Ghostbusters

The only legitimate criticism of starring four women is that the only non-scientist was black.

As I watched the highly entertaining Ghostbusters, I was reminded of the old song by Cindy Lauper, Girls Just Want To Have Fun. Director Paul Feig brings us a quartet of women who clearly enjoyed their raucous performances.

If you were worried that this film would be some type of tawdry remake of the original movie, set those concerns aside. This is a completely fresh take, and the interaction of our four heroines as they energetically pursued ghosts was fun to watch. On top of that, the script by Katie Dippold and Paul Feig had a pissy, sarcastic edge that added to the film’s strength.

Sure, there were some cameos from Bill Murray, Sigourney Weaver and Dan Aykroyd among others, but the film belongs to Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon. While all four play characters filled with equal parts of intelligence and wit, I must say that Ms. McKinnon dominates in her performance as Jillian Holtzman, a scientist dedicated to her inventions designed to capture ghosts. She is a bundle of fury under a mop of blonde hair that reminded me of a female Christopher Lloyd from Back to the Future (1985).

I must also say that the girls have a great deal of fun with Chris Hemsworth, playing Kevin, their boy-toy receptionist. Hemsworth might have been a functional idiot, but he was an extraordinarily handsome one, and you will always remember Ms. Wiig’s first question in his initial interview, “Are you dating anyone?”

Though the special effects became a bit repetitive, it really didn’t hurt the film. Mr. Feig again found a way to use the talents of Melissa McCarthy in the same fashion as displayed in previous films as Bridesmaids (2011) and Spy (2015).

I’ve always felt that a good movie is defined by whether it is enjoyable. It doesn’t have to be great, only good. Ghostbusters is good. You may know who is going to win but enjoy the ride.