Excuse the time-honored phrase, but the new "Ghostbusters" is a whole new ball game. The hype surrounding its U.S. release last month was considerable, and not just because it's a long-overdue followup of a beloved 1984 Hollywood classic: It has also dared to do what few have done before, which is to change not just the cast, but the entire cast gender.
Many other 1980s gems have dabbled in sequels and franchises with varying degrees of disaster and success — "Rocky," "The Blues Brothers" and "The Terminator," to name a few. "Ghostbusters" did come out with a not-that-great sequel in 1989, but this is a overhaul that even millennials can love.
Before, it was a quartet of men (Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson, Dan Aykroyd and the late Harold Ramis) — now it's "women only," comprising Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon. Thankfully, director Paul Feig doesn't make "Ghostbusters" an excuse to throw a bachelorette party (though he may have been tempted, given his "Bridemaids"), and it's still a mix of action and hilarity. In fact, he makes no excuses whatsoever, and simply forges ahead with his plan. Apparently, there never even was a plan B to include one or more action-men types to sweep any Ghostbuster off her feet. True, there is the studly Chris Hemsworth ("Thor," "The Avengers") as Kevin, sole male member of the team, but he's just a "pretty" receptionist, included to look nice behind a desk, which, it turns out, is all he can barely manage.