunge: The women are slimed by a lot of ectoplasm, Erin in particular.
Erin: Ok, it seems like the slime has it in for me, personally. That's all I'm saying.
- Crazy-Prepared: Jillian. Not only does she keep coming up with any number of gadgets for any kind of situation where you might need to eradicate a ghost, but she also apparently anticipated that she would meet her demise through being crushed by a spectral version of a Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. That last one is subverted since she didn't have anything prepared for it herself.
- Create Your Own Villain: Rowan the janitor used theories from Abby's and Erin's book to concoct mechanisms which unleash ghosts.
- Creator Cameo: Ivan Reitman, who directed the first two movies, walks behind the mayor on one of the last scenes. Katie Dippold, the film's writer, plays the rental agent who finds the Ghostbusters their base of operations.
- Creative Closing Credits:
- The Rowan-Possessed Kevin the receptionist turns the police, SWAT team, and the DHS agents into his very own Puppetmastered dance party to the tune of "Get Ghost!" Some of his hip-shakin' dance moves actually knock the credits out of alignment as they scroll up the screen.
- The Ghostbusters' equipment gets closeup shots, and the women themselves each get an action shot of themselves in the credits.
- There are also several Stingers that require viewers to stay all the way to the end of the credits.
- Dance Party Ending: Spoofed and played with. Ghost Master Rowan has possessed Kevin and manipulates dozens of police, SWAT officers, and National Guard soldiers into a number of increasingly elaborate and ridiculous dances over the closing credits. It's implied to be what Rowan was doing while waiting for the Ghostbusters to arrive.
- This scene was meant for the film proper, but was cut due to pacing, then added back with the Creative Closing Credits constructed around it.
- Dead All Along: Apparently Ed Mulgrave, who visits Erin to get her help with the Aldridge House haunting; when informed that they spoke with Mulgrave, the tour guide informs the Ghostbusters that Mulgrave is long dead. Subverted when it turns out that the person Erin spoke to was actually his son, Ed Mulgrave Jr. Erin irritably points out to the tour guide that she had clearly been referring to the living Ed Mulgrave.
- Dead Star Walking: Poor Bill Murray only exists in the film to die.
- Deader Than Dead: Some of the ghosts are destroyed rather than captured. Its up in the air, however, as they could just be stunned, and were sucked into the portal before waking back up.
- Destination Defenestration:
- Martin Heiss is pushed out a window by Mayhem, the first ghost the leads caught.
- Jillian is shoved out the same window by Abby, who is possessed by the ghost of Rowan. Patty manages to grab her on the way out.
- Destructive Savior: Surprisingly averted for the most part, although testing the weapons they'll use to fight ghosts proves fairly destructive.
- Disney Villain Death: Heiss gets killed by being thrown out a window by Mayhem.
- Distaff Counterpart: The gang all have shades of the original quintet, but with starkly different personalities and with the obvious difference.
- Erin Gilbert has fashioned herself a skeptic like Peter Venkman (not to mention also being a Chivalrous Pervert), and behaves in a much more uptight fashion because of being a woman in an academic field who desperately wants to be taken seriously. She's also always getting slimed, like Venkman.
- Abby Yates is the somewhat childish true believer like Ray Stantz, but a lot more aggressive and confrontational and much less meek.
- Jillian Holtzmann is a somewhat odd super-scientist like Egon Spengler, but with a lot less The Spock and a lot more Mad Scientist.
- However, Jillian's nerdiness isn't as cold and awkward, it has more zest and attitude. And while Egon was heavily implied to be asexual, Jillian is heavily implied to be homosexual. However given Janine's crush on Egon and in a meta sense, Holtzmann's massive lesbian fanbase, they both get all the babes.
- Patty Tolan is a black non-scientist who joins the team like Winston Zeddemore, but without the calm, cool professionalism, instead not hiding how insane everything is (as well as having a love for New York history). Her character also gets more development, as she joins earlier in the film. Her joining is also directly tied to the main plot, while Winston joined due to the increased workload from an influx of ghost sightings.
- Kevin is a Spear Counterpart to Janine Melnitz, both being receptionists hired to help, although Janine was a lot more competent than Kevin, who is... not. And, after he gets possessed, either Dana or Louis.
- The tour guide who encounters Gertrude Aldridge could be considered the Spear Counterpart of the original film's librarian, both of whom have similar run-ins with a female specter and are asked embarrassingly personal questions about said encounter.
- Distracted by the Sexy: Erin by Kevin, constantly.
- Ditzy Secretary: Kevin is a rare male example. He wears glasses but took the glass out so he didn't have to clean them, thinks covering his eyes blocks out sound, cannot figure out how to work a phone, cannot figure out that he's supposed to figure out how to work the phone, only announces appointments when the person has been waiting for at least ten minutes, and wanders off during the final battle to go get a sandwich. Erin wanted to hire him because he is just so damn pretty, while the other girls went along with it because he was the only applicant.
- The Dog Was the Mastermind: The Big Bad is actually Rowan the janitor, who barely had an impact on the film until The Reveal.
- Dope Slap: Kevin finally gets a pseudo-one when Abby snatches away his sandwich and throws it into the street. Averted when someone just tosses it right back into his hand.
- Drives Like Crazy: Slimer, when he carjacks Ecto-1.
Abby: That thing's having the time of its life.
- Driven to Suicide: Invoked and played with. Rowan kills himself in front of the ladies, and it looks like he did this only to avoid arrest. Erin soon figures out that he used his machine to turn himself into a ghost.
- Dude, Where's My Respect?: The Ghostbusters are faced with skepticism and mockery at every turn. People make fun of them on their YouTube videos, the government of New York denounces them as attention-seeking pranksters, and they just can't seem to catch a break. Until the very end, anyway.
Rowan: You must have been afforded the respect and dignity that I was denied.
Abby: No, we get dumped on pretty much all the time.
- Dumb Blond: An inversion. The dumb blond is Kevin, the hunky prettyboy the ladies hire for their receptionist, although he's barely able to do the job.
- Eating the Eye Candy: Every time Chris Hemsworth is on the screen, often with appreciative commentary by Erin. Patty is clearly not interested, given her reaction to him grinding on her, Abby is actually shocked anyone would find him attractive, and Jillian is very gay.
- Establishing Character Moment: A subtle example; at the beginning, after pranking Erin with the "EVP" fart joke, Abby and Jillian remark that no one else had even come over to listen, let alone listened intently like Erin had. It's a sign that Erin is more of a believer than she wants to admit, since the likely reason no one else even came over was because they didn't believe in Electronic Voice Projection to begin with.
- Everyone Has Standards: It turns out the Kenneth J. Higgins Institute of Science, hardly an exemplary academic facility, considers itself above hosting Abby and Jillian's department.
- Evil Is Not a Toy: The metal singer who starts bragging about Mayhem, the demon ghost that showed up, is promptly shoved by it into a wall of amplifiers.
- Evil Laugh: Rowan lets out a rather menacing cackle when transforming into his One-Winged Angel form for the Final Battle.
- Expospeak Gag: Jillian referring to Pringles potato crisps as "salty parabolas".
- Flipping the Bird: Abby's Jerkass boss performs a whole series of juvenile variations while firing her and Jillian.
- Fog Feet: Many ghosts, though not all. Visually lampshaded when Slimer hits the accelerator of a car with nothing.
- For Science!: Holtzmann loves to build really dangerous ghost-fighting tools just because she can and is not much concerned for their safety. She gets that lack of concern from her mentor.
- "Friends" Rent Control: Subverted. The cavernous former firehouse the real estate agent shows the women is laughably out of their budget.
Erin: [smiling in excitement] So, how much is this place?
Real Estate Agent: $21,000 a month.
Erin: [still smiling] Burn in hell!
- They do get the firehouse in the end, after the mayor's office puts the team on the city's payroll to further develop their research and equipment.
- Freudian Excuse:
- Rowan the janitor hates humanity because he's always been treated poorly by other people and thinks that the world, as a result, is garbage. That's why he's decided to be the bad guy. Lampshaded as he immediately assumes that the Ghostbusters could never understand what he's been through, only for them to point out that the world at large isn't exactly nice to them either.
- In a heroic example, Erin proves to be so excited about proving ghosts exist because she was haunted by one as a tween. Once she told her parents about it, she was sent to therapy and consequently ridiculed and humiliated through her entire academic life for it until she turned her back on parapsychology and became hell bent on being taken as serious and sane.
- Gadgeteer Genius: Holtzmann and Rowan are flip sides of the same coin. Rowan leans a little more into Steampunk Gadgeteer territory.
- Genius Bruiser: The result of Rowan North's ghost possessing Kevin.
- Genki Girl: Holtzmann, who is rarely seen without a smile and\or scenery-chewing enthusiasm.
- Genre Savvy:
- The mansion tour guide realizes that it was a bad idea to go into the haunted cellar. Unfortunately, the door closes before he can act on this insight.
- The Ghostbusters are well aware that confidently announcing the existence of the supernatural will not go over well without a lot of evidence, so they try to keep their work somewhat discreet (at least from academics— they put videos of their escapades up on YouTube) until they can get a ghost into captivity and obtain proof from that.
- Patty figures out that the concert hall ghost is perched on her shoulders, and defies the set up for a Double Take, which would probably instigate some violent behavior. Instead, she tries to slowly away, in the apparent hope that the ghost will get bored. It even seems to be working, until the other Ghostbusters decide to cut to the chase and just zap it.
- Patty instantly knows the room full of mannequins is bad news and just walks past it.
- Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!: How Patty exorcises Rowan out of Abby. The first time does the trick, but she slaps one more time before realizing it succeeded.
- Getting Crap Past the Radar:
- Holtzmann's pendant is a rebus; "screw" + "you".
- Holtzmann also claims that the fart sound on the 'EVP' recording "came from the front". She could, of course, be referring to someone blowing a raspberry... or she could be referring to this
.
- Gilligan Cut: Abby claims that the institute she and Holtzman work for are fully supportive of their research and all they have to do is ask the dean for more money. Cut to the exasperated dean, who wasn't even aware that their department still existed and orders them out.
- Groin Attack: The Ghostbusters shoot Rowan, in his giant bow-wearing ghost form, in the crotch with their proton packs. Patty even asks if that was where they were supposed to aim...
- Guns Akimbo: Jillian's big moment comes immediately when she remembers she holstered two ghost guns, and does an all-out one woman assault on a bunch of ghosts around them.
- Hand Cannon: Erin is given one, which even warrants a "Say hello to my little friend!" upon first use.
- Happy Dance: The Ghostbusters celebrate their first ghost capture by dancing to "Party up" by DMX.
- Haunted House Historian:
- A fake-out example is the tour guide for the Aldridge house, who uses remote control fakery to imply haunting until the ghost actually shows up.
- Patti knows background information about various sites in the city and most of it is relevant to the issues at hand.
- Hidden Depths: The cabbie Erin hails towards the end of the film cuts her off to correctly identify the classification of ghosts marauding the city.
- Hide Your Lesbians: In an interview, Paul Feig heavily hinted that Holtzmann is supposed to be a lesbian, but implied that he had to be coy about it because of Sony.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Martin Heiss goads Erin into showing him proof of the ghosts that the Ghostbusters have been hunting. He gets proof alright. Mayhem (the dragon-like ghost) flies right into his face and shoves him through a window.
- Hollywood Nerd: Played with.
- Erin dresses extremely conservatively while at Columbia for fear of appearing "too sexy". She relaxes that style some once teamed up with Abby and Jillian, but remains socially awkward and nervous, even when trying to be flirty and social.
- Abby cultivates an attitude of not caring what other people think. But on the back of the book, she and Erin both have very elegant author photos.
- Jillian on the other hand lets her freak flag fly, dressing in whatever suits her fancy of the moment.
- Ho Yay: It's never explicitly stated that's she gay, but any doubt of Holtzmann's sexual orientation is pretty much removed when she starts dancing with her tools to flirt with Erin.
- Implausible Deniability: Erin regarding a book she possibly wrote. First, she says it's not her, then that it's a namesake, that the author pictured there doesn't look like her, and ultimately that she wrote the whole thing as a joke ("The very first words in this book are 'This is not a joke'...").
- Inappropriate Hunger: Holtzmann casually eats Pringles chips during their first ghost encounter.
- Incongruously Dressed Zombie: One of the ghosts in the big street battle is dressed as a Pilgrim, and a Flasher Ghost flashes his skeleton at passersby. There's also the one dressed as Uncle Sam, including stilts.
- Indirect Kiss: Erin is happy to drink from the coffee cup that Kevin slurped out of, but Abby stops her as she can't stand to watch it.
- Institutional Apparel: The second ghost, in the subway, is the ghost of a prisoner who was put in the electric chair. He is wearing the striped outfit.
- Jacob Marley Apparel: Some of the human ghosts, specially the electric chair victim on the subway.
- Jerkass:
- The "dean" of the university Abby and Jillian were working for. He dresses them down and then does an unnecessarily elaborate Flipping the Bird as he tells them to get out.
- The Mayor and his assistant, who feel that discrediting the Ghostbusters despite them really doing a valued service for the city, is the best way to avoid panic—no matter how cruel it is to the women.
- The Graffiti Artist who vexes Patty while she works in the subway.
- Erin's boss at Columbia is very strict about EVERYTHING, even down to how she dresses. The fact her boss is Tywin Lannister only helps sell this.
- And Kevin, who is mostly dopey, has his own jerkass moments: He picks up the phone and hangs up on callers because he's "just not into that conversation" and stops to get a sandwich at the deli under the pretense of looking for the Ghostbusters during the fray. Considering the fact that he is the team's ditz (and the fact the Ghostbusters go to rescue him mainly because he just figured out how to properly answer the phone) he literally just may not know any better.
- Karma Houdini: The Ghostbusters are never punished for accidentally killing a man and deliberately releasing a dangerous ghost onto the public. In fact, said incident is never referred to again. Its implied that the mayor's office covered it up.
- Kids Are Cruel: Abby, Erin, and Rowan were all ridiculed by their fellow kids.
- Let's Get Dangerous: Erin, despite being the reasonable and somewhat mousy one, goes into full Badass mode for the final battle.
- Ley Line: Rowan is creating supernatural incidents along the ley lines crossing Manhattan to break down the dimensional barrier and unleash the apocalypse.
- Lightning Can Do Anything: The ghost-channeling devices, which are electrical in nature and explained as based around ionizing the paranormal energy.
- The Load: Kevin. He utterly fails at his job, distracts the professional Ghostbusters with his wacky antics, and ends up captured by the villain, forcing the Ghostbusters to rescue him.
- Locked into Strangeness: Abby and Erin end up with shock white hair after they've gone to the other side and come back, but they dye it back to more mundane colors soon after the final battle.
- "Mundane" for Erin being Garfield red...and that's the president, not the cat.
- Logical Weakness: The ghost who takes the shape of a Stay-Puft parade balloon is destroyed through... a Swiss Army knife.
- Loners Are Freaks: Rowan gives off this vibe, and it's even lampshaded.
- Long Title: Used to parody academic book titles. Erin and Abby's book is called Ghosts from Our Past: Both Literally and Figuratively: The Study of the Paranormal. The tie-in version published in the real world reveals that they are writing a follow-up which has a full name of A Glimpse into the Unknown: A Journey into a Portal; Catching Sight of the Other Dimension: Discovering the Undiscoverable: A Curiosity Piqued and Peaked. They're fond of colons, apparently.
- Made of Iron: The proton packs take a lot of punishment in this movie, mostly from having Ghostbusters fall onto them, but also from a deliberate attempt at sabotage. They don't seem any worse for wear. Justified, as Holtzmann built them.
- Mad Scientist: Holtzmann has shades of this, what with her casual disregard for safety and expanding arsenal of nuclear-powered ghost-busting weapons. While Rowan builds devices to summon ghosts because he believes the world needs to end. Has a big speech too.
- Magitek: A ghost-channeling machine is responsible for the hauntings this time around.
- Man Child: On top of being a ditz, Kevin is pretty childlike. He knocks off work so he can participate in a hide-and-seek tournament.
- The Man in the Mirror Talks Back: Rowan's ghostly cohorts manifest as spectres behind a number of mirrors, which break in the climax.
- The Masquerade: The NYC government and the Department Homeland Security are fully aware that the supernatural is real, and are trying to cover up the ghostly happenings to prevent mass panic. Their efforts seem to grow increasingly ineffective as ghost sightings mount.
- Medium Blending: When Rowan turns into his final form as the cute ghost from the team logo, he initially appears as a traditionally animated character. Then he starts turning massive.
- Magic Versus Science: Subverted. As the original film featured this heavily, the film initially implies that this will be the conflict. However, this time around ghosts are little more than pests to be exterminated when confronted by the power of science. They're only able to become a true threat when harnessed by a human using science, which he at least partially copied from the Ghostbusters' own technology. Effectively: Science is fighting itself, and Magic is helpless and caught in the middle.
- Mr Fan Service: While not as buff as his other roles, Chris Hemsworth's physique is quite admired by Erin. Abby complains about this when they have to drag him across the floor.
- Misanthrope Supreme: Rowan believes humanity is sick and needs to be wiped out. His Establishing Character Moment has him refer to the others on the subway platform as "walking sewage".
- Mondegreen: Patty is not saying "The power of pain compels you!" She is saying "The power of Patty compels you!"
- Mundane Utility: The Ghostbusters "uniforms" are nothing of the kind. They're just coveralls used by subway workers, with reflective tape for high visibility. Patty got them by way of apology for bringing them into the filthy subway in their civilian clothes.
- Murderous Mannequin: Mayhem is first found by the Busters possessing one.
- My Friends... and Zoidberg: Shortly after Patty joins the team:
Erin: We're all scientists! ... Plus Patty.
- My Greatest Failure: Erin considers the book she published with Abby to be this, to the point of being horrified it's on Amazon and being promoted actively by Abby since it could endanger her career as a serious scientist.
- Mythology Gag:
- Holtzmann's appearance seems to have been based off of Egon Spengler's design in The Real Ghostbusters, especially the pompadour.
- In a cross with Freeze-Frame Bonus, one Times Square ad is "That's a Big Twinkie".
- Slimer puts in an appearance, as well as a female version. And like in the second movie, he's driving.
- The final 1920s parade balloon ghosts is the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, who nearly kills three of the Ghostbusters.
- The first place the 'Busters see as a potential headquarters is the same location used in the original film (Hook & Ladder Company 8, which in real life is still in operation). Whereas in the original, it was severely dilapidated and they only chose the location because Ray liked the fire pole, in the reboot they all love it but can't afford the $21,000/month rent. They move there in the end after the Mayor decides to support them.
- Once Abby asks "Who You Gonna Call?" the television behind them starts a show named "Ghost Jumpers".
- The villain again makes a giant version of something a Ghostbuster thought would be harmless-the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man in the original movie, a monstrous Bedsheet Ghost based on the Ghostbusters logo here).
- The remaining Ghostbusters backing away once one of them mentions having a "nuclear accelerator" on their back.
- All of the Remake Cameos, as listed in their entry below.
- Erin having a meltdown at the Mayor in the middle of his fancy dinner is a call back to the scene in Ghostbusters 2 wherein Ray and Winston are desperate to convince Venkman of a serious threat while he's at a fancy dinner.
- When Erin is removed from the restaurant, she pulls on a tablecloth, with rather less success than Venkman had in the original.
- One of the stingers at the end of the movie has Patty listening to an EVP recording and suddenly asking "What's Zuul?" Zuul being one of Gozer's harbingers in the original Ghostbusters movie, best known for possessing Sigourney Weaver.
- Here's a subtle one: In the original film, Winston told the mayor, "I've seen shit that'll turn you white!" When they emerge from the portal at the end, Abby and Erin both have white hair.
- At the very end Erin attempts to go back to a variation on her natural color with Garfield hair dye. The orange cat has shared voice actors with both animated and live-action Peter Venkmans.
- When we first see Abby, she is wearing what looks like a crash-helmet covered in electronics, similar to the helmet Rick Moranis briefly wore in the original movie when Egon was studying him.
- While trying to think of a flyer slogan, Abby comes up with "If there's something strange in your neighborhood..." before being cut off.
- The ghost that chases Patty in the subway is a direct reference to the Scoleri Brothers, the first two ghosts to show up in Ghostbusters II—criminals who were sent to the electric chair.
- The haunting locales are plotted on a map to pinpoint the imminent vortex's position, similar to how the guys in Ghostbusters: The Video Game transposed the mandala over a map to find the other hauntings.
- Ghost!Rowan asks the Ghostbusters to choose his form for the final battle, as Gozer did in the first Ghostbusters.
- The earlier scene where Abby tries to talk Rowan down inverts part of that confrontation with Gozer: instead of Ray being unable to avoid thinking of something, Abby isn't able to think of anything but "soup".
- A taxi driver utters the famous "I ain't afraid of no ghosts!" line.
- An early script for the original Ghostbusters involved the characters travelling to different time periods during the battle with Gozer. In the new film, Rowan transforms parts of New York into how they looked during New York's "golden age" (apparently the 1970s) and the Ghostbusters battle various ghosts from various historical periods, including Pilgrims and a 1920s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
- Kevin does something irrelevant during the climax which he mistakenly thinks defeats the main villain, much like Louis Tully in Ghostbusters 2.
- The grenade Holtzmann designs that's "only dangerous to ghosts" is essentially the Ghost Bomb from The Real Ghostbusters episode "The Bogeyman Cometh."
- Erin started studying the supernatural because she was haunted as a child by a ghost who appeared in her room night after night — just like the animated series revealed about Egon and the Bogeyman.
- Big Bad Rowan's motivations are similar to that of Ivo Shandor, the Gozer-worshipping architect and cult-leader from the backstory of the first movie (and Big Bad of the 2009 video game). Shandor, like Rowan believed that humanity was sick and needed to be wiped out. Shandor's belief stemmed from the horrors of World War I and Rowan's come from being bullied his whole life.
- The film's opening sequence in Aldridge Manor features a portrait of Gertrude Aldridge, who murdered all of the house's servants and was locked in the basement for the rest of her life. The portrait, while not being haunted, is of a woman wearing a rather nasty scowl on her face, and seems much like Vigo the Carpathian's portrait from Ghostbusters II.
- The Ghostbusters' answering machine recording is Kevin saying "Ghostbusters, what do you want?", referencing Janine Melnitz's rather biting delivery of the line in the first film. Janine's actress, Annie Potts, even says "What do you want?" during her Remake Cameo, exactly like she did in the mentioned scene.
- Never Trust a Trailer:
- The trailers make Abby out to be the main character, when it's actually Erin who has the most character growth. Also, they present Patty as the stereotypical Loud Ghetto Black Woman, but this is toned down in favor of emphasizing her social connections and knowledge of practical matters and local history.
- When Patty gets a car for the ladies, Abby is uneasy that it's a hearse. In the trailer, Patty replies, "It's a Cadillac!", but in the movie, she doesn't say this line at all and instead makes a longer, more convincing argument to keep it.
- To a much lesser extent, the trailers and certain promo spots have the Ecto-1 make the distinctive siren sound heard in the first two movies. In the film itself, the Ecto-1 makes a more generic "police" siren sound.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Abby publishing the book gave Rowan a guidebook to unleashing the apocalypse.
- Nice to the Waiter: Rowan seems to have some sympathy towards blue collar workers, and tells Patty that being a laborer means that she'll be one of the last to be led to the butchery, so she she should be grateful for her extra time.
- Nightmare Fuel Coloring Book: Rowan's copy of Ghosts of Our Past, which he has filled with drawings of how he plans to destroy the world. It's actually genuinely unnerving.
- Non-Protagonist Resolver: Played with for laughs: Kevin thinks he's this, but his sum contribution to the climax aside from getting possessed and needing to be rescued involves pressing some buttons on a completely unrelated machine somewhere and getting a sandwich on the pretext of "looking" for the women. The Ghostbusters, needless to say, are unimpressed.
- Noodle Incident: The Mayor and Those Two Guys from Homeland Security rattle of a list of other large scale supernatural events that got covered up to enforce The Masquerade. They range from UFOs to a town where everybody got turned inside out.
- Not Distracted by the Sexy: Abby expresses surprise when Erin asks whether she finds Kevin attractive. It's implied that Kevin is just too stupid for Abby to see him that way. Patty clearly isn't interested when he starts grinding on her, and Jillian is implied to be gay.
- Not Himself: Abby behaves strangely while possessed, enough that her compatriots are suspicious but don't immediately realize what's happening.
- Not So Different: Rowan's history isn't that different from Abby or Erin's, but he's decided to destroy the world when they still fight for it.
- Novelization: One of the "junior" variety by Stacia Deutsch, and one of the more conventional kind by Nancy Holder.
- Obviously Evil: When Gertrude's ghost emerges from the cellar, she's wearing a look of absolute malevolence. It's pretty clear a hundred years of death hasn't changed her disposition one bit.
- Offscreen Teleportation: Rowan's first appearance has him appear in front of Patty's booth out of nowhere.
- Oh Crap!: Twice over the earth starts trembling around Erin and she thinks that the event triggered by Rowan is starting. The first time is just a dumpster passing near her. The second time is for real.
Erin: It's happening!
- Old Shame: In-universe, Erin regards the book on the paranormal she co-authored with Abby as this. The events triggered by Erin confronting Abby about the book resurfacing ends up costing her tenure at Columbia.
- One-Winged Angel: During the climactic showdown, Rowan takes the form of a giant mutated version of the Ghostbusters' logo.
- Our Ghosts Are Different: Of all kinds, including humanoids, a classic demon, a chittering Swarm of Rats, and parade balloons.
- The method of ghostbusting is also much freer than the originals. In the originals, the ghosts were confined with proton streams and then sucked into the trap: that was essentially the only way the boys could deal with the average ghost. Here, while the girls can still do the zap-and-trap, the ghosts can also be defeated (maybe even "killed") by the various weapons, without bothering with the trap.
- Pass the Popcorn: When Erin, Abby and Holtzmann encounter the ghost of Gertrude Aldridge, Holtzmann is happily munching on some Pringles.
- People Puppets: Rowan does this while possessing Kevin to the soldiers who show up. Happens on a large scale in the climax when the villain controls the amassed NYPD.
- Percussive Maintenance: Effective against possession.
- Pet the Dog: Rather parodied. Patty's relentless cheerfulness is wasted on the cranky and crazy subway riders. Rowan attempts to comfort her by assuring her "the laborers" will be the last to die in the coming apocalypse. Perhaps he saw her as a comrade in blue collar work; Patty just sees him as another undiagnosed nut job she has to deal with.
- Place Worse Than Death: The bear trap-like contraption seen on the trailer transports ghosts to other places. Holtzmann's not sure where the end point is, but is pretty sure it's in Michigan.
- Plausible Deniability: The mayor attempts to pull this on the Ghostbusters' activity (his cabinet is not denying what they're doing is real; they only want the public to not know it to avoid panic).
- Product Placement:
- Of the self-serving kind. There's a giant ad for Sony's Blu-ray format in Times Square. Furthermore, all the "ghost posters" that appear as Manhattan billboards (including Taxi Driver and Tommy) are movies that were produced by the film's production company, Columbia Pictures, which Sony also owns.
- One of the logos suggested by Kevin for the ghost-hunting business is just the 7-11 logo.
- They also eat Papa John's pizza in a scene reminiscent of "this magnificent feast represents the last of the petty cash."
- Jillian also eats Pringles when confronting a ghost.
- Enterprise Rent-a-car is also mentioned when Patty acquires the hearse
- Rearrange the Song: As is procedure with reboots, the theme song gets the standard rock/rap remix, in this case provided by Fall Out Boy & Missy Elliot. However, a more traditional cover was also provided by Walk The Moon.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Played with; the Mayor, his assistant and the Homeland Security agents actually are aware of the paranormal situation (in general terms, at least, since they're clearly not prepared for the specifics) and in private are willing to work with and take the Ghostbusters seriously. In public, however, they ridicule, humiliate and demean them in order to maintain The Masquerade.
- Remake Cameo: All of the original cast but the late Harold Ramis (whose likeness is still featured in a bust; the movie is also dedicated to him) and the retired/reclusive Rick Moranis. In order of appearance:
- Harold Ramis appears as a bust just outside Erin's office at Columbia University, and his son Daniel plays one of the metal fans.
- Bill Murray appears as the supernatural debunker who helps cast doubt on the women's scientific activities.
- Annie Potts is a manager of the hotel where Rowan works and directs the Ghostbusters where to find him. She even tosses out her signature "Whaddaya want?" line from the first movie.
- Dan Aykroyd is a Genre Savvy cabbie who refuses to take Erin into Chinatown—"I don't drive to Chinatown, I don't drive no wackos, and I ain't afraid of no ghost".
- Ernie Hudson is Patty's uncle who owns the funeral home, and who loaned them the hearse that Jillian tricked out and was eventually lost in the final battle.
- Sigourney Weaver appears as a very strait-laced woman introduced by Jillian as her mentor. It turns out that's where Jillian got her Mad Scientist tendencies.
- Reverse Polarity: Just like the original, it's solved by applying this to the source of paranormal activity. Only this time it means that instead of releasing ghosts, it sucks them like the Ghostbusters' traps.
- Right-Hand Hottie: Kevin, who Erin hires because she fancies him rather than because he's qualified.
- Roger Rabbit Effect: Rowan's go at becoming a "cute, tiny" ghost at Patty's request turns him into a traditionally animated and very adorable version of the ghost from the Ghostbusters' logo.
- Rule of Cool: Justified by Holtzman. A lot of their weapons are badass, but others don't seem to have any particular advantage over weapons they already had other than aesthetics. It seems that Holzman just likes building them.
- Running Gag:
- Sassy Black Woman: Patty's role as an MTA worker turned Ghostbuster appears to be this in the trailers, but it's downplayed in the film: she's not appreciably more acerbic than the other Ghostbusters (she is, in fact, quite warm and friendly), and her practical knowledge of the city and its history, as well as her social connections, turn out to be the important part of her character in the film.
- Screams Like a Little Girl: The theater manager.
- Secret Handshake: Abby and Jillian have a pretty elaborate one. (More as a celebratory ritual than one for greeting)
- Sequel Hook: One of the stingers has Patty listening to an EVP recording and suddenly asking "What's Zuul?"
- Shadow Archetype: Rowan is this to the Ghostbusters, being a scientist who has been ridiculed for years for his beliefs. But while they've soldiered on and made the best of things, he's determined to destroy the world as revenge.
- Shout-Out:
- Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Trailer: Rowan, the main antagonist in the film, is almost completely absent from the marketing, aside from showing up as the giant logo ghost. He makes a very brief appearance at the end of the second trailer.
- Skyscraper Messages: One of the multiple inter-credits Stingers. After Holtzmann has a reunion with her mentor, Patty calls the team to the roof. From the top of the firehouse, they can see that buildings all across New York have had their windows lit up strategically to spell out messages of love and thanks to the Ghostbusters.
- Spanner in the Works: Rowan's scheme might have succeeded without a hitch if he hadn't talked to Patty, who then followed him, saw his device and the ghost it summoned, and caused her to go to the Ghostbusters, leading them back to him.
- Spit Take: Played with. When Abby asks Kevin if he remembered to put sugar in her coffee, he checks by tasting it and immediately spitting it out because he hates coffee.
- Stealing from the Till: When Abby and Holtzman are fired from their third-rate technical college, they immediately loot their lab's equipment and walk off with as much of it as they can pile on a cart.
- Stealth Pun: When Bill Murray's character is interviewed, he's referred to as a "notorious buster".
- Stealth Sequel: Actually inverted, in spite of what a lot of the marketing would try to tell you; while the movie is being advertised as a sequel, it's really just a reboot.
- The Stinger: The Ghostbusters are in their lab working while Patty is listening to a recording. She turns to ask Erin, "What's Zuul?"
- Storyboarding the Apocalypse: Rowan literally storyboards the apocalypse, drawing step-by-step illustrations of his plan to destroy the world in his copy of the ghost book.
- Sure, Let's Go with That: The group has an official sounding name, and keep trying to insist on it, but after everyone starts calling them "Ghostbusters", they just roll with it.
- Take That:
- The comments section to the ghost YouTube videos the characters upload is not too different from what the movie's own trailers received.
- The mayor's assistant quickly advises the 'Busters that they're going to be "fake arrested" to uphold the whole "Ghostbusters are a sad fraud mugging for attention" narrative the Mayor wants pushed. The DHS guys twist the women's arms behind their backs and say "Stop Resisting" even though Abby and Erin are going along quietly.
- Taking You with Me: The giant Rowan grabs Abby as he's being sucked through the portal. This prompts Erin to go to her rescue.
- Team Pet: Kevin fills this role for the Ghostbusters, as he is still employed by the end of the movie, and the team is somewhat protective of him. He also has the intelligence level one might expect from a pet.
- Tertiary Sexual Characteristics: The female Slimer looks exactly like the male except with lipstick and hair.
- Title Drop: Aside from the team taking on the name "Ghostbusters," Patty's uncle drops the film's early production codename ("Flapjack").
- Token Minority: Patty is the only black person on the main cast.
- Trailers Always Spoil: Rowan possessing Kevin, which happens late in the movie, is shown prominently in several trailers.
- True Companions: The Ghostbusters become this by the end of the movie. As they celebrate their victory, Jillian delivers a truly heartwarming toast, calling Erin, Abby and Patty her family.
- Understatement: It is stated during the confrontation with the Big Bad that, once the portal to the Other Side is opened, the dead will return to 'pester' the living. Erin points out that this doesn't sound so bad. The Big Bad clarifies that this 'pestering' will take the form of torture, death and carnage. The Ghostbusters then remark that 'pester' is a poor choice of words for what he's describing, and 'apocalypse' would probably be a more fitting one.
- Unexplained Recovery: The Aldridge Mansion tour guide gets himself trapped in a cellar, hanging from a collapsed staircase, above a slowly rising pool of slime, with a vengeful ghost who, in life, killed several people. The door is locked and, as he was the only person inside the building, there is no hope of rescue. Yet when he's next seen, he's completely unhurt, having only ruined his trousers.
- Video Credits: Akin to the second movie, the main actors are accompanied by pictures of them alongside the credits.
- Walking Spoiler: Rowan was omitted from trailers likely because of his importance as the Big Bad.
- Watch the Paint Job: Ecto-1, which Patty first complains about receiving a paint job, and then when it's hijacked by Slimer in the climax, leading to its role in the final battle.
- Weirdness Magnet: The ghost-channeling devices are literal Weirdness Electromagnets, placed on locations with paranormal-heavy properties.
- We Used to Be Friends: Erin and Abby are at this point as the story begins. Erin only looks up Abby to berate her for promoting their flopped and ridiculed book. The university catching wind of it would be damaging to Erin's non-tenured position. Abby, who has not forsaken the supernatural for tenure as Erin has, parlays that request into getting into the Aldridge mansion, and proving the existence of ghosts. By the end of the film, they're friends again with Erin apologizing for having abandoned Abby.
- We Want Our Jerk Back: Despite openly admitting to his many faults, the Ghostbusters still demand that Rowan release Kevin.
- Wham Line: The last line of The Stinger is Patty asking "What's Zuul?"
- What a Piece of Junk: 2/3 of the Ghostbusters think the vehicle Patty got for the Ecto-1 is this. The exception is Holtzmann (because there might be a dead body in it, and how useful are those?!).
- A Wild Rapper Appears: Inverted on the film's version of the "Ghostbusters" theme by Fall Out Boy and Missy Elliott, as Missy does almost all the vocals and Patrick Stump just sings a few lines in the choruses.
- Who's on First?: Kevin's dog is named "Mike Hat"; the ladies think he's talking about "my cat".
- Women Are Wiser: While the main characters are all scientists and/or knowledgeable in history, every single male character is either a coward, an asshole, or stupid.
- Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Rowan, being a intelligent person who's been bullied and demeaned all his life, thus decides to unleash a tidal wave of ghostly fury upon the world. If his dialogue can be believed, a lot of his ghostly allies count as well.
- The World Is Not Ready: Why the mayor and government are trying to cover up the NYC events, and apparently previous ones as well.
- World-Healing Wave: The Ghostbusters final gambit to save the day results in the portal opened by Rowan sucking all ghosts, including him, back to the other side—and restoring the city back to rights for the most part.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: In the real world where there is no scientific evidence for ghosts, Martin Heiss would have been completely correct to be skeptical of the Ghostbusters. But in the film's universe, his demanding the team show him a ghost leads to him getting knocked out a window to his death.
- You Can't Thwart Stage One: Subverted; the Ghostbusters actually manage to catch Rowan before he finishes his apocalyptic machine, and he electrocutes himself to avoid capture. Then double-subverted, as this was all part of his plan, including the suicide.
- Your Mom: During their initial confrontation, Abby makes a crack about Erin's mom before sheepishly walking it back by admitting that she always actually liked Erin's mom.
