It's no secret that Dan Aykroyd tried to get another Ghostbusters movie off the ground for decades. In fact, co-creator Harold Ramis (R.I.P.) and director Ivan Reitman were all on board at one point, but Bill Murray just wasn't having it. He was reportedly displeased by all the scripts he received for the potential sequel that they were just going to move forward without him. That is, until Harold Ramis passed away in 2014, resulting in Reitman leaving as director and the studio going the remake route instead. Thus, we have Paul Feig's Ghostbusters, boasting an all female cast and a huge $140+ million dollar budget--all of which means nothing as the movie pales in comparison to the original.

The story focuses on Kristen Wiig's character Erin, who reunites with her old friend Abby (Melissa McCarthy) after she discovers that Abby has been selling copies of an old book they co-wrote together without her permission. With the existence of the book somehow threatening her career as a college professor, Erin agrees to aid her friend in a little ghost hunting excursion in exchange for the removal of the book. Accompanied by Abby's eccentric friend/engineer Jillian (Kate McKinnon), the trio capture their first ghost on film, igniting Erin's passion for the paranormal and garnering them some fame that eventually gains them another member played by Leslie Jones. Dubbed by the media as the "Ghostbusters" they must discover the cause of all the recent ghost sightings before things get worse and threatens the entire city.

A Ghostbusters remake wasn't something people were clamoring for to begin with, so when word broke that it was going to be an all female cast, fans pretty much went nuts. The gender of the cast personally didn't matter to me, but one thing seemed clear after seeing the trailer was the whole movie just seemed like one long SNL skit--an observation of which was backed by the fact that a majority of the cast was/is from SNL. You'd think with so much comedic talent behind and in front of the camera it would equate to a funny movie, but sadly a lot of the jokes fell pretty flat, but comedy is subjective, so it may work better for others than it did for me.

While the movie was admittedly fairly amusing and for the most part entertaining, the characters themselves were all pretty bland since we barely got any background on them and they were either trying too hard (Kate McKinnon), stereotypical (Leslie Jones) or generally uninteresting (everyone else). The only character I somewhat liked was Chris Hemsworth as the dumb secretary, but even his shtick got old fast. They just didn't have the quick wit and chemistry that the original cast had, which helped make it a much funnier and entertaining film overall. All that aside, I did like the ghosts in the movie, which were heavy in CG and more cartoony than scary, but also had a neat look and neon glow to them. Lots of glowing neon colors in the movie, which seemed to fit well with the film's silly tone.

I also liked all the new gadgets that were introduced, like a couple handheld pistols, grenades, and a shotgun-type weapon. And back on the topic of ghosts, Slimer makes his obligatory appearance later in the flick--just one of MANY nods to the original. Next to Slimer, we have pointless cameo appearances from the rest of the original cast that really serve no purpose other than for the audience to say "hey look!" before moving on to the next scene. Ultimately it all leads up to the final battle that's reminiscent to, but not as memorable as the iconic stay puft marshmallow climax.

The Ghostbusters remake was a decent, but failed effort in an attempt to reboot the franchise. The film simply couldn't deliver the unique charm, chemistry and comedy that worked so well in the original. It's not a bad movie, but it's not that good either. It's simply in between, where it's somewhat entertaining and mildly amusing, but ultimately disappointing, especially for fans.