Ghostbusters

The original 1984 Ghostbusters, which deftly combined chuckles and chills in a way few movies before or since have been able to manage, showed how difficult it can be to catch lightning in a bottle.

So the 2016 remake, co-written and directed by Paul Feig of Bridesmaids and Spy fame, already had its work cut out for it when it aimed to recapture a similar bolt of lightning in a slightly different bottle.

And that was before a blockheaded contingent of fandom (predominantly male) decided a new version of the story with women in the lead roles would retroactively molest these fanboys' collective childhood.  

So hopefully it doesn't sound like false excuses when we say the new Ghostbusters doesn't quite work for reasons other than Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig playing the central characters.

It didn't quite work because it feels hastily and at times shoddily assembled, like Feig had an excess of material — by all accounts, he does love to let his actors improvise — that could fit together any number of ways.

On top of that, though, Feig and co-writer Katie Dippold (who collaborated on The Heat) have penned a screenplay that has a solid structure but not a lot of fun or imaginative flourish to it — it's not exactly brimming with quotable quips.

What's more, its villains, both human and paranormal, aren't especially memorable, and the group dynamic binding the four Ghostbusters feels a little lacking compared to the bond between the '84 team (admittedly, we've had 30 years to become accustomed to them!).

Wow, that sounds like a lot of faults. But Ghostbusters isn't without its virtues, many of which are strong enough to help viewers ride out the rough spots.

Because even if the team spirit (ha!) of the new Ghostbusters crew, played by McCarthy, Wiig and Saturday Night Live stars Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones, isn't yet top-shelf — the potential's there, for sure — there's enough comic wattage in the quartet to ensure a lot of laughs.

McCarthy and Wiig underplay their roles as Abby Yates and Erin Gilbert, childhood friends whose embrace of different disciplines (the supernatural for Abby, science for Erin) saw them go their separate ways, and while they're fine, they've been livelier and funnier elsewhere.

Maybe they realised they should step back and let Leslie Jones and especially Kate McKinnon strut their stuff.

Jones is a wonderful mix of bluster and warmth as Patty Tolan, whose encyclopedic knowledge of New York City history makes her an invaluable addition to the team, while McKinnon effortlessly saunters off with the movie as Jillian Holtzmann, nuclear engineer and mischief maker.

There's a weird, madcap energy to everything McKinnon says and does — everything — that gives Ghostbusters a blast of nitrous oxide whenever she appears.