To the extent that GHOSTBUSTERS was worthwhile, it wasn’t as a comedy; what made it work were the moments when it might have been something else entirely — specifically the two or three minutes tracked with a magnificently atmospheric section of the Mick Smiley song “Magic” and the conversation between Stantz and Zeddmore about the end of the world.
The latter works for one and only one reason: Ernie Hudson. No one else in the cast had the dramatic weight to hold down that conversation. Bill Murray couldn’t have done it; nor could Harold Ramis. By rights, Hudson should have been the highest-paid member of the cast for performing that service.
The sequel, of course, didn’t work, because the director totally blew the corresponding moment. When you animate the Statue of Liberty, you don’t do it with “Higher And Higher”, you do it with the Ray Charles version of “America The Beautiful” — and you don’t animate the Statue of Liberty without giving her something important to do, because Ellis Island matters. Or at least mattered once.
GHOSTBUSTERS 2016 failed for a similar reason: there was no serious moment. The writers were clearly worried that the movie wasn’t going to be funny enough so they crammed in jokes that didn’t actually belong in the film. Kevin was hilarious, but was atmospherically the exact opposite of what they needed.¹ (People² are still whinging about the female cast. No, the cast was not the problem, especially not Leslie Jones, who could easily have held down the Just Got Real section if it had been there.)
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¹ The Arnold Schwarzenegger movie LAST ACTION HERO was a mess, half fluffy parody, half dark satire, but the animated cat didn’t belong in either half.
² The people whinging are of the set who can’t understand why the current bulk entertainment product targeted at 12-year-olds isn’t as good as the bulk entertainment product they got when they were 12. Answer: accidentally high quality, dear childroon. The only reason you’ve got a house full of STAR WARS toys is happenstance.