For my tenth birthday, my aunt got me what I then didn’t quite appreciate but now regard as one of my favorite gifts of all time: a DVD copy of "Ghostbusters" and "Ghostbusters 2." For a few years, a fine layer of dust collected over the top of the case, because I had heard they were nothing special, but eventually I ran out of things to watch cracked open the DVD. The rest was history.

I was hooked on an ectoplasmic world of unrealistic science, mutant marshmallow monsters, dancing toasters, and some of the greatest comedians the 1980s had to offer. A Harold Ramis-Dan Aykryod script gave the film great one-liners that I love to spit out at random times like, “Ray, when someone asks if you’re a god, you say YES!” and other ones that I can’t quite repeat, like:

And then I heard that they were making a sequel with an all-female cast, and I got excited… and then they released the trailer and I got nervous. The original teaser trailer was filled with awkward, forced jokes, cruel stereotypes, and a copy-cat plot. But I had to see it anyway.

Kristen Wiig plays Dr. Erin Gilbert, a physics professor vying for tenure and trying to cover up any connection to her former partner, paranormal researcher, Abby Yates (Melissa McCarthy). When a malicious ghost surfaces in a historic house in New York City, the pair reconcile old differences and are joined by engineer Jillian Holtzmann (Kate McKinnon) and street smart New Yorker Patty Tolan (Leslie Jones) to rid the city of paranormal activity armed with not only proton packs but also a completely new arsenal of weapons.

When the credits rolled and the lights in the theater turned back on, I found that I had actually liked it. I mean I really liked it. While it doesn’t contain the same wit and humor of the original film, as a stand-alone project, the movie was an enjoyable ride filled with zingers, great special effects, a briefly shirtless Chris Hemsworth, and cameos from most of the original cast, including the “ugly little spud,” Slimer. Best of all, it passes the Bechdel test with flying colors with, count it, four female leads.

The true stand-out of the film was Kate McKinnon’s quirky yellow-goggles-for-glasses-wearing Jillian Holtzmann. The other characters find ghost busting to be necessary for the good of science and the city, but Holtzmann actually enjoys it, building weapons and traps intended to cause the greatest possible explosion. Her fabulous style, which would look just plain strange on pretty much everyone else, the way she casually pins a can of Pringles under her armpit while specter hunting, and the fact that she licks her gun before shooting a ghost makes her the coolest, baddest female character to grace the silver screen in years and the main reason why I want to watch the movie again and again.

I can’t wait for this movie to be released on DVD, because then I can continue my Halloween "Ghostbusters" marathon tradition, except this time with a triple feature. And maybe I’ll order Chinese food this year- hopefully they’ll get the wonton to broth ratio right.