Ghostbusters: Afterlife review

GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE: 

FOR A FILM THAT’S DECADES TOO LATE, THESE NEW “BUSTERS” ARE WORTH A CALL FOR A NOSTALGIA-FILLED BLAST! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

COLUMBIA PICTURES

Mckenna Grace, Carrie Coon, Logan Kim, Paul Rudd, Celeste O’Connor, and Finn Wolfhard in Ghostbusters: Afterlife

 

            The beloved and iconic 80s franchise is reborn (again) in Ghostbusters: Afterlife, the latest installment of the Ghostbusters franchise and a direct follow-up to 1989’s Ghostbusters II. Quick thoughts on my opinions on the previous installments; first film from 1984, I’m in the same boat as everyone else as I think it’s one of the greatest comedies of all time, with a colorful cast of memorable characters, a lot of imaginative ghosts and creatures that are just as memorable as the Ghostbusters themselves, dazzling special effects (Zuul dogs not withstanding!), and some very witty dialogue. Second one, I’m not the biggest fan of as most of it is a retread of its predecessor that tries to be more kid-friendly than the first film, but there’s still some creative ghost designs, the same cast and characters are back, and at times there’s a funny moment and lastly, the all-female reboot from 2016 had good intentions as well as a great cast, but sadly couldn’t quite win many audiences and fans over, I don’t think it’s as bad as what the internet said, but I do agree that it pales in comparison to the first film, though it does have some charm and sometimes a genuinely funny scene. 

            Now, we have this direct continuation of the original films directed by Jason Reitman (Thank You for Smoking, Juno, Up in the Air), the son of the original films’ director, Ivan Reitman who serves as a producer on this film that attempts to bring the franchise closer to its roots after the CGI-filled extravaganza, but financial failure of the 2016 reboot. The film was originally scheduled for a Summer 2020 release and even had a trailer shown theatrically before the 2019 Sony films, Jumanji: The Next Level and Little Women, but the release date was constantly shifted around due to the COVID-19 pandemic until finally landing a November 2021 release. 

            Given that this was yet another Ghostbusters movie released after the unfortunate passing of Harold Ramis, who played Egon in the previous two movies and died in 2014 and especially after the extremely divisive responses of the 2016 film, I didn’t really have any expectations going into Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Even when I saw the trailers, I wasn’t that impressed, I didn’t think this movie was going to be bad or anything, but the trailers just kind of felt like Ghostbusters mixed with Stranger Things which had me like “Didn’t Stranger Things already do this?” At the same time, I was very curious to see how this film would turn out and I have to say for a movie that’s decades too late, this is a pretty solid flick. 

            Granted, it does rely on a lot of fan service that can get a little grating at times (Most of the callbacks I thought were great and very cleverly worked in) and retconning the lesser Ghostbusters films (Ghostbusters II and especially Ghostbusters (2016) never happened in this universe) which I’m usually not the biggest fan of, but when you see what it’s building up to, it works in the long run. Add in a very likable cast, an engaging script, and a good sense of nostalgia without focusing heavily on it, and you got a worthy follow-up to the original films, while also giving it a fresh and fun update. 

            The film is set thirty-seven years after the events of the first film and follows a single mother (Carrie Coon-The Leftovers, Fargo (TV series), Widows) and her children, Phoebe (Mckenna Grace-Crash & Bernstein, The Young and the Restless, Annabelle Comes Home) and Trevor (Finn Wolfhard-Stranger Things, It, The Addams Family (2019)) moving to an old farmhouse in Summerville, Oklahoma after their grandfather passed away. However, Phoebe and Trevor soon discover that their grandfather was none other than Dr. Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis via archival footage), founding member of the Ghostbusters and has a whole arsenal of ghost-hunting gadgets hidden in the barn including Proton Packs, the PKE Meter, Ghost Trap, and of course, the Ecto-1. 

            The two siblings and their mother along with their newfound friends, Podcast (Newcomer, Logan Kim) and Lucky (Celeste O’Connor-Selah and the Spades, Wetlands, Freaky) as well as science teacher, Gary Grooberson (Paul Rudd-Anchorman 1 and 2, Role Models, Marvel Cinematic Universe) realize that Egon moved to the farmhouse in order to prevent some major catastrophe from happening and wouldn’t you know it, a bunch of ghosts are unleashed and start wreaking havoc on the small town, Who You Gonna Call? 

            The film also stars Bill Murray (Groundhog Day, Lost in Translation, Zombieland 1 and 2), Dan Aykroyd (Saturday Night Live, The Blues Brothers, Driving Miss Daisy), Ernie Hudson (The Crow, Airheads, Oz), Sigourney Weaver (Alien franchise, Galaxy Quest, Avatar), and Annie Potts (Heartaches, Pretty in Pink, Toy Story franchise) reprising their roles as Peter Venkman, Ray, Winston, Dana, and Janine from Ghostbusters 1 and 2, Oliver Cooper (Project X, Californication, Red Oaks) as Elton, Bokeem Woodbine (Fargo (TV series), Spider-Man: Homecoming, Overlord) as Sheriff Domingo, Tracy Letts (Lady Bird, The Post, Ford v. Ferrari) as Jack, Josh Gad (Frozen 1 and 2, The Angry Birds Movie 1 and 2, Murder on the Orient Express (2017)) as the voice of Muncher, J.K. Simmons (Spider-Man franchise, Juno, Whiplash) as Ivo Shandor, and an uncredited Olivia Wilde (House, Tron: Legacy, Booksmart) as Gozer. 

            Overall, Ghostbusters: Afterlife is the prime example of a nostalgic throwback done right without pandering too much to fans of its predecessors while also being a very charming and engaging film in its own right. It does often hit familiar beats as the first film, but it never takes the Ghostbusters II route where they just rehash the exact same movie except kind of bad. 

            It’s a much smaller scale Ghostbusters story that’s doing its own thing while also paying tribute to the 1984 classic that inspired it. Don’t be expecting a big battle in New York City like in the previous films, but the climax is surprisingly quite emotional. 

            All the characters are very likable with Mckenna Grace’s Phoebe not just being great, but fully capable of carrying this entire movie. I haven’t seen her in much, but her acting in this is phenomenal and easily the best protagonist since the main characters from the first film. 

            The effects while CGI most of the time, are surprisingly quite good and there’s even a balance between CG effects and puppetry via the Zuul dogs for example which look much better than how they did in the original film. 

            It also does an excellent job with storytelling and making the audience grow attached to the characters, there’s even a beautifully done tribute to the late Harold Ramis during its climax and I’m not going to lie, I got a little teary-eyed during it. 

            Ghostbusters: Afterlife doesn’t quite rank as high as the 1984 classic, but it’s easily the best Ghostbusters follow-up we’ve ever gotten. Looking for fun? You know who to call!