Gloobey

For the record, not being a gear head, I had little to no interest at all in the first four or so Fast & Furious movies. No, I came to them around movie five and up until now the seventh instalment had been easily the best. Very, very dumb but oh so very enjoyable. I had wondered, though, how they could possibly outdo the over-the-top nonsense we were fed in part seven. How could they possibly walk the line between dumb and just plain stupid? Could they go even more bonkers and still just about - but only just about! - have us willingly suspend our disbelief long enough to be able to enjoy the damn thing? Was that even possible...?

Well, now we know. The answer is sadly no.

I really did want to engage with this movie in a meaningful way, IMAX 3D and all. But it was just too dumb. From a shower of driver-less cars to pushing torpedoes away with your bare hands to...oh, I don't know what else. No matter how dumb a movie is, there has to be something we can believe in, right? Well, not this time out. No spoilers here, see it for yourself - yes, really - but don't say you weren't warned...

Never - probably! - in the history of cinema has such a concerted campaign been undertaken by so many people who have obviously not seen the film to discredit a movie. Well, I may be wrong about that, there may be a historical precedent that I am unaware of, but I'm sure you get what I mean. Now, quite why so many would have you believe this movie stinks, I really can't say. It doesn't matter anyway, because this movie very definitely doesn't stink.

Is it as good as the 1984 original? No, and nothing could ever be that good again. Is it as good as 1989's follow up? Possibly. It may even be better, that was a largely soulless affair. What you can say about Ghostbusters 2016 is that it has heart. A lot of heart. And it's funny. Very funny. All of the principals are great, with Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy excellent and kudos in particular to Kate McKinnon who, being a Brit living in Tokyo, I had never seen on SNL. Chris Hemsworth was also entertaining, playing very much against type.

I am aware that the movie mafia is suspicious of any good reviews being posted for this movie. Well, screw them all. Use your own brains and not theirs. See this movie, you won't be sorry that you did.

Being as I was a part of the London metal community in the seventies and eighties, a Hawkwind fan in my youth (saw them a few times in '72 and '73) and a Motorhead fan right from the beginning (I managed to catch their first few live shows in 1975 or whenever), I was, I guess, right at the front of this movie's core audience. Not even I, though, could have hoped for a more complete and more satisfying experience as the movie turned out to be!

Having had the privilege of spending time with the great man himself on a number of joyous occasions, I can happily report to any interested parties that 'Lemmy' is as honest a portrayal of the man as you could possibly hope for. He is exactly as this movie shows him to be, and that alone is enough reason for anybody - metal head or not! - to make the effort to see it. There is - and there will only ever be! - one Lemmy. Thank god (or maybe the other fella..?) that somebody had the balls to make this movie so that we may all cherish it in the years to come.