Ghostbusters: Afterlife
Year: 2021
Director: Jason Reitman
Starring: Carrie Coon, Mckenna Grace, Logan Kim, Paul Rudd & Finn Wolfhard
Runtime: 125 mins
BBFC: 12
Published: 08/12/21
Director: Jason Reitman
Starring: Carrie Coon, Mckenna Grace, Logan Kim, Paul Rudd & Finn Wolfhard
Runtime: 125 mins
BBFC: 12
Published: 08/12/21
We currently live in a time where original IP’s are increasingly difficult to come by as movie studios only want to bank on big franchises. It’s gotten so bad over the last few years that numerous franchises have been resurrected to pick up from where they left off from ten, twenty, or even thirty years ago. Ghostbusters: Afterlife is the latest in this trend of digging up a property from it’s grave, giving it CPR and hastily pushing it out the door. Whilst the franchise did recently try to revive itself with the critically panned and commercially disappointing Ghostbusters: Answer the Call, Afterlife positions itself as a direct sequel to the 80’s classics rather than ride the traditional reboot train. Does this work in its favour? Does Afterlife succeed where Answer the Call failed?
Following the death of their grandfather, Phoebe (Mckenna Grace) and Trevor (Finn Wolfhard) move to Oklahoma with their mother Callie (Carrie Coon) to put his final affairs in order. But when Phoebe and Trevor uncover various strange inventions, one of them housing an imprisoned demon, they realise that their grandfather was actually Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis), one of the famous Ghostbusters from the 1980’s. With the help of Phoebe’s classmate Podcast (Logan Kim), and their teacher Mr. Grooberson (Paul Rudd), the Spengler’s must stop the revival of the evil spirit Gozer (Olivia Wilde) and put an end to the impending apocalypse.
Following the death of their grandfather, Phoebe (Mckenna Grace) and Trevor (Finn Wolfhard) move to Oklahoma with their mother Callie (Carrie Coon) to put his final affairs in order. But when Phoebe and Trevor uncover various strange inventions, one of them housing an imprisoned demon, they realise that their grandfather was actually Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis), one of the famous Ghostbusters from the 1980’s. With the help of Phoebe’s classmate Podcast (Logan Kim), and their teacher Mr. Grooberson (Paul Rudd), the Spengler’s must stop the revival of the evil spirit Gozer (Olivia Wilde) and put an end to the impending apocalypse.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife is at its best when it’s not trying to be a Ghostbusters film, unfortunately though it feels as though director Jason Reitman (son of Ghostbusters I&II director Ivan Reitman) takes every possible opportunity to drop nostalgia bombs for the audience to remind them that this is in fact a Ghostbusters film.
I am not overly familiar with the original Ghostbusters films, in fact I only saw the original film for the first time this year and I’ve never seen Ghostbusters II or Answer the Call, but Afterlife caught my attention because it looked different. A modern incarnation of Ghostbusters that whilst containing tenuous links to the original property was going to be its own thing and carve out a niche for itself as a family horror comedy. But instead Afterlife spends so much of its runtime appealing to people who grew up with the original Ghostbusters films that it never gets to stand on its own two feet, or appeal to the target audience of modern teenagers.
It can’t even create a new villain, instead re-using the villain from the first film to give people even more nostalgia and even less reason to actually exist.
Mckenna Grace is the only standout performer of the whole film and I had second-hand backache from watching her carry this entire film on her shoulders. Whilst none of the other performers are particularly bad, Paull Rudd is just doing his Ant-Man shtick, Carrie Coon isn’t in the film enough to really be developed properly, Logan Kim is the annoying kind of comic relief, and Finn Wolfhard looks like he’d rather be anywhere else. Add to this that it drags the survivors of the original cast back out with Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and Ernie Hudson reprising their roles as Venkman, Stantz, and Zeddemore respectively, whilst Ramis is brought back from the dead via CGI and body doubles to reprise his role as Spengler (which is a whole other issue that I feel I need a separate essay to talk about why bringing actors back from the dead is problematic).
I am not overly familiar with the original Ghostbusters films, in fact I only saw the original film for the first time this year and I’ve never seen Ghostbusters II or Answer the Call, but Afterlife caught my attention because it looked different. A modern incarnation of Ghostbusters that whilst containing tenuous links to the original property was going to be its own thing and carve out a niche for itself as a family horror comedy. But instead Afterlife spends so much of its runtime appealing to people who grew up with the original Ghostbusters films that it never gets to stand on its own two feet, or appeal to the target audience of modern teenagers.
It can’t even create a new villain, instead re-using the villain from the first film to give people even more nostalgia and even less reason to actually exist.
Mckenna Grace is the only standout performer of the whole film and I had second-hand backache from watching her carry this entire film on her shoulders. Whilst none of the other performers are particularly bad, Paull Rudd is just doing his Ant-Man shtick, Carrie Coon isn’t in the film enough to really be developed properly, Logan Kim is the annoying kind of comic relief, and Finn Wolfhard looks like he’d rather be anywhere else. Add to this that it drags the survivors of the original cast back out with Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and Ernie Hudson reprising their roles as Venkman, Stantz, and Zeddemore respectively, whilst Ramis is brought back from the dead via CGI and body doubles to reprise his role as Spengler (which is a whole other issue that I feel I need a separate essay to talk about why bringing actors back from the dead is problematic).
Afterlife isn’t a total disaster though as it is a fun Stranger Things style family horror film when it’s not trying to remind of you of films from forty years ago. Watching Phoebe go through the trials of early teenage life, and Trevor struggle with talking to girls he finds attractive all whilst dealing with this paranormal threat is fun, and the action sequences are thrilling to watch, particularly the chase through town that was shown in the trailer.
In fact, I enjoyed Afterlife more than I enjoyed the original Ghostbusters, which is probably why I’m so put off by the constant references to the franchise. Had Afterlife been allowed to do its own thing with only tenuous links to the original films I feel it would have worked out much better.
As a result of all this it’s kind of difficult to recommend Ghostbusters: Afterlife to anyone in particular. I feel like fans of the original films will enjoy all the throwbacks, but may not be too keen on the more action orientated and horror focused direction of the story; whereas newcomers like myself won’t care for all the nostalgia which makes up the bulk of the runtime, but will be glad to see a family horror film that hits the right beats whenever it’s doing its own thing. The result is that you’re unlikely to be totally satisfied with Afterlife regardless of your affiliations to the original films, but it is at least a step in the right direction for the franchise following Answer the Call.
In fact, I enjoyed Afterlife more than I enjoyed the original Ghostbusters, which is probably why I’m so put off by the constant references to the franchise. Had Afterlife been allowed to do its own thing with only tenuous links to the original films I feel it would have worked out much better.
As a result of all this it’s kind of difficult to recommend Ghostbusters: Afterlife to anyone in particular. I feel like fans of the original films will enjoy all the throwbacks, but may not be too keen on the more action orientated and horror focused direction of the story; whereas newcomers like myself won’t care for all the nostalgia which makes up the bulk of the runtime, but will be glad to see a family horror film that hits the right beats whenever it’s doing its own thing. The result is that you’re unlikely to be totally satisfied with Afterlife regardless of your affiliations to the original films, but it is at least a step in the right direction for the franchise following Answer the Call.