1455576670739Ghostbusters was the earliest franchise I can remember getting really into, coming even before my devotion to Star Trek. I had all the the toys–the firehouse with a grill at the top for slime to seep through, the proton pack with its yellow foam beam–watched the movies over and over, wore out videocassettes of the cartoon show. (Fun fact: some of the most memorable episodes of The REAL Ghostbusters were written by J. Michael Straczynski.) So seeing this new remake was a heart-in-my-throat nostalgia bloom from the opening teaser on. Fortunately, and contrary to the impression I got from the seriously underwhelming trailers, it’s also enjoyable as hell. The ensemble cast is delightful, especially Kate McKinnon who steals every scene to announce that she’s a big damn movie star now. The jokes all land. The cameos are delightful (the last one, during the end credits, especially). The inevitable callbacks to the original are done with self-aware humor, and with enough new twists thrown in to avoid feeling perfunctory. Sure, the plot gets a little floppy in the third act, but I didn’t give a damn while I was watching because the movie is unrelentingly fun. I don’t generally even like comedies, and I left the theater feeling giddy. If you’re going to remake Ghostbusters at all, this is probably the best possible way to do it. Easily recommended.ghostbusters-2016-cast-proton-packs-images