Ghostbusters: Afterlife

Image credit: slashfilm.com

Whenever a beloved film from a bygone era gets targeted for a reboot, the initial response is always dubious. And rightly so. Cinema’s history, particularly the time ranging from the naughties through the 2010s is littered with the withered husks of fantastic films that got turned into franchises and milked for all they were worth. So it’s really a lovely surprise to watch a reboot and get to the end and go, ‘huh that’s was actually very entertaining and well done’. This is the feeling that I am currently experiencing, having just finished watching Ghostbusters: Afterlife (I’ve got tickets to the new one as a perk from my job so I figured I’d better watch its predecessor).

When Callie is evicted from her apartment she hopes to find a silver lining in inheriting the house of her late father. But when she and her kids Trevor and Pheobe get there, they find a dilapidated manor on the outskirts of a town in the middle of nowhere. While Callie and Trevor bemoan the loss of their city life, Pheobe discovers some very strange things about their new home including a basement filled with scientific gadgets, a garage with a very odd car, and a ghost. With the help of her new friend Podcast and her summer schoolteacher Mr. Grooberson, Phoebe discovers that her grandfather wasn’t some crazy old man like everyone says, he was a Ghostbuster intent on saving the world right to the end.

This was just a really fun film. Set in the present day, but in a universe where the events of the original Ghostbusters happened, it follows in the awkward and silly footsteps of the original; neither being too whimsical nor too serious. What I really liked about it was that it was made with love and respect for the original film. Ghostbusters is such a beloved classic from the ‘80s and it was really lovely to see a reboot that not only tied in elements of the original story, but employed the same humour, and didn’t rely too heavily on computer wizardry. In fact the reprisal of a few computer generated characters are actually really tastefully done with the holographic visage of a deceased actor and the janky ridiculousness of the famous hellhounds. It was fresh, but also nostalgic and I think that’s what really made it so enjoyable.

Image credit: gizmostory.com

In the ‘80s it was the band of bumbling male scientists, in 2016 it was the committed crew of female leads, and now it’s time for the kids to drive. The performances are all very good with a fun assortment making up the motley crew. We’ve got an awkward teenager tyring to be cool, an introverted and socially challenged 12-year-old, an overly enthusiastic young content creator, and a cool, down-to-earth teenage girl. Minus the delightful cameos during the climax, the gender divide is pretty well-bridged, bringing new elements and chemistry into the mix.

I really rather enjoyed Ghostbusters: Afterlife; it was both nostalgic and refreshing, it treated the original source material with respect, and it held something for those who have seen the original film and those who haven’t.

Director: Jason Reitman, 2021

Cast: Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace, Logan Kim, Celeste O’Conner, Paul Rudd, Annie Potts, Dan Akroyd, Ernie Hudson, J. K. Simmons, Bill Murray & Sigourney Weaver.