‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife' Review
PG-13: Supernatural action and some suggestive references
Runtime: 2 Hrs and 4 Minutes
Production Companies: Bron Creative, Ghost Corps, The Montecito Picture Company, Right of Way Films
Distributor: Columbia Pictures
Director: Jason Reitman
Writer: Gil Kenan, Jason Reitman
Cast: Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace, Paul Rudd, Logan Kim, Celeste O'Connor, Bokeem Woodbine
Release Date: November 19, 2021
In Theaters Only
After being evicted from their home, a single mother and her two children are forced to move to a decayed farmhouse in Summerville, Oklahoma, left to them by the children's late grandfather. A series of unexplained earthquakes occur there despite not being situated on any fault lines. Plus, strange things are happening in an old mine that once belonged to the alleged occultist Ivo Shandor. The children discover the history of their grandfather with the original Ghostbusters, who have since been largely forgotten by the world beyond their fan base.
For most of his career, writer/director Jason Reitman has carved out of his own path, being a notable and beloved filmmaker without ever stepping into his father Ivan’s shoes. That streak unfortunately ends now, for he ditched the indie realm and finally did that thing that so many people pestered him about: make a Ghostbusters movie.
This entry is a major deviation in style and story, going for ‘80s-type storytelling where a lonely and precocious 12-year-old scientific prodigy, Phoebe (McKenna Grace), gets caught up with a supernatural/sci-fi anomaly. Now, it’s up to her and her friends to save their podunk town in a campy adventure. It’s a familiar archetype that has been running rampant throughout media with stories like Stranger Things, It, and Bumblebee because ‘80s nostalgia is selling right now. Hell, it’s now become a requirement to cast Finn Wolfhard in anything that evokes major ‘80s energy. This is now his curse.
Despite its nostalgia, Afterlife breathes some freshness into the Ghostbusters franchise. Afterlife does something new for the first time in the franchise: leave New York. Penned by Reitman and Gil Kenan (who directed the best mo-cap family movie ever, Monster House), the first half of the film does a solid job of applying this ‘80s Spielberg-like romp to Ghostbusters with a younger generation in mind. While it takes place in modern times, it doesn't go full Duffer brothers or J.J. Abrams by trying too hard to evoke the ‘80s B-movie family adventure vibe and shove it down your throat.
The central lead, Phoebe, is a great character who carries the film as she tries to uncover the mystery of her grandfather’s past and the work that he did. Instead of being like a mini Egon clone, which could’ve been the easiest route to take, Phoebe is a distinctly charming character with her own personality. She’s awkward, has a corny sense of humor, and is super nerdy, but still acts her age. Phoebe’s like if Jimmy Neutron was a girl and had the same deadpan humor as Daria. This is her movie and actress McKenna Grace delivers a knockout leading performance. She is the defining factor of what gives this film weight as she holds down the fort with power. As the Spangler family gets acquainted with their new home, Phoebe attends summer school and finds a new friend in a fellow student named –– yeah, I know. It made me cringe when I heard it, too –– Podcast (Logan Kim). She also finds a father figure of sorts in her teacher Mr. Grooberson (a charismatic Paul Rudd). The three share a similar interest of wanting to unravel the town’s mystery and Egon Spangler’s past, which is when the film hits its most fun stride. The comedy and action sequences are so delightful to witness. Whenever Reitman applies a light tone to match the energy of the scenes between them or its subplot featuring the elder Spangler kid, Trevor, wanting to get the attention of an older teen girl he’s crushing on, the film manages to be entertaining enough to work as a new kind of Ghostbusters movie. Though Trevor’s subplot is muddled and drags down the pacing while going absolutely nowhere, the setup is decent enough to kick off the supernatural components of the plot.
I saw Ghostbusters: Afterlife at New York Comic Con after a panel where they revealed that they were screening the entire film. Watching this in a room with “Ghostbusters stans” was a torturous experience, to say the least. Much like the last Ghostbusters film in 2016, Afterlife is one of those reboots that make the crowd lose their shit with each minor reference to the original. Despite being directly connected to the original franchise, it’s so insufferably annoying whenever an unnecessary moment of fan service is brought up and teased in order to make its weird fanbase lose their minds. The movie flows like a Museum of Moving Image exhibit where all your joy comes from props and references. It straight-up stops in its tracks and goes, “Oh, look at their outfit. Ooooh, the Ectomobile. The proton packs!” At that screening, the audience of sheep proved how grueling this type of filmmaking is by whooping and hollering whenever any minuscule reference was made. There’s a moment where a character hands somebody a phone and the film zooms in on him as he says the franchise’s most infamous line. The audience gleefully ate that slop up, and the tension between me and the exit door became uncontrollable. It’s trying to be cute with all the in-your-face references but the novelty is worn out on arrival when 1) every single reboot does the exact same thing and 2) the last reboot was just five years ago.
Afterlife treads no further than the likes of Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Jurassic World, being both a reboot and a direct sequel while following the same lazy skeleton of past events. If something like Ghostbusters: Afterlife was made and released around 2015 or earlier, this would’ve been considered fresh. But the J.J. Abrams-like fixation on rebooted franchises these days has become so trite where you need the original cast to show up and hand the torch to the new wielder of the series while they make all the events in the predecessor seem more extravagant than ever before. You have all this plotting and tone, which feels so weird when underneath it's connected to something that was just a straightforward comedy. Nothing more, nothing less. The 2016 movie, which I don't even like, was a Ghostbusters movie in its own right. A Ghostbusters movie isn’t just about busting ghosts or the equipment, but about seeing this archetype of outcasts come together. Plus, they’re played by the best comedic stars of our time in a filmmaking style that encapsulates the energy of what the genre was at the time. 2016 Ghostbusters took the basic format of what 21st-century studio comedies were and abided by that. The same thing can be said about the original film and how that was the perfect ‘80s-era studio comedy. Afterlife is not that. It’s trying to be something that it’s not and outside of appealing to a niche fanbase (and kids, I guess), it’s nothing more than your typical run-of-the-mill reboot.
I was initially lukewarm towards Afterlife and gave it the benefit of the doubt, but the following morning I watched another reboot movie based on an ‘80s property that defied all expectations: My Little Pony: A New Generation. It was confident enough to stand on its own while being a continuation of its predecessor. Instead of trying to tie itself completely to its previous entries, it dared to be different and explore relevant themes. I shouldn’t be putting them on the same scale, but hey, their demographics are the same: both have large and overbearing fandoms, so it’s kind of validated. After that, I looked back at Ghostbusters: Afterlife and said, “Hold up, I was too kind to you.” Maybe my screening’s setting had something to do with it, but I can recognize shoddy nostalgia jerking and it’s as excessive as any other IPs that were given a soft reboot recently.
If you’re an inconsolable Ghostbusters fan (like one of those weirdos who downvoted the 2016 movie’s trailer) or a teen that’s new to the franchise and looking for some Stephen King-type fare, or a family wanting a trip to the theaters during the holiday season, then this is the perfect blockbuster movie for you. Afterlife delivers some genuinely sweet and solid closure to what can now be considered a long-awaited trilogy of sorts. While it did get me a bit choked up within its climax, it continues an unfortunately lazy trend, recycling a worn-out blueprint that needs to be put to rest.
