Ghostbusters

This could have been just another reboot of an old Hollywood property like we’ve seen a million times (and as it turns out, a pretty good one). Instead, it’s awash in a nasty sort of anti-hype after being attacked at every step of its production and marketing, by coordinated online misogyny for recasting the leads as female, or by nominal adults who contend that remaking Ghostbusters with any new players besmirches a beloved piece of their childhood (which really just seems like a sad attempt to legitimize said misogyny).

This sad turn of events is subtly acknowledged by the film itself, with a few barbs in the screenplay whose real targets are quite obvious. Also, Neil Casey’s bad guy in some ways embodies the type of socially inept, woman-hating troll with delusions of sophistication and superiority, not unlike the hordes of forum-dwellers who decided they hated this picture as soon as they heard about it. It does not dwell on the subject, though, and instead bests its haters the right way by being a well-made, well-acted, frequently hilarious movie.

It’s a clean reboot this time, with no narrative connections to the first two films (though references and cameos abound). In it, Kristen Wiig plays a scientist who loses her prestigious professorship at Columbia after a book on the paranormal she co-authored years earlier resurfaces. Coincidently, while confronting her estranged collaborator (Melissa McCarthy) about the matter, an occult-obsessed loner (Casey) begins summoning spirits around Manhattan. So, the two scientists, along with an eccentric inventor (Kate McKinnon) and a subway worker (Leslie Jones) with an encyclopedic knowledge of the city’s paranormal history, begin a small operation hunting apparitions run amok.

Even with its high concept and (for the time) impressive special effects, the original Ghostbusters was more understated than people seem to remember. Much of the fun and charm was in simply watching some of the best comedy actors at the high point of their careers interact with each other in situations both normal and fantastical. This new version carries on this tradition, with most of the laughs coming from the four superbly funny leads playing off one another. And they’re not simply gender-swapped versions of the original four. Each character is funny in ways different from their 1984 counterpart, and their interactions are funny in different ways. Despite hitting some of the same plot beats, each set piece is also new and original, never a retread and always funny. And Chris Hemsworth is completely hysterical as their indescribably dimwitted male secretary.

If there’s one thing the original did decidedly better, it’s that it kept a leash on the special effects, using them in funny ways but never overusing them. This one goes a little crazy with them in the final act. One might call it a spoof of overblown, CGI-cluttered action sequences, but it plays a little too straight to cut it as good parody. Fortunately, though, the jokes and banter make it to the other side of the mayhem, and things get back on track quickly with some truly great one-liners in a film full of them.

This Ghostbusters is how a reboot should be done, taking a familiar premise and doing its own new things with it. The result is not only something that doesn’t feel immediately stale, but one of the most fun pieces of entertainment in a summer that’s so far been pretty underwhelming. And yeah, I’ll admit it: after all the unwarranted hate this one got, it feels good to say that.