Missy Elliott Barely Saves Fall Out Boy's 'Ghostbusters' Theme From Total Disaster

As she's proved time and time again, Missy Elliott is a miracle worker. But sometimes not even her punchy, onomatopoetic flows aren't enough to redeem a hopeless track. Case in point: the new Ghostbusters theme song by Fall Out Boy.

The problem? Pete Wentz's emo band with arena rock aspirations scrubbed the song of nearly everything that made it endearing the first time around. 

The original's triumphant campiness is exchanged for rap-rock grandeur, but it comes off as way more hollow than epic. The iconic synth melody is hidden, shoehorned in with guitar stabs at the song's end. It toys with today's hip-as-heck chopped vocal sample trend, but in a way that only inspires a hard sigh.

Missy Elliott's verse is just about the only thing that actually captures the cheekiness of Ray Parker Jr.'s original. And she still manages to add her own shine: "I ain't afraid, so let's get to it/ Smoke these ghosts like Backwoods."

The last thing this film needed was a lackluster theme song. It's already got enough problems connecting with audiences. Hopefully, when the time comes, the film itself channels way more Elliott than FOB. Leave that Jock Jam aesthetic and everything reminiscent of it on the cutting room floor.

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