We’ve reached our final Ghostbusters villain for the month and alas we are going out on a whimper. I’m sorry but the 2016 reboot is bad, I wanted to come in here and say it’s not as bad as the hate mob thinks. But no, it’s just not good. You know what the original movie has, that this doesn’t have heart. It just feels so corporate, it lacks soul. This is a reboot meant to keep the IP known in the public eye. Say what you will about legacy sequels and how they play on nostalgia, at least they feel like Ghostbusters movies. I’m not saying this is bad but good Ghostbusters movies can balance the horror and comedy. This one leans too much into the comedy aspect. Yes, I know most people view these movies as comedies and they technically aren’t wrong but the movies in the original timeline can have frightening moments.
This movie treats the ghosts like jokes and the team as the serious scientists which is a fine take but the thing that made the original team work is the comedy came from them being blue collared people (yeah, they have degrees) going up against the supernatural. This imo is encapsulated by looking at the gadgets. The original gadgets have a homemade look to them that look dangerous. The reboot gadgets look too polished.
First Appearance/Personality
So, we have something interesting here with Rowan. A human villain, well at least until he purposefully kills himself. We first seem in the subway that Patty works at and well this is where we get the idea of the type of person he is. And that’s why I’m grouping these categories together. He’s very jaded and cynical believing himself to be smarter than everyone else and thinks the world hates him.
What we have here is a villain that is meant to mirror the Ghostbusters mainly Abby and Erin. We even see this in how he uses their old book about ghosts to map out his plan. He is basically an anti-Ghostbuster. Where the Ghostbusters capture ghosts in hopes of helping the world be a safer and better place. Rowan wishes unleash ghosts amongst the world that he believes hates him. It’s an interesting idea but imo I think it’s poorly executed. This also ties into something else I’ve discussed when looking at every other Ghostbusters villain this month, they work best imo when the villains have a serious attitude that contrast the comedy that comes from the team. Here we have a comedic villain going up against comedic heroes, I’m not saying it can’t work but with the way Rowan is treated in the movie, he never feels like a threat.
Grand Desire
Rowan is driven by revenge. Again, he believes he is better than humanity and that they are beneath him. There is a dramatic irony in him being a custodial worker as that is a job that is often looked down upon as being lesser. This is why he uses the ghosts he has trapped as a way to gain his revenge. He doesn’t care about their well being and doesn’t view them as anything more than a means to an end. Yes, he is a lowly put upon person but in many respects, he did this to himself.
Most Evil Deed
This is gonna sound weird and perhaps a bit morbid but his most evil deed is him taking his life. No, I’m not saying suicide is a selfish act as someone who has considered those options. But Rowan killed himself both so he wouldn’t have to face justice for his actions and also by becoming a ghost, he’s more powerful than he was alive.
Demise
Ugh, just ugh. So by the time of Rowan’s demise he had unleashed a plethora of ghosts into New York City. Patty trying to be clever asks him to turn into a small and cute ghost. He takes the form of the No Ghosts Logo Ghost. Le sigh, I feel like this was meant to reference how this ghost was seen in the intro for the cartoon. It’s just pandering and it’s so annoying.
The movie is trying to make this ghost, their version of Stay Puft but again, it’s just so eye roll worthy.
The team traps him in a giant sink hole after yes crossing the streams shooting him in his crotch area as he falls down into the sink hole. Sure, whatever.
Is Rowan A Good Villain?
Ha ha ha, no! Of all the villains I’ve looked at this month from this franchise, he’s the worst. There is nothing interesting about him at all. He could’ve been a good loser but he’s such a lame loser who’s so insistent the world hates him but he’s not sympathetic and he is a very hateable person. Not in the fun to hate kinda way either but he acts like the world owes him because of how smart he is. There is absolutely nothing remotely redeemable about him as a villain and I don’t mean as him being pure evil but rather, there’s nothing there with him as a character.
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