LOS ANGELES — Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the new Ghostbusters?

OK, that may be a bit dramatic — but given all the hullabaloo about Paul Feig’s all-female franchise reboot before anyone saw it, critical reaction to the Film itself was beginning to feel like an afterthought. 

Still, Sony’s review embargo lifted Sunday morning, a refreshing moment in that, finally, we were (mostly) talking about the film itself.

And the results leaned largely positive.

The grouchy old white guys at the Hollywood trade papers were the biggest boo-birds — hardly a surprise there — but a poll of the more gender-appropriate, internet-savvy critics crowd augured well for the July 15 release: Ghostbusters is not without its problems, but it’s fun, funny, and worth your time.

Here’s what some of our favorite critics had to say:

The comedy is great. The action is … OK?

Manohla Dargis, New York Times: 

As is often the case with big-budget flicks, [Ghostbusters] grows progressively louder and bigger, climaxing in an overlong battle, though not before Mr. Feig has offered up some unexpected touches, including a cavalcade of beautifully designed old-timey ghosts and a genuinely creepy bathroom scene that adds a few horror-flick shivers. 

Angie Han, Slashfilm:

Ghostbusters essentially combines a typical Feig comedy with a franchise blockbuster, and the marriage isn’t always smooth sailing. … the setpieces sometimes feel more obligatory than organic — as if they’re there to fulfill the expectations of a big-budget blockbuster rather than because they make sense for this particular movie.

Caroline Framke, Vox: 

Sure, these neon apparitions look more like they crawled out of an Xbox than the sewers of New York City, but it’s fun to watch an electric blue corpse swoop through the subway or an acid-green winged beast crash a metal show. 

The key element — tone — was tricky

Terri Schwartz, IGN: 

Unfortunately, it’s the pacing and editing that is the biggest problem … for all that haters blasted the movie for starring four women, it’s actually director Paul Feig who doesn’t seem like he’s the right fit … Ghostbusters is more Spy than Bridesmaids, but his humor never quite jives appropriately with the tone. [Ghostbusters] can’t decide whether it wants to be a completely new take on the property or a loving homage to the original, and because of that it’s trapped between the two. 

Caroline Framke, Vox:

The reboot … strains so hard to prove it’s having a good time that its seams don’t just show, but start to tear apart under the pressure. But the situation isn’t always so dire. When the movie is at its best, it’s scrappy, eager to please, and — thanks to some superb comedic acting — deliciously strange.

Julia Alexander, Polygon:

There are slight pacing issues with the movie, which leads to moments of brief boredom, and that comes as a result of trying to turn the comedy into an action film. The actual ghost-busting scenes can be feel pretty tedious, but that moment of weariness is alleviated when Feig decides to refocus on the comedy.

Stephanie Zacharek, Time:

It’s all presented with a wink—there’s nothing heavy-spirited or assaultive about this Ghostbusters. Feig, who co-wrote the script with Katie Dippold (The Heat), has clearly taken great care with the movie’s tone — it’s as delicately balanced as the wings of a spectral butterfly. … The movie glows with vitality, thanks largely to the performers, who revel in one another’s company, and not in a self-congratulatory, Ocean’s Twelve-style, “We’re awesome movie stars, together” way.

Kate McKinnon is our favorite new Ghostbuster

Kristy Puchko, CBR: 

The Saturday Night Live veteran whose sketches often go viral delivers an outrageous, alluring and hysterical turn as wild-haired wild card Holtzmann. McKinnon mixes one-part Egon earnest nerd-thusiasm with two-parts Ian Malcolm (from Jurassic Park) sex appeal, and adds her own generous slathering of special sauce for a deliciously deranged character who feels preposterous and perfect all at once. 

Manohla Dargis, New York Times: 

No one performance dominates the new Ghostbusters, which is for the most part democratically comic (a Paul Feig signature), although Kate McKinnon’s magnificent, eccentric turn comes close. She plays Holtzmann, the in-house mad-hatter who whips up the ghost-busting hardware (proton packs included) with a crazy leer and page after script page of playful-sounding gobbledygook. Ms. McKinnon makes for a sublime nerd goddess (she brings a dash of the young Jerry Lewis to the role with a glint of Amy Poehler) and, in an earlier age, would probably have been sidelined as a sexy, ditsy secretary. Here, she embodies the new Ghostbusters at its best: Girls rule, women are funny, get over it.

Caroline Framke, Vox:

The revelation of Ghostbusters will have to be McKinnon’s Dr. Jillian “Holtz” Holtzmann, who not only steals every scene she’s in, but chews it up with a liquid smirk and spits it out for parts.

It’s got … villain problems

Jen Yamato, Daily Beast

Their villainous foil misses the point, too. SNL and Inside Amy Schumer writer Neil Casey gets his big screen break as Rowan, a bitter white dude turned murderous by a lifetime of bullying who manages to make the world’s problems all about him. He’s a self-righteous sad sack who fails to see the irony standing in front of him: four women unsupported and written off by society, one of them African-American and another who may or may not be gay but can’t say so because she’s trapped in a PG-13 summer studio blockbuster. “We get shit on all the time,” McCarthy’s Abby counters.

Alison Willmore, Buzzfeed

The toxic pre-lash to this Ghostbusters has seeped into the plot, and especially into Rowan, an aggrieved internet-troll type who wants to “cleanse” the world as revenge for perceived mistreatment and gives himself pep talks in the mirror about how “You have been bullied your entire life — now you will be the bully!” Rather than empathize with the similarly maligned Ghostbusters, Rowan resents them, repurposes their research to empower his rage, and then makes them his new targets. 

How does it deal with the (non-) existence of the original?

Stephanie Zacharek, Time:

He honors the spirit of the original: Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson and Annie Potts all have cameos, and a gleaming bronze bust of the late Harold Ramis graces the hallowed halls of Columbia University, where part of that Ghostbusters, like this one, takes place. Yet there’s little that’s nostalgic, in the musty sense, about Feig’s reimagined ghostbusting universe.

Julia Alexander, Polygon:

There are certain similarities between Ivan Reitman’s 1984 film and this version of Ghostbusters. Both take place in New York City, feature Columbia University as a starting point, have a crazed madman obsessed with humanity’s downfalls and, of course, ghosts. But the small similarities almost act as background in Feig’s film. It’s the differences where the movie finds itself and breaks away just enough from Reitman’s version that the concept ofGhostbusters feels fresh.

Caroline Framke, Vox:

Ghostbusters has trouble shedding the skin of its predecessors to become something all its own, even though it’s a full reboot that ostensibly has nothing to do with the original story.

Tomris Laffly, Film School Rejects

Feig’s Ghostbusters confidently carves out its own spot within a much-adored universe by welcoming a different audience into its crazy enchanted layers, while winking to the original’s fans with friendly faces (surprise), familiar gadgets and musical cues they will recognize. 

PS: See it in 3D

Courtney Howard, SassyMamaInLA: 

It’s a rarity that I say a film should be seen in 3D, but here we are. This one is best experienced that way. Not only do the streams from the proton packs light up, you feel as if you might get slimed by ghost-projectile-vomit shooting directly at you. There’s added depth and dimension to the imagery that’s beyond compare of other 3-D films as some of the streams, ghost figures and burning ashes float beyond the confines of the letterboxed images. It’s aesthetically inventive.

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