Ranking the Ghostbusters Orginal Star Cameos
Monday, July 18, 2016 at 1:15PM 
Murtada here. It’s been a full 3 days since Ghostbusters has been released and the chatter about it continues. The reviews, including Nathaniel’s, are respectable but not euphoric. Same with the the box office. It could’ve been much worse. The Ghostbros still won’t shut up, so let’s rank how their so called childhood heroes, did this time around.
Ghostbusters tried to blend nostalgia with a new story and characters, the same way that Star Wars did successfully last year with The Force Awakens. While I liked the movie and thought it was the best blockbuster released this lackluster summer season, I would say that its nostalgia blend was not successful. All of the original cast - except for Rick Moranis and Harold Ramis - came back for at least one scene each. But most of the cameos were extraneous to the plot and could’ve easily been cut. The actors’ commitment also left a lot to be desired.
Let the ranking begin!
SPOILERS ahead, proceed with caution...
5. Dan Aykroyd
Character: a taxi driver Kristen Wiig tries to convince taking her to get her ghostbusting gear, just as the mayhem in the finale is starting.
Integral / Tangential to plot: Tangential.
Did Aykroyd forget how to act? There was no conviction to his line delivery. He seemed to want to be anywhere but on that set. Wiig is trying hard to make the scene funny, give her something, Dan.
4. Ernie Hudson
Character : Leslie Jones’ Patty’s uncle who owns the hearse the ghostbusters use for transportation.
Integral / Tangential to plot: Tangential
Hudson’s character gets talked about a lot during the movie, building up his appearance. However it happens at the very end when all’s said and done. And does he even speak? It’s such a fleeting moment that could’ve been funny if it happened earlier and the joke was more than just his appearance.
3. Bill Murray
Character : A debunker of myths who doesn’t believe in the ghostbusters.
Integral / Tangential to plot: Integral.
Murray is the only original star to interact with all four new ghostbusters and the only one who gets two scenes. He serves his usual deadpan style in a callback to his original performance. However he’s a bit non committal, as if he was already done with this franchise! Wiig saves his second scene with her refusal to be anything less than completely gung ho about landing the jokes.
2. Sigourney Weaver
Character : Kate Mckinnon’s Holtzman scientist mentor.
Integral / Tangential to plot: Tangential
The original scene stealer gets to play with this version's scene stealer. Weaver seems to enjoy plaing off McKinnon. Her wonder, and slight fear, at what Holtzman has built is a joy to behold. Alas, like Hudson, she appears far too late to have a real impact.
1. Annie Potts
Character : a hotel concierge who just doesn't care.
Integral / Tangential to plot: Somewhat Integral.
Potts provides the best characterization. Her character works with the main villain, and in just a few lines she tells us their whole exasperated history. It’s the best and funniest cameo because it tells a complete story in one joke. The writing obviously helped but it’s Potts’ that shines through brightest.
Which of these cameos did you enjoy the most?
Reader Comments (7)
Potts and Weaver both got applause in the theater I was at. The men... not so much. It was the Lincoln Center AMC, though, so it's not surprising that actressexuals were in attendance.
I have to say that the cameo I enjoyed the most was Weaver... Maybe because of her chemistry with McKinnon, maybe because of the surprise long after I'd resigned myself to the fact she wouldn't appear or maybe just because she is Sigourney Weaver! She looked great and was funny. I miss her!
Blink and you miss it, but there is a bronze bust of Harold Ramis in a doorway.
totally agree with your top two (Weaver's appearance also got a great reaction from the BFI IMAX crowd in London!), but I would put Bill Murray last. He had 2 scenes and not a single actual joke or loopy line reading in his entire screen time. Plus I think his 'arc' cried out for a final button line after he is thrown out the window.
If this turns into a series, which I'd give Potts a cameo in each one playing a sassy, yet frustrated haunting 'victim' - her voice alone makes me smile
Sigourney Weaver needs to be in every movie!!!
The best cameo is without a doubt, Potts with Weaver not too far behind. Murray looked like he wanted to take the money and run which is a shame given that this is the franchise that helped make him a star and to phone his role in like that, to me, is just really crummy.
Murray's clameo made me wish for the kind of easy chemistry and bonhomie he displayed in that magical duet/dance scene with Emma Stone in Aloha. (My God, am I really praising *that* movie?) Weaver and Potts for the win, no question. Hell, I'd love for Weaver to join as a full-fledged Ghostbuster in the allegedly forthcoming sequel!