New 'Ghostbusters' debate continues with release of teaser trailer

Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, Kristen Wiig and Leslie Jones

The first trailer for the new all-female Ghostbusters is out on the Interwebs, and needless to say my friend and colleague from Too Fat 4 Skinny Jeans, Brian Wezowicz, and I were both a little bit more underwhelmed by what we saw than much of the general populace.

The original Ghostbusters ranks as an all-time favorite for both us (I even passionately defend part II) and we grew up on The Real Ghostbusters cartoon inspired by it, so we have a lot of skin int his game.

Back in January of 2015, the two of us debated the merits of this reboot. My attitude was and always has been that this film was inevitable -- the franchise remains one of Sony's most valuable properties -- and that this version of the story was the freshest one we could hope for. Brian was decidedly more pessimistic. Here are our first takes on the teaser:

BRIAN: I think we need to revisit our debate from last year now that the new trailer for Ghostbusters is out. I went in to watching this with an open mind and I was... underwhelmed to say the least. To me, this movie feels more remake than re-boot. From the opening library scene to some of the other gags, this trailer does not feel at all fresh.

Another thing I didn't like about it is that all 4 actors (whom I really like!) feel like they are just playing the same old characters from every other movie (or TV show) we've seen them in. Kristin Wiig is playing Kristin Wiig. Melissa McCarthy is playing Melissa McCarthy and so forth.

I don't know about you, but my worst fears were realized with this trailer. It's going to take an amazing second trailer to make me at least somewhat interested in seeing this.

Where do you stand?

ADAM: Yeah, I hear you, and I am not going to pretend that I thought it looked amazing. But I would say a couple things in counterpoint. Paul Feig wisely keeps some of his best gags and jokes out of his trailers. Case in point, Spy was far funnier than its early trailers suggested. The early trailers for that film focused on physical gags and left a lot of the great verbal surprises for the movie. For instance, the new Ghostbusters is supposed to feature cameos from all the living original stars, but of course I wouldn't want that spoiled so soon.

I do like the reverence that the movie seems to be showing for the originals from the setting to the car etc. My hope is that it's more like The Force Awakens, where there are nods to and homages to earlier films (I really loved the graffiti Ghostbusters symbol in the subway) but nothing that is a straight rip off. I think a lot of people are going to be predisposed to hate this movie and they will probably never be won over.

It definitely doesn't look like a classic to me but I wouldn't go so far as to say as my "worst fears" are getting realized. It wasn't exactly raucously funny, although I do like the cast a lot. I think the one thing that actually gives me some pause is the emphasis on special effects, which was never the selling point (at least for me) of this series. I just hope that the comedy doesn't get drowned in a sea of CGI.

BRIAN: Haha, maybe I went a little overboard with the "worst fears" comment. I'll save that comment for President Trump.

I think my favorite part of the trailer was the "30 years ago, a group of scientists..." title card at the beginning. It seemed, for a brief moment, that there would be some tie-in to the original movie. But then the very next scene was a remake of the library scene from the open of the original movie. There's just not enough fresh ideas in this trailer to get me excited for it.

Maybe it's just me, but it seems like Wiig and McCarthy are just going through the motions in this movie. I'm sure there will be some really funny parts in it that will never be put in a trailer. I agree with your Spy statement, because I was totally put-off by those trailers as well, and I ended up loving it.

I get it that a first trailer is very hard to do (especially when remaking an iconic movie). You have to introduce everyone and give a brief synopsis of what the movie will be about... so I'm not completely writing this one off just yet. I am very much on the "not gonna see it" side of the fence, but I haven't closed the door completely on it. We will see if future trailers can get me on board.

ADAM: I think you have a desire to see this film be an extension of the originals -- but I think that's just not possible considering how long its been since those movies came out -- and how small the involvement of the original actors appears to be.

This film doesn't appear to be interested in playing in that universe, I could be wrong though.

I think it's just way too premature to start critiquing performances and declaring that they are going through the motions after one pretty brief trailer. I personally am not looking to see any of them reinvent their comedic personas with this film (Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd didn't really do that in the original Ghostbusters films either). I just don't think it's fair to condemn this movie yet or call the trailer terrible or not worthy of seeing.

Where I do agree with you -- I think -- is that this didn't feel incredibly fresh or exciting. The opening set a good kind of ominous mood but then nothing that followed really surprised me too much. I think for me whether I see this or not will hinge upon the reviews. It will likely be a giant hit, but unless they really do something to advance if not improve upon the formula (like Mad Max Fury Road) it will amount to little more than a well-intentioned money grab.