Ghostbusters review round-up: 'Girls rule, women are funny, get over it'

There was no ignoring the elephant in the room.

Whether a dedicated fan of the 1984 original or not, the world awaited Paul Feig's rebooted Ghostbusters with bated breath. Could it live up to the classic chemistry between Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, & co.? And, more pressingly, would it be funny enough to shut down the internet trolls? Would Hollywood finally see the light and agree women are equally as hilarious as their male counterparts?

Whatever status as progressive litmus test Feig's movie unwittingly attained; the reviews are now in, and it's passed with flying colours. Though critics largely agree it doesn't quite stand up to the original's verve and charm, it seems 2016's Ghostbusters has come out as one of the summer's most thoroughly entertaining blockbusters.

Here's what the critics though:

The Independent - Clarisse Loughrey - 4/5

1984’s Ghostbusters reigned on the infectious spirit of boys-at-play. Their heroism was all about swaggering bravado, impressing girls, landing ghostly blowjobs, and calling each other dickless. 2016’s Ghostbusters reigns on the infectious spirit of girls-at-play in that same unburdened environment; whether cracking fart jokes (women do that sometimes) or ogling at the total hunk in the room (women also do that sometimes, too).

The Telegraph - Robbie Collin - 4/5

Disappointing as it might be for the film’s detractors to hear, what’s going on here is more or less exactly what went on when Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis brainstormed the original during a three-week writing binge. The 2016 vintage of Ghostbusters speaks to its time with the same withering comic accuracy and hot-air-balloon-sized sense of fun as the 1984 original.

Empire - Jonathan Pile - 3/5

The film works for the most part, and even though the laughs notably dry up as the CGI spectacular kicks into gear, its feelgood vibes will most likely have already won you over.

Digital Spy - Rosie Fletcher - 4/5

Wiig and McCarthy bring heart, and Jones is charismatic and capable. But in terms of action it's all about Kate McKinnon – hilarious, unpredictable, cool as f**k with a proton pack and the inventor of an armoury of new toys including the ghost glove (which basically allows you to punch ghosts) and the 'ghost chipper'. She's a revelation.

The Daily Beast - Jen Yamato

Unfortunately, Ghostbusters also comes saddled with the trappings of 21st-century studio filmmaking: lulls in pacing, kiddie-safe comedy, choppy editing, and the general sense that a sharper, ballsier version exists in an alternate Hollywood universe. Nevertheless, with a crackling sense of purpose and a surplus of reverence for their predecessors, new Ghostbusters Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, and Saturday Night Live standouts Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones plant their own flag on a beloved sci-fi comedy franchise.

Entertainment Weekly - Chris Nashawaty - C+

With a cast as daring and quick as this one, Ghostbusters is too mild and plays it too safe. Somewhere, I bet, there’s an R-rated director’s cut of the movie where these women really let it rip. I want to see that movie.

The Guardian - Nigel M Smith - 4/5

Most crucially, the mean-spirited reception to the film before anyone had seen it does not seem to have put a dampener on the movie itself. Fun oozes from almost every frame; likewise the energy of a team excited to be revolutionising the blockbuster landscape.

Variety - Peter Debrudge

While both funnier and scarier than Ivan Reitman’s 1984 original, this otherwise over-familiar remake from Bridesmaids director Paul Feig doesn’t do nearly enough to innovate on what has come before, even going so far as to conjure most of the earlier film’s cast (including Slimer and the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man) in cameos that undercut the new film’s chemistry.

New York Times - Manohla Dargis

No one performance dominates the new Ghostbusters, which is for the most part democratically comic (a Paul Feig signature), although Kate McKinnon’s magnificent, eccentric turn comes close. She plays Holtzmann, the in-house mad-hatter who whips up the ghost-busting hardware (proton packs included) with a crazy leer and page after script page of playful-sounding gobbledygook. Ms. McKinnon makes for a sublime nerd goddess (she brings a dash of the young Jerry Lewis to the role with a glint of Amy Poehler) and, in an earlier age, would probably have been sidelined as a sexy, ditsy secretary. Here, she embodies the new Ghostbusters at its best: Girls rule, women are funny, get over it.