Who ya gonna call? Maybe not these 'Ghostbusters'

Not as clever as the 1984 “Ghostbusters.” Funnier than the 1989 sequel.

Paul Feig's bold female reboot of the beloved Ivan Reitman comedy qualifies as a disappointment as well as a talky, noisy, charmless, tensionless, unscary, visual-effects-choked retread of the all-boys original.

And yet, we have been yearning for another “Ghostbusters” comedy for so long now — periodically getting our hopes up over rumors, only to be shot down — that this gawky reinvention at least offers enough nostalgic references and fun to gratify our craving for more ectoplasmic slime.

This “Ghostbusters” has been written by Feig and Katie Dippold (writer of the strained Melissa McCarthy/Sandra Bullock action comedy “The Heat”). Their play-it-safe screenplay evokes the spirits of Ghostbusters past rather than ventures out on new supernatural frontiers.

The witty, crackling dialogue from Dan Aykroyd and the late Harold Ramis (he gets wonderful nods near the beginning and during the closing credits) is missing here.

When a nasty specter haunts a New York museum, the proprietor seeks help from dowdy, dull academic Erin Gilbert (Kristen Wiig), co-author of a book on spooks.

The other co-author, Abby Yates (Plainfield's McCarthy), has teamed up with the “Q” of the supernatural world, Jillian Holtzmann (a mugging Kate McKinnon), a quirky genius who creates weapons and gadgets for battling ghostly entities.

Once childhood friends, Abby and Erin had a falling out. Now they reunite to form the Ghostbusters with Jillian and Patty Tolen (a spicy Leslie Jones), a city employee with an encyclopedic recall of Big Apple supernatural history.

They hire a handsome doofus named Kevin (Chris Hemsworth, proving comedy not to be his strong suit) as their resident ditsy secretary.

The catchy Ray Parker theme song gets a reprise and they're off to the cases.

“Ghostbusters” comes with a poor excuse for a villain. A mousy guy named Rowan (Neil Casey) swears to bring New York to its knees because he was bullied all his life.

Rowan intends to unleash millions of vengeful souls on New York City. After an untimely electrocution, his spirit possesses Kevin's super bod and creates a supernatural vortex allowing malicious entities — including the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man and Slimer — to wreak havoc on the Big Apple.

Casting an all-female Ghostbusters seemed to be a timely and brilliant innovation. Well, at least timely.

The busters conjure up a few laughs, but Wiig, McCarthy, McKinnon and Jones lack the explosive chemistry that Aykroyd, Ramis, Murray and Ernie Hudson shared. (All the original stars but Ramis and Rick Moranis contribute crowd-pleasing cameos.)

Despite a spate of condescending gender jokes (women are “always late” and “losing things”), Feig's movie makes one big improvement over the first. In the original, Hudson's Winston Zeddmore felt like an afterthought.

Here, black ghostbuster Patty becomes a partner on the team at the outset. But why not go totally bold with an even more diverse cast of Ghostbusters?

Maybe that idea was just too scary for Columbia Pictures.

Note: Stick around after the closing credits for a bonus scene to whet our psychic whistles for “Ghostbusters II.”

“Ghostbusters”

★ ★

<b>Starring:</b> Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones, Chris Hemsworth

<b>Directed by:</b> Paul Feig

<b>Other:</b> A Columbia Pictures release. Rated PG-13 for supernatural action and crude humor. 105 minutes