It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that the first trailer for the new Ghostbusters was met with disappointment over its lackluster jokes and legitimate critiques about the way in which Leslie Jones, the film’s only major black star, is integrated into the plot. The new trailer has arrived, and it clearly seeks to course correct where its predecessor went wrong—and while it’s still not a totally LOL-worthy sneak peek, it definitely makes a case for this reboot’s chances at being a pretty good action flick.
Here, the trailer completely does away with the character origin stories and dives right into our four leads being the Ghostbusters. According to Kristen Wiig’s voice-over narration, “somebody is creating a device that amplifies paranormal activity,” and so we get tons of shots of Wiig, Jones, Melissa McCarthy, and Kate McKinnon facing off against some colorful ghosts while decked out in their signature gear. There are pratfalls along the way of course, and the stars—including Chris Hemsworth, who gets a couple of lines this time around as their bumbling assistant—are clearly giving it their all. And there’s even a nod to the racial and gender politics that have thus far surrounded the conversation around the reboot via a Jones joke.
Overall, this makes the upcoming film look a lot more fun than it did before and should restore some of the faith once lost. We’ll have to wait and see if director Paul Feig is able to pull together an action-comedy that stands firmly on its own, but at the very least, we’ll be in for what looks like a good time.
