The new 'Ghostbusters' is fun, and that's probably all that matters

I saw the new Ghostbusters film and you know what? The sky isn't falling. It's a funny movie. It doesn't threaten to eclipse the original, I don't even think it necessarily surpasses the second one, but for a lot of younger audiences who may not even have seen the first film, it'll do just fine.

It's overlong, doesn't have enough character development and gets too bogged down in CGI nonsense (especially in the somewhat unimaginative finale). But I have to admit I enjoyed it, not even begrudgingly. The new Ghostbusters have great chemistry and the movie does generate some of the same feel-good silly vibes of the classic version, although, sure, it does feel a little more forced.

To be clear, right off the bat, this is more of a remake than a reboot. I didn't agree with all those naysayers who tried to suggest that The Force Awakens was just a carbon copy of A New Hope, but they'd have a point with this one.

In some cases, full concepts and scenes from the original are recreated with mild alterations. And while I appreciated the attempt to pay homage to fans of the '84 and '89 iterations, there were times where it was more distracting than delightful.

I would have preferred it -- probably -- if this film had existed in the same universe as those movies, but it's a minor quibble. That would have had its imperfections too. And while some of the cameos from original cast members work better than others (Bill Murray's is oddly serious), this movie in no way hurts the legacy of what came before. In fact, some could argue it's reverent to a fault.

It's sort of a fascinating, self-defensive kind of movie. There are some very sly digs at the movie's small but vocal chorus of mostly male haters, and there are more deliberate hero shots in this one than you'd ever see in the Ivan Reitman-directed editions. But the New York City (technically Brooklyn) crowd I watched it with, loved it, especially the women -- and that made me really happy.

At the end of the day, perhaps Ghostbusters is slightly transitive -- like James Bond -- in the sense that every generation could in theory have their definitive version. For instance, on a certain level I don't feel like this Ghostbusters was necessarily intended for me. It definitely skews younger and the comic rhythms are much less naturalistic, as is the style these days.

Kate McKinnon -- whose loosey-goosey, at times Jim Carrey-esque performance, will either be the standout or the most polarizing aspect of the movie depending on the audience -- seems to embody the different aim of this version the most, although all four female leads are very funny and play very well off each other.

McKinnon sort of incorporates aspects of the Murray, Aykroyd and Ramis characters from the originals into an unpredictable stew. Kristen Wiig does wonders with the uptight straight-woman role, Melissa McCarthy gets to do some of her patented physical humor and Leslie Jones probably surprised me the most by softening her delivery a little bit and playing something more than a one-note role.

Chris Hemsworth is also inspired in a ridiculous performance as an insanely stupid hunk the women hire to be their receptionist. Some of the best oddball humor of the script revolves around his character.

All in all, I wouldn't say this movie touches Bridesmaids or Spy for sheer hilarity but its head and shoulders above director Paul Feig's overrated The Heat. It is a light, breezy summer comedy that will make you smile and probably little else.

The thing is, even Ghostbusters II was essentially a less terrific remake of the first movie. This too doesn't need to exist for any reason other than to make money through merchandizing (and the product placement in this movie is not subtle). The criticism that there is nothing particularly fresh about it is fair, but is there anything fresh to say about something that was already done to perfection 32 years ago?

But as I have long argued, this was inevitable because of commerce, and if it had to happen this is probably the most interesting iteration we were ever going to get. And now that I've seen it, I feel like my predictions have come true. It's good, not great, but it's a light comedy remake so as far as I'm concerned it doesn't need to be a game-changer.