Director – Jason Reitman (Saturday Night Live, Juno)
Starring – Carrie Coon (Avengers: Infinity War, Fargo), Paul Rudd (Ant-Man, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers), and Mckenna Grace (Scoob!, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina)
Release Date – 2021
Rating – 4/5
When I was a kid my brother introduced me to The Real Ghostbusters on one of his weekend trips in to see us. He was 12 years older than me so he left home when I was little. On one of his trips in he brought some of his old Real Ghostbusters action figures to give me and before long I was headed to the local video store to rent the two films. It was a fun weekend and one that still stands out even to this day.
In 2016 the female lead Ghostbusters was released and I took my oldest daughter, who was 2 at the time, to see it. She fucking loved it but I know a lot of GB fans were butthurt. They forget that we already have our own films and cartoons to enjoy. Regardless, I’m glad I was able to share this memory with her. Now, my daughter is 7 and my son is 5 and I was able to take them to watch Ghostbusters: Afterlife. I was on the fence about taking them because they have no interest in “older movies” so they never watched the first two films but I decided to anyway. I was surprised by how much they enjoyed it while I was over the moon that fans finally got the sequel they have been begging for.
**Spoiler Alert** The film follows a single mother of two teenagers who receives word that her estranged father has passed away leaving her his old farmhouse in the middle of nowhere. Her kids, the always inquisitive Phoebe (Grace) and the typical teenage boy Trevor (Finn Wolfhard), struggle with their new move into the small town. However, as they start to clean up the property and surrounding sheds they realize that their estranged grandfather was Egon Spangler, the founder of the Ghostbusters who saved the world in the 80s. He left his family and friends behind because he knew a much bigger threat was waiting but no one believed him. Now it’s up to his grandchildren to stop Gozer from entering the world once again. **Spoiler Alert**
I didn’t know what or where Ghostbusters: Afterlife was going to give us but I was very happy with the overall film. It was overflowing with nostalgia while giving us a new, yet rehashed story, while setting us up for even more fun further down the line. I’m all for it and those of you that are fans of the original films and don’t have your head up your ass will enjoy it as well.
The acting in this one is fantastic. With the introduction of Stranger Things and the new reimagining of It Hollywood has brought us some seriously fun films centered around children and these child actors are absolutely brilliant in their roles. Afterlife is no different. I’m a fan of Finn Wolfhard and I really liked him in this one. I know he’s no longer a child but he is naturally charismatic in front of the camera and he delivers another unforgettable performance here. It’s also great seeing someone like Paul Rudd getting a chance to be apart of a film with a fandom like this. His performance was fun but did make me miss Rick Moranis. The film does bring Mckenna Grace to my attention. She was in the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina but here she really shows movie goers that she is going to be a name that everyone will be familiar with soon. Also, it foes without saying that the cameos were a fantastic touch as well.
The story for this one does a great job at explaining the years between the first film and now while giving us the possibility of many more films to come. The thought of the Ghostbusters having children to carry the mantle really does give me goosebumps thinking about the possibilities. The remainder of the story, when not delivering on the character development, does deliver a story we have already seen before featuring Gozer, the keymaster, and so on. I don’t think it would have been too hard to give fans a new apocalyptic event.
Finally, the film is overflowing with visual effects. Some of the visuals were fantastic but there was some that looked extremely goofy. A film of this caliber has no reason having CGI as cheap looking as it does. Overall, Ghostbusters: Afterlife is exactly what fans were wanting. It brings to life that wave of nostalgia we are looking for while giving us something more to look forward to. Do yourself a favor and check it out.
