Rating: 8.6
I really loved Ghostbusters: Afterlife, I smiled the whole way through! It was a blast, so much fun and exactly what I wanted it to be (even succeeded some of my expectations). It just made me feel good, everything in it was so cool to see on the screen again and I loved how they blended the old with the new! Jason Reitman was the perfect director to take over the reigns from his father, you can tell he really understands what makes a Ghostbusters film tick. It’s interesting to see this too because he’s normally a more low-budget indie director, and yet he was really able to blend that with commercial blockbuster directing really well to create such a strong product.
The movie itself feels like it’s going for the same sort of thing that Force Awakens was with Star Wars. It follows a similar formula, but arguably does it better (I still love both movies), in that while it does use fan service and nostalgia to its advantage (and oh boy are there ever some great moments and callbacks!) it never feels like a direct copy and paste; more so an homage. Some scenes are setup in similar ways to ones from the original, but they execute them in completely different ways to the original which end up being just as good! There are so many excellent payoffs and callbacks to earlier events in the movie or in other Ghostbusters movies, and they all feel really clever because you never see them coming. The script is smart in never showing it’s hand too quickly, you don’t realize what the payoff will be until after it’s happened. Even the nostalgia is handled perfectly! There may be a lot of it (especially by the end) but it never compromises the story of the new characters, which I really appreciated! Not to mention we finally got to see the original Ghostbusters back together again (not a spoiler, they’ve been very public about it), amongst MANY other great surprises along the way! I also loved how they worked in the character of Egon Spengler into the story, focusing on his legacy and his grandkids, as Harold Ramis unfortunately passed away. I thought it was beautifully done, especially in how they concluded the story. (Don’t want to say too much more in fear of spoiling).
I loved a lot of the new characters and cast, most notably Phoebe played by Mckenna Grace. I loved her in the movie, she delivered a fantastic performance and really channeled Harold Ramis while making the character her own! Phoebe was just such a great character too, and got so many of the coolest scenes! The same can’t really be said about her brother played by Finn Wolfhard, or their mom played by Carrie Coon. They both are fine, but their characters are more used as plot devices. You can really tell the focus is on Phoebe, as it should be because she really made up for these issues. I also loved her friend Podcast, he was one of the funniest parts of the movie to me, and Paul Rudd is awesome and so likeable as Mr. Guberson. And ultimately the returns of many familiar faces was awesome too, they all fit right back into their characters and really had so many great quips! A lot of the jokes in the movie really landed for me, some were clever callbacks and some were terrible puns, but I loved them all! The mini puff gags really worked too, they were so cute but the jokes with them got really dark which I found so funny. Honestly that whole Walmart scene was fantastic! The movie did have a bit of a slow start too, took about 20 mins for me to really get into it but it had awesome payoffs for even the opening scenes so I can’t complain! It just had so many magic and memorable moments that made my face light up with a grin, I just loved it!
The visuals were excellent and I thought it was really cool how they made use of shooting on location in the prairies of Alberta! CGI was also top notch, especially at the end with certain characters! The true star for me though, technically, was the sound design. Hearing the proton pack fire up and the beam shoot out sounded so crisp and satisfying, same goes for the siren of Ecto-1. The sound design team really gave the sound some strength, it was like music to my ears! Speaking of music, I was overjoyed to hear many themes and leitmotifs carried over from Elmer Bernstein’s original 1984 score, as well as the classic Ray Parker Jr song!
Ultimately it’s not a perfect film, but damn is it ever a crowd-pleasing one that really is a worthy sequel to the original! I even loved the post credit sequences! It’s got everything I wanted and just made me so happy. It’s tons of fun for everyone! If you are a Ghostbusters fan, you will LOVE this! It really hits the spot!
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IMDb Rating: 7.8/10
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 61%
RT Audience Score: 95%
Metacritic Score: 47
CinemaScore:
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Sony - Columbia Pictures
Directed by Jason Reitman
Written by Gil Kenan & Jason Reitman
Cast: Mckenna Grace, Finn Wolfhard, Carrie Coon, Paul Rudd, Logan Kim, Celeste O’Connor, Annie Potts, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver
Runtime: 2hr 4min
Rating: PG
Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy
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When a single mom and her two kids arrive in a small town, they begin to discover their connection to the original Ghostbusters and the secret legacy their grandfather left behind.
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Fun Fact: Director Jason Reitman is the son of Ghostbusters (1984) and Ghostbusters II (1989) director Ivan Reitman.
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