Remakes are often too similar to the original that they’re uninspiring and unnecessary, or they try too hard to distance themselves and lose the essence of what made the original film good in the first place. Ghostbusters does neither of these things.

This is a decent film that serves its purpose very well (assuming its purpose is to amuse the audience). It retains the humour and fun attitude of the original film and follows an entertaining (and slightly different from the original) storyline. Many people (critics and the public alike) are either talking up the all-female Ghostbusters team, or trashing the movie because of it. I don’t want to get sidetracked from the review by discussing this more than necessary – the leading roles could be played by men or women, as long as they turn in a good performance.

The four leads in Ghostbusters (Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones, and Kate McKinnon) all played their roles convincingly. However, Patty (Leslie Jones’ character) was written too shallowly for her to do much with; Patty is a transit worker who is good at remembering things when the plot requires it but has no other real skills. The other three leads are entertaining and have solid characters, although Holtzmann (Kate McKinnon’s character) is slightly clichéd, playing the mildly crazy genius.

Chris Hemsworth plays the moronic receptionist and seems to be in the movie simply as eye-candy and to crack the occasional joke. He plays the role well, but I question the need to include the character at all.

GHOSTBUSTERS had some high-profile cameos from the original film’s cast. The cameo actors do not play their original characters, but it is fun to see them on-screen every-so-often. In addition to the cameos, Ghostbusters also tips its hat to the original by using similar special effects for the ghosts and weapons. The old-school special effects also help the viewer remember that the film isn’t intended to be super serious, but is instead a fun family film.

The biggest flaw in the film was the uninspiring antagonist, Rowan. He received little backstory and got little screen time, leading to Neil Casey being unable to truly develop the character in the viewer’s eyes. The film suffered because of this, but ultimately, we just want to see some Ghostbusters busting ghosts. And that’s what we got.

GHOSTBUSTERS was released to a divided public and will probably be received by a divided audience. It had a beloved legacy to compete with and really needed to shine or risk becoming another tragic remake (Point Break anybody?). Shine it did. It isn’t the best movie I’ve seen this year, but I don’t think that was the directors’ (Paul Feig) intention. As a light-hearted comedy, whose intention is to make the audience laugh, it succeeded and shone as brightly as the original. It’s worth seeing if you can go into the cinema with an open mind.