[Rating: Solid Rock Fist Up]
In theaters only on November 19
I’m going to preface my review by just noting that I have had an undying love for Ghostbusters since I saw it on the big screen at Bannister Square in Kansas City, Mo. in 1984. I tolerated and accepted the weaker sequel and even (mostly) defended the misguided reboot attempt a few years back.
As a writer, and lover of all things horror and Bill Murray, this movie has always struck a chord with me. I even used to write Ghostbusters stories about a group of kids in Kansas who somehow inherit the Ghostbusting business. So, yeah, this one is kinda personal.
Needless to say, Ghostbusters: Afterlife is exactly the sequel I’ve been waiting for since I was a younger Tim. It’s not perfect, it’s not as laugh-out-loud funny, and it drags juuuuust a bit at times. But director Jason Reitman, director of Juno and Up in the Air, and son of Ivan Reitman, who helmed the original flicks, approaches this new chapter with a loving appreciation that hits all the nostalgia buttons while setting the course for future adventures — maybe, if that’s what they decide to do.
The film opens with a thrilling, yet somewhat ambiguous set piece on a farm in Oklahoma, where a mysterious dirt farmer is thwarted by a supernatural presence. Cut to present day and said dirt farmer’s down-on-their-luck family: mom Callie (Carrie Coon) and the kids, Trevor (Finn Wolfhard) and Phoebe (McKenna Grace) aka the real MVP of this flick, have inherited his crappy house in Oklahoma.
Callie doesn’t want anything to do with the father who abandoned her because of his wild end of the world theories, and the kids learn the grandfather they never knew was actually one of the famous Ghostbusters from the 80s.
When paranormal trouble starts brewing in the middle of nowhere, the kids up their group, get a grip, come equipped, grab the old proton packs on their backs and split to bust ghosts. New characters are introduced, the ridiculously named Podcast (Logan Kim) — (guess what he does?); Lucky (Celeste O’Connor), and then, finally, another adult (kind of): Mr. Grooberson, played by a local actor, the heart of Kansas City, and yes, the Sexiest Man Alive…some dude named Paul Rudd. He was on Friends and I guess he was in some comic book movies, too.
Afterlife is far from perfect. Yes, it retreads a lot of beats from the original, although thankfully, they’re not all as heavy handed as you normally find in today’s reboot-sequel world. Let’s call this a reboo-quel. Sometimes the logic doesn’t stick, the script has to make leaps to connect dots and there are a few creative choices that don’t quite land and a development in the final act that may prove to be divisive. Personally, it hit the right notes for me.
The one major difference is the tone. It’s not as funny or heavy on the jokes as the original. The heart is there, but this is a different beast. That’s not to say there isn’t humor but it doesn’t have an in-their-prime Murray, Dan Akyroyd, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson slinging one liners and innuendo, nor does it pretend to.
Where the original was a throwback to the old Laurel and Hardy type comedies, Ghostbusters: Afterlife is a love letter to the original and the mysterious legacy of its characters. Like I said it’s the kind of movie and story I loved when I was a younger Tim, kids rallying to save the world. Fine, I guess it has some Stranger Things vibes if your view is so narrow and cuz it has Finn Wolfhard, but if you haven’t seen The Monster Squad, I can’t help you. Either way, Reitman does just enough to honor what we’ve all loved about the movies but also to say goodbye to the past and open the doors to the future of the franchise.
If you’re a fan or just remember the glory of that first time you saw the first flick — meh, maybe I’m over-romanticizing, but who cares? — there are plenty of throwbacks, callbacks, easter eggs and cameos — yes, cameos!! — that will make this a more than satisfying trip to revisit these nostalgic characters.
And be sure to stick around through the credits.
Lover of movies and tacos. Ad man. Author. Member of the Kansas City Film Critics Circle and the Broadcast Film Critics Association. Founder of the Terror on the Plains Horror Festival. Creator and voice of the Reel Hooligans podcast.
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