Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021)

Starring: Mckenna Grace, Carrie Coon, Paul Rudd, Finn Wolfhard, Celeste O’Connor, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts, Olivia Wilde, Josh Gad, and J.K. Simmons, with the likeness of Harold Ramis and a cameo from Sigourney Weaver
Grade: B+

Are the Ghostbusters finally back? I think so!

Summary

In Summerville, Oklahoma, Dr. Egon Spengler (Ramis) drives out of the Shandor Mining Company at night with a captured ghost in the ghost trap. He goes straight back to his house in a hurry, luring another creature to his farm because of it. He sets up another massive trap that he has rigged on his farm, but the power fails on him. Egon runs inside and conceals the ghost trap in his home before being attacked by this unknown entity while sitting in his chair, dying.

In Chicago, Callie (Coon) is Egon’s adult daughter who is a struggling single mother in an apartment with her two teenage children Trevor (Wolfhard) and Phoebe (Grace). As she cuts Trevor’s hair, Callie is distracted by the electricity going in and out for a moment and she accidentally cuts Trevor, though its minor. She runs over to check on Phoebe because she knows it has something to do with her, and it does. The neighbor’s electricity was running out of phase, so Phoebe tied in and bumped them up to 220. Callie wonders why she didn’t ask, but Phoebe bluntly tells her that she doesn’t have an aptitude for science. She’s better at other things like quesadillas. Just then, the landlord knocks on the door to pin up an eviction notice. Callie tells the guy she’s on the way to pick up a check right now because her father in Egon died and left her money. She’s not bent out of shape over it however because they weren’t close. Egon abandoned his family to live on the farm in Oklahoma. She tries to get the landlord to give her a week to collect the rest of her money for all the unpaid rent and such, but he refuses. Whenever they leave, he’s going to change the locks. With this, Carrie takes Trevor and Phoebe to live at Egon’s farm in Summerville, Oklahoma. Upon getting to the yard, there are a few lines from Revelations 6:12 spray painted on metal sheets in the front yard saying, “Behold, there was a great earthquake. The sun became as black as cloth, the seas boiled, the moon became as blood, the skies fell”. Trevor reads them aloud, though no one notices the other message on another sheet separated from the rest saying, “This is how it ends”. Driving up to the house, the word “DIRT” is written on part of the separate building next to the house. Carrie finds that the door is locked, so she tells Phoebe to break in. Once Phoebe picks the lock, they walk in and see there isn’t a single photo anywhere. There are papers, books, and a series of numbers written along the wall. Trevor walks in to tell them about the junk he found outside, but they are interrupted by tremors, so they get under a table to take cover.

Once this clears up, Carrie reveals to the two that this isn’t going to be their spot for a week like she initially said. Since they were evicted, this is their new home. Plus, she doesn’t have much in terms of savings, which Phoebe concurs in that Carrie was never good with money.

Former Ghostbusters receptionist Janine Melnitz (Potts) shows up at the house and Carrie introduces herself. Janine tries to give her condolences, but Carrie explains how she should be doing it for her because Janine probably knew Egon better than her. Even so, Janine spoke on the phone to Carrie previously about the house, so everything is cool. Carrie doesn’t know Janine’s connection to Egon, so Janine just explains that she was there to make sure Egon’s bills were paid on time. There was no money to manage though, as Egon could barely keep the power on. Janine reveals that Egon left Carrie and her family his debt, so the place is essentially worthless. Carrie, Trevor, and Phoebe go over to Spinner’s for dinner, a retro drive-in burger place where the waiters and waitresses are on roller-skates. There, Trevor becomes interested in a waitress around his age named Lucky (O’Connor). He goes inside to talk to her and writes up a resume on the spot, lying and telling her he’s 17. At the same time, Carrie tries to encourage Phoebe on their new location and how she could make some friends out here. Inside, Trevor tries to flirt with Lucky, but it gets pretty awkward, and she messes with him a bit before going back to work. The cooks mess with him too, knowing he was trying to shoot his shot. Outside, an older waitress serves Carrie her food and they have a small conversation about how Carrie is here to stay and how her father owned the old farm labeled “DIRT”. The waitress is genuinely surprised that “Dirt Farmer” had a family. Carrie just tries to end the conversation there by saying he’ll be missed, but the waitress admits he won’t be. That night, Phoebe is reading in her room and on her bed. She’s interrupted by the chess board on the table falling to the ground unprompted. She puts all the pieces back on the board and puts it back onto the table, staring at it intently. Trevor investigates outside and goes into the garage, finding the Ecto-1 the Ghostbusters used to drive. In the morning, Phoebe wakes up and find that one piece from the chess set moved a space by itself. Instead of freaking out, the curious Phoebe moves a piece from her side and starts a game with, more than likely, a ghost.

Following this, Carrie drives Trevor to work and Phoebe to summer school.

Considering her aptitude, I’m not sure why she’s taking summer school classes but whatever.

Callie encourages Phoebe on the way to walking her to class and sees her off. Standing at the doorway of the middle school, she engages in conversation with Gary Grooberson (Rudd), thinking he’s a fellow parent. It turns out he’s the teacher of Phoebe’s class, and he jokes with Callie before heading in. To waste time in class and because nobody there wants to be there, Gary puts on a VHS copy of Cujo for the class to watch. As it begins, Podcast (Logan Kim) strikes up a conversation with Phoebe, and they discuss Egon’s death once she reveals that’s why she’s there. After Podcast reveals that he calls himself this because of his podcast, they befriend each other. At the hardware store, Carrie buys some paint supplies and her and the cashier discuss how she’s “Dirt Farmer’s” daughter, how he never planted anything on his farm but was always working on his land, bought some peculiar things, and was a great customer. Back at the middle school, some tremors happen during the movie, but everyone reacts normally to it. Gary takes a look at some readings in his office because he’s a seismologist. Phoebe enters his office and notes his seismic map, outing him as a seismologist. She looks at some of his papers and says they don’t look tectonic or volcanic. He explains to her his dilemma on his research. In Summerville specifically, he has found that there has been a large P-wave and a small S-wave, indicating something like an explosion. He doesn’t know where they are coming from. He set up geophones but can’t triangulate. Somehow, a town that isn’t anywhere near a tectonic plate, that has no underground volcanic activity, no fault lines, no fracking, and not even loud music is shaking on a daily basis. Phoebe playfully suggests it’s the apocalypse. At Spinner’s, Trevor counts inventory in the freezer and Lucky messes with him by giving him her hoodie to wear and saying it’s her boyfriend’s right after he tries to put it on. After school, Phoebe walks with Podcast. He has her tell a joke on his microphone since he always has his podcast equipment on, and he laughs. It means a lot to Phoebe.

Podcast takes her around town and starts spouting off conspiracies about the Illuminati and the dead, and how a movie theater near them is haunted, prompting Phoebe to say she doesn’t believe in ghosts. Podcast can’t believe this, so he takes her over to the abandoned Shandor mine that’s been closed since the 1940s. Despite potential hazardous chemical leaks and all the signs about trespassing, Phoebe and Podcast walk in and Podcast gives her the rundown on the backstory. Apparently, the whole town used to be a mining operation. They “bore out this mountain like a grapefruit and smelted everything into cold riveted selenium girders”. After Podcast bypasses Phoebe’s comment wondering why someone would make a steel beam out of an electro conductor like selenium because he didn’t know what the hell she was talking about, he explains they had to close down one day. One by one, the miners started leaping down the mine shaft to their death. It was called the “Shandorian Curse”. The two look at the massive carved statues behind a torn curtain, and Podcast says they showed up one day without explanation. Meanwhile, Trevor is in the garage and begins working on restoring the Ecto-1. Podcast walks Phoebe home, and he talks about his podcast being about mysteries, the unknown, conspiracy theories, and the occasional restaurant review. He gets really excited when Phoebe says she’ll check it out and tells her that the show really finds its voice in Episode 46. Though they aren’t going to be doing any labs in class that she’s aware of, Podcast asks if she could be his lab partner. Phoebe happily accepts. Since they’re right outside the driveway, she starts to head in, and Podcast can’t believe “Dirt Farmer” is related to her. He records her walking away in case her body is pulled apart by an unseen dark force, which he says to her. Phoebe is weirded out and leaves. That night, Phoebe gets ready for bed but sees the chess board from that morning. Another piece has been moved from the opposing side. Intrigued, she makes a move and takes away a pawn from the other side, and the move is repeated in retaliation by the ghost, knocking her pawn to the ground. She looks over and sees Egon’s PKE Meter light up, so she grabs it and points it around the room. It only lights up when facing a certain direction towards the door.

Just to give out more of a hint, the unseen ghost opens the door for her. To lead her downstairs, the hall lights turn on one after another. She’s led to the chair, and the ghost runs the chair into her to sit down. This allows for Phoebe to find the floorboard that is a series of puzzle pieces to cover up a compartment in the floor. She figures out the puzzle and pulls the ghost trap out of the hole. The next day at school, Gary has the class watching Child’s Play, but Phoebe and Podcast aren’t paying attention. They’re examining the ghost trap, wondering what it is. Gary compliments them on the “replica” because he’s a huge fan of the Ghostbusters, but they have no idea what he’s referencing. Gary explains how New York was like The Walking Dead in the 80s, but then it just stopped. There hasn’t been a ghost sighting in 30 years. Holding the trap up, Gary notices a whisper of smoke creep out of it, realizing it’s real. He questions the two on it, so Phoebe explains that she found it in her house and Podcast tells him that she lives on Dirt. With this, Gary takes them into his office to explain what happened in New York after Phoebe asks. Showing them a YouTube video of the climax of the first Ghostbusters, Gary talks about how “these physicists showed up with the portable proton accelerators and blew the roof off a Manhattan high-rise”. The kids have never heard of the Ghostbusters, and Gary uses this opportunity to ask if her dad ever told her about it. When Phoebe confirms it was just her mom, Gary subtly says “Cool” to himself, as it means Carrie is single. Podcast suggests they open the trap, so they wait to do so after school. They revive the trap with jumper cables attached to the school bus, and Podcast turns it on. Gary steps on the pedal but nothing happens. He goes closer and touches the top of the trap, and a monstrous, black, demon-like ghost pops out and shoots like a rocket past them, heading straight to the Shandor Mining cave. Realizing he would be liable, Gary drives them the hell out of there and back to Phoebe’s house.

Podcast is narrating on his microphone about what he sees. As Gary and Podcast walk around the living room, Gary notes an Aztec death whistle. They were designed to ward off evil spirits and it has a horrifying sound. Naturally, Podcast uses it and it’s awful. Callie appears and lets Podcast have the whistle as long as he doesn’t use it again. Callie and Gary start to flirt after Gary admits he always wanted to see what was in this creepy old house, so she gives him a tour. Phoebe and Podcast take a look at some of Egon’s reading materials while Podcast plainly says Gary is trying to bone Phoebe’s mom. She’s bothered by it but doesn’t emote outright because it’s not her style. Flipping through a book, Podcast sees a picture of the ghost they saw earlier. It talks about the Sumerians believing in the “land of the dead, a dark and shadowy realm within the bowels of the Earth. The souls of the dead are ruled by a mighty God, Gozer, and protected by a powerful Gatekeeper and Keymaster, in order that Gozer might rise up and walk the human plane again”. Basically, it’s what happened in the first Ghostbusters. Podcast continues reading aloud with, “The Gatekeeper and Keymaster must assume the form of beasts”, and the two realize that they may have just released a minion of Gozer the Gozerian. The workday at Spinner’s finishes up, so Lucky invites Trevor to come along with her and their co-workers to a mountain they all hang out at. They take two cars and park near the old mine area. Lucky and Trevor discuss Trevor’s family being broke which is why they are here, how Lucky’s family have been there for four generations, and they playfully discuss the possibility of never leaving Summerville. Just then, the hole underneath where they are sitting starts to making rumbling noises and shakes the equipment they are sitting on. They jump off and look down into the hole. The ghost let out from the ghost trap is seen below, and it says the word “Gozer” aloud to them and the other kids. The ghost shoots out of the hole screaming and goes away, prompting the kids to laugh it off. Back at Dirt, Gary and Callie continue to talk and Gary finds a map of Summerville, though it’s an ancient one written in cuneiform. Obviously, this is weird because Summerville isn’t 100 years old, but this map was from thousands of years ago. Callie doesn’t really care and lets Gary have the map.

Outside the house, Phoebe uses the PKE Meter to continue following the ghost of Egon. It takes her into the garage to the firepole. Swinging down it and into a hole, she finds herself in Egon’s lair located under the barn. As the lights turn on, she finds all the old Ghostbusters equipment, some experiments Egon was working on, some inexplicable things in jars, and a locker containing the old Ghostbusters uniforms. Egon’s uniform is in the front, and Phoebe reaches inside the pocket to find a Crunch wrapper and his iconic glasses. She holds them up to her face and realizes they are identical to hers. The ghost of Egon continues to guide Phoebe around the lair by moving items around and flickering lights and such until she finds some type of device where two of the CRT emitters are missing. Hearing this, the ghost opens a drawer with other equipment to help her fix it. Thanking the ghost and putting it together, she wonders how Egon was able to build such a small cyclotron. Through the usage of the lamp pointing towards the other side of the room, Phoebe realizes Egon is calling himself a genius. Later that night, Phoebe sits alone in her bedroom and views the first commercial the Ghostbusters put out to promote their business on YouTube, though she closes her laptop once Callie walks in and just says she was working on “experiments”. Phoebe asks Callie what kind of scientist Egon was, but Callie doesn’t know. Phoebe correctly guesses he was a physicist though. Even so, Callie doesn’t care. She was just there to tell Phoebe she’s having dinner with Gary tomorrow. Once Callie leaves the room, Phoebe writes down the information from the Ghostbusters commercial presented on the screen. Sometime after, Podcast takes Phoebe to an area he refers to as “Rust City”, the place where they processed all the raw selenium. There, Phoebe puts on a proton pack, as Egon’s ghost helped her fix it the night before. She has Podcast switch her on, and she absolutely destroys her practice target. Right after, they hear some strange noise coming from a nearby building, so they go to investigate it.

Inside the building, they find a blob of a ghost chewing on a pipeline. It’s later referred to as “Muncher”. Calling an audible, Podcast blows the Aztec whistle at it, but Muncher is unfazed and shoots back bullets at the two from the metal it was just eating. Phoebe chases it using her proton pack and tells Podcast to get the trap ready. She latches onto the ghost, but Podcast throws the trap out only for it to be upside down. With this, Muncher is able to overpower the stream and escape. Meanwhile, Trevor fixes the Ecto-1 and drives it out of the barn in excitement. He finds Phoebe and Podcast on the road and greets them. Despite failing his driver’s test three times previously, he gives the two a ride into town.

The pieces are now coming together at just the right time, with Phoebe becoming a Ghostbuster-in-training. However, considering the impending doom on the horizon, they still may need extra help.

My Thoughts:

Bypassing the blasphemous 2016 reboot, the correct decision was made to return to the original timeline of the Ghostbusters franchise with a long-awaited sequel. Since fans and audiences worldwide made it clear that’s what was desired from the beginning, the hype was back with the release of Ghostbusters: Afterlife.

Admittedly, I was weary going into it because I wasn’t sure what to expect. Here, we finally get the return of the original actors playing the characters that made the franchise what it was, but there is still an incessant push for a group of unknown teenage actors taking over the role of the new Ghostbusters instead of just giving us the older stars returning for one last ride to complete the trilogy. Truth be told, I would have preferred the latter route instead and just ended it there, as I hate the studio agenda of having a new group take over just to milk a franchise for all its worth. Extreme Ghostbusters already tried this and failed, as did Paul Feig’s female-led film. As stated in previous reviews, the key to the franchise is Bill Murray’s Venkman, Dan Aykroyd’s Ray Stanz, Harold Ramis’s Egon Spengler, and Ernie Hudson’s Winston Zeddemore. The love and legacy of the series are purely on the cast and the characters. The premise itself helps, but it’s not nearly as important of a factor as studio heads would like to admit, which is why any production not involving them in a major capacity directly correlates to its failure. The only way I would have been open to new Ghostbusters taking over for Murray, Aykroyd, Ramis, and Hudson was if Aykroyd got his wish with his original Ghostbusters III script, with new comedic actors being inserted into the cast who were gradually eased into taking over. Considering how legendary the original stars were in their roles and the franchise’s importance to a lot of fans, this was the only route that would have been deemed acceptable. Giving fairly unknown teenage actors this privilege never sat right with me. Nevertheless, with the creation of production company Ghost Corps, and Dan Aykroyd and Jason Reitman being the creative team behind expanding the Ghostbusters universe into something akin to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, they decided to go in this direction instead. Still, an argument can be made that the same goal could have been achieved if they kept the old guys as the focus of Ghostbusters: Afterlife and slowly introduced and integrated a team of adult comic stars to take over, as it would have fit the fun-loving energy of the original much more.

Paul Rudd could still be one of them too, as he fits the mold of being a Ghostbuster to his core. Despite my wishes, this was how they wanted to do it, and the teen cast took the reins. If they wanted to revive the franchise to appeal to a younger generation instead of only appealing to the older fans and calling it quits right after, maybe this was the way to go from a money-making perspective, especially if the goals of Ghost Corps are as wide as we have been led to believe. Thankfully, all was not forgotten, and it was announced that the original actors were still returning as their actual characters this time around for the sequel. With this, I had to give Ghostbusters: Afterlife a chance out of respect. For all of those who were in the same boat as me, you’ll be glad you did. Ghostbusters: Afterlife may be a mixture of fanservice and nostalgia, but it’s only done out of love for the foundation laid before it and it’s very much appreciated. Still, this is an entirely new story centering around family, love, and the price that has to be paid in being a hero. Retaining the heart of the original Ghostbusters, this sequel is a more grounded, serious take on the concept, but it only adds to the legacy of the franchise with its newfound direction. At the same time, it’s heartwarming, funny, and a great summertime watch for the adults that grew up on Ghostbusters and the current generation looking for another franchise to latch onto. A group of adult comedic actors taking over and mixing in with the old stars would have been more the vibe aligned with 1984’s Ghostbusters, but if we had to have it this way, director Jason Reitman did his father and this series proud.

Though the star power of the new cast is nonexistent, there is something to be said about the talent of these young actors in combination with the screenplay. These new characters and the cast’s performances are nuanced and have a lot more depth than the original movies and characters do. Murray, Aykroyd and the like can get by on their comic talent, energy in comedic scenarios, and their name value alone, but Ghostbusters: Afterlife understands the tall task it has in introducing its cast to new audiences and trying to win them over. Their response is a talented young core to build around. Mckenna Grace becomes the spearhead of the new direction in portraying Dr. Egon Spengler’s granddaughter Phoebe. Though visual cues give us the connection as to why they are related, it’s seen immediately through Grace’s underrated performance. Maintaining the stilted, serious, scientific demeanor of Harold Ramis’s Egon, Grace truly understands the heart of the character and the legacy it has. Just as this film as a whole does, Grace honors the Spengler name. Phoebe’s deadpanning of lame jokes in an attempt to connect with others (“What do you call a dead polar bear?”; Anything you want. It can’t hear you now”) and her inability to emote like regular children her age becomes an endearing part of her personality. Despite the chaos that goes on, she tells Podcast that “overstimulation calms me”, a great explanation as to why she reacts to the spirits that cross her paths in a way we have never seen before in the Ghostbusters universe. It makes what would be a supporting character in any other era of film an intriguing protagonist that is surprisingly strong enough to power the franchise. She seems like an introverted character and is to a point, but there is much more to Phoebe than meets the eye. Getting to see the curious little genius blossom into this potential Ghostbuster inexplicably works. Sure, Phoebe is no Peter Venkman and doesn’t have the main character energy he did, but for this movie, she connects on an emotional level. To offset her low-key personality and style, Carrie Coon is the complete opposite as Callie, Phoebe’s mother and Egon’s estranged daughter.

Playing the cool single mom to a “T” who has an “allergy to science”, Coon is the funny, caring, tough mother who is not only a parent a kid would never be embarrassed by, but a person that anyone would want to hang out and party with. She’s someone who can joke “Hey, don’t be yourself” to Phoebe before she goes to class as advice for her to make friends, but Callie says it in such a way that you know what she really means and how they are words of encouragement coming from her. Her sardonic sense of humor is also reminiscent of the original Ghostbusters movies, as evidenced with her first date with Gary. As Paul Rudd channels his enthusiasm and charm into seismologist and “cool teacher” Gary Grooberson, he can sense Callie’s lack of interest in his talk about science, despite his infectious energy about the subject. After Callie explains how Phoebe’s father didn’t connect with her and she knows Phoebe keeps her on the outside, Rudd plays with the “cool teacher” role but also matches Callie’s sense of humor in an enjoyable exchange. He goes on about how Phoebe is just an awkward nerdy kid but an awesome one. Callie admits she’d wish for Phoebe to relax a little and get into more trouble, a foreshadowing of the rest of the franchise really. With this, Gary sarcastically suggests Phoebe can take up pole dancing, and Callie matches it by deadpanning how she’s not coordinated (“Oh, I don’t think that matters”). Their chemistry is palpable. Right there, the viewer can see why these two fun adults are just made for each other, despite their wildly different backgrounds. Both have these caring but laidback demeanors and youthful presences to them, and it makes us want to see more of them together. We know Rudd always brings it in this category, which is why he was such a great choice to help revive the franchise with his star power. Plus, he’s clearly a fan, so that just makes things easier. The real surprise here is with how great the charismatic Carrie Coon is. For being lesser known in comparison, her performance is just as surprisingly lovable as Grace’s, and the family dynamic between the two women and the awkward Finn Wolfhard of Stranger Things fame is wholesome entertainment that a lot of viewers can relate to and enjoy, especially when Gary gets more involved.

The bond between them is understated but the love is felt, as is Callie’s attitude towards her father and seeing him as a deadbeat. It’s a relatable feeling for many that have had to deal with a similar situation. Callie’s refusal to hear anything about Egon, science, or the Ghostbusters because of what it did to Egon and how it consumed him more than the family he started is a heartbreaking one. Callie is broken on the inside, and she has trouble in explaining these things to the inquisitive Phoebe who doesn’t understand it from Callie’s perspective.

However, just as it is for these characters, Egon’s decisions in life were nuanced and complicated. Everything happened the way it did for a reason. Just as Phoebe has to open her mind to the possibility of ghosts existing, Callie has to open her mind to why Egon left all those years back. This leads the viewer to the most important part of the film and why Afterlife succeeds in honoring the franchise. Tear-jerking moments like Callie finding Egon’s lab and seeing all the pictures he had of her throughout her life is something we live for and makes it all worth it. This film takes a page out of the book that was The Real Ghostbusters and Extreme Ghostbusters in showing to the audience just how much Egon Spengler meant to the series, with him selflessly making this move to a farm in Oklahoma to actually prevent an apocalypse. Everyone else moved on with their lives to varying degrees, but Egon became obsessed with trying to stop another cataclysmic event that could end the world once again and dedicated the rest of his life and afterlife (*winks) in making sure it doesn’t happen. He was “standing guard even when no one would believe him”. He sacrificed everything, his life, his friends, and his family, and he was treated like this crazy, recluse, madman hermit known as “Dirt Farmer” by the locals. To take this and still dedicate your life to saving the world is the mark of a hero. It’s a direction no one would ever predict for a character like Egon Spengler. What’s impressive is that even without Harold Ramis being alive to play the role, his character is given more layers of development than any of the previous movies or shows combined. It’s a testament to how good the story of Afterlife is told and how well everything is tied together in this sequel. The introverted Phoebe realizing Egon’s true intentions before anyone else makes her that much more likable as this girl who is wise beyond her years, becoming a worthy captain of the new Ghostbusters right before our judgmental eyes. It’s a nice change of pace from the cool guy slacker taking the role of the face of the team like how Peter Venkman was all those years back. Truth be told, no one is matching Bill Murray, so this was a fun change. It’s not better, but it was still good.

Without spoiling anything, one point needs to be made. Cinema Loco is against AI and likenesses being used of people who have passed away just for some gratuitous, money-grabbing vanity project. However, Ghostbusters: Afterlife gives Furious 7 a run for its money on how well they handled a real-life death onscreen as a heartwarming moment of closure for the fans. We all love Harold Ramis, and it breaks our hearts as Ghostbusters fans that he wasn’t alive to get that chance to play the iconic Egon Spengler one more time. With the focus of the new films honoring the Spengler legacy because of the main characters and the tear-jerking climax of Ghostbusters: Afterlife however, I can confidently say that this was handled with great care, class, and respect. Afterlife was for the fans, and how they handled the death of Ramis and Egon was an unforgettable sequence that will be appreciated for a lifetime.

On a minor note, the creation of the mini Stay-Puft Marshmallow Men and how they instinctively destroy each other and themselves was hilarious to watch.

Another surprise is Logan Kim. For being a total unknown, he stole the show as Podcast. It didn’t even look like he was acting. It was seriously like he was some random kid that has a passion for conspiracies and ghost stories who just joins the crew midway through the story. This kid is a total professional in terms of acting, and the character’s budding, oddball friendship with Phoebe was fun. A lot of the best jokes of the movie come from him, like when they are pulled over by the cops and he tells them, “I say we fight”. The aforementioned Wolfhard played the awkward teenage boy well and his attempts at courting Celeste O’Connor’s Lucky was a throwback that I’m sure many had painful flashbacks to watching it unfold. Again, this isn’t the group of Ghostbusters we were necessarily asking for, but through Jason Reitman’s careful direction and his and co-writer Gil Kenan’s screenplay, Ghostbusters: Afterlife was written and presented to us in a way that a transition to the next generation was much easier to accept. The difference maker was the respect given to the original films, which was subsequently why the 2016 reboot failed. It didn’t try to forget everything and start anew. Afterlife appreciated its roots and treated what happened like a moment in time that should never be forgotten, a piece of history. It understands the legacy left by the original team, and it’s handled so well that when Phoebe goes on YouTube and finds the original Ghostbusters commercial from 1984 and writes the information down, it sends shivers down your spine (“Pick up your phone and call the professionals!”). We have seen the first two movies hundreds of times, but Afterlife somehow transports us back to that first time we saw Venkman, Ray, and Egon begin their business through the youthful and inquisitive eyes of Phoebe, and it’s quite beautiful. Seriously, it’s a moment that generates goosebumps. Because of the love felt for the old films and how it’s treated in an effort to add more characters to the mix, this sequel succeeds everywhere the 2016 film didn’t. To be fair, the fanservice did seem to supersede originality at times, which was a major issue why legacy sequels like The Matrix Resurrections and Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens had.

For instance, considering how deep the history and mythology of the franchise goes, especially with two creative cartoons with plenty to choose from in terms of antagonists and backstory, bringing back Gozer is lazy. It’s almost the equivalent of bringing back Emperor Palpatine in Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker only not nearly as insulting. Just like it was with Star Wars, a decision like this to bring someone back from the dead undoes the efforts of the original film’s characters and why that film was special in the first place. There is no reason to go backwards, especially when you can create literally any doom-bringing supernatural entity to life onscreen and no one would bat an eye. It’s pure laziness. No one is looking for the return of the bad guys, only the good guys. Seeing Annie Potts show up for a small return as Janine was awesome, but having Callie and Gary redo the iconic Gatekeeper and Keymaster bits that Sigourney Weaver and Rick Moranis did all those years back is way too much of a retread. There is too much talent in Hollywood in terms of creative writers that can add to this franchise. There is no reason to bring back an old villain. That’s why Vigo the Carpathian was one of the best elements of Ghostbusters II because they were creating something new in an effort to raise the stakes. I’d much rather have something like Garraka in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire any day of the week instead of seeing something we have already seen like Gozer. Going back to Ghostbusters II for a second, there was one other issue I had with certain details. When the four kids go to investigate the haunted mining area, they see dates engraved on the upper areas of the wall signifying catastrophic events that have happened on Earth. The year “1984” is included to make sure they’re respecting the events of the first Ghostbusters, but why isn’t “1989” there to represent what happened in Ghostbusters II? That was just as big of an apocalyptic moment that almost consumed the world too! Are we just forgetting what happened that day? Actually, in all of the footage shown of the original Ghostbusters on the job in Afterlife, they only show the first film.

Why are their exploits in the second movie not at least mentioned in a measly sentence or two? Ghostbusters II was an important part of the franchise and easily the second-best film of the entire series. Disregarding it is disrespectful. Thankfully, they rectify this in Frozen Empire but considering characters like Gary are excitedly talking about the Ghostbusters’ adventures to the kids, you would think their battle with Vigo the Carpathian would be mentioned since the crowd outside watching it was even bigger than it was for their battle with Gozer.

While on the subject, one trope I hate in these legacy sequels is having to retell stories of the past because new characters for some reason don’t believe in their validity. Just like in The Force Awakens when Han Solo had to tell all the jerkoffs how the force and the jedi were real despite it being public knowledge within the Star Wars universe that the entire fucking galaxy was saved by Luke Skywalker, Gary has to explain to Phoebe and Podcast who the Ghostbusters are and what they did. First of all, how could Podcast not know who they are if all he studies are paranormal topics and conspiracy theories? Surely, something as massively public as what the Ghostbusters did in the 80s would have to come up at some point during his Googling sprees. It’s not like what they did happened in the 1800s and it’s hard to find. Their exploits within this universe are easily found on YouTube, so Podcast not crossing paths with it at least once is nearly impossible. Also, the world was almost eviscerated in the first movie, and a gigantic marshmallow man the size of Godzilla stormed the streets of New York City for 10 minutes and destroyed everything in sight until it exploded. Since this all actually happened in the Ghostbusters universe, how is this not the most unforgettable moment in the history of planet Earth? Trevor just passing them off as the “Manhattan ghost stories”, prompting Phoebe to explain to him they are real after learning about it herself doesn’t make sense. The existence of the 100-foot Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man is too big of a hole for these “stories” to be a potential myth. This is something that would be in United States history books. At the very least, there would be a blurb on one of the pages with the four heroes being named directly alongside a picture of them stating how they saved the world and “fought back an invading army of the undead” like how Podcast said. For something this catastrophic to happen on U.S. soil, an event like this could hypothetically be treated on the level of a 9/11 or a Boston Marathon bombing within this film. The characters themselves are living historical legends.

It not only doesn’t make sense for their exploits to not being well known as public knowledge, but it also doesn’t make sense as why they aren’t a regular part of the curriculum in a public school in the United States. No one can be this clueless about an event where the world almost ended but was saved by four heroes dressed as garbage men! Then again, I once went to school with a kid who thought 9/11 was the first time someone called 9-1-1.

True story.

For those who still aren’t sold on the younger cast, I will add a little more fuel to this fire. Though the marketing of the movie made it look like Paul Rudd was going to have a huge role, he’s more of a piece of the pie rather than the star. In addition, Murray, Aykroyd, and Hudson really aren’t in the movie more than ten minutes. Nevertheless, their big return moment is the best scene of the movie and is everything we waited for, so we can still appreciate the little we got of them. Joy like that is rarely felt in a movie, but when Venkman slyly states to Gozer, “Hey flattop! Have you missed us?”, the viewer is no doubt covered head to toe in goosebumps. Considering the amount of disrespect the character of Winston Zeddemore has gotten over the years, the character development he gets is a nice treat that he’s earned. Though it happens after the credits, it’s still a crucial sequence that sets up the sequel. With this being said, I still don’t see why the older actors weren’t brought in sooner like how Ray was in the phone call scene (“Egon Spengler can rot in hell!”). Seeing Aykroyd answer that phone in his old bookstore meant the world to the fans, and I think Reitman still underestimated how beloved these guys are. Why couldn’t we have a small scene of Venkman saying goodbye to his wife in Sigourney Weaver’s Dana before heading into a car with Ray and Winston, as he sarcastically explains the importance of the world-saving mission? It could have been a measly thirty seconds to a minute, but it would’ve been everything. An additional scene where the group gets lost while driving the rental car to the site of Egon’s old farm to explain their lateness to the action would have been gold. Sure, it would’ve taken away from them showing up in the huge moment in the climax, but didn’t we all see that coming anyway? Why not include them in a few scenes before it to throw the older fans a bone? In our defense, hearing that the old guys were in it was the only reason we decided to even give this sequel a chance in the first place.

Well, that and Paul Rudd. We never disrespect Paul Rudd.

Furthermore, Afterlife is funny but what it lacks in other departments, it does make up for it with its emotional depth that all previous Ghostbusters-related productions lack. The jail scene where we see Phoebe at her most furious and misunderstood (“You’re starting to sound like your lunatic grandfather”), and Callie and Phoebe’s conversation afterwards was a gut punch. Callie loves that Phoebe found her true self in Summerville and how she’s interested in Egon’s life but is honest in stating “but all I see are reminders that I didn’t mean a thing to him. He never cared about me”. Phoebe insists he wasn’t crazy, but Callie retorts with, “Well, then he’s an asshole. Welcome to the family”. The insight into the family dynamics is really well done. You’d never think a Ghostbusters movie would affect you emotionally but here we are (“We’re barely hanging on here”). Along with Egon’s series of traps to maintain a presence in the mine, the detailed explanations of everything Egon came up with along with the general mythology, and Ray’s recalling of the fallout of the Ghostbusters was presented and written in expert fashion. At first, Ray talking about how Venkman went back to academia seemed odd, but after he said it was to teach advertising and promotion it made sense. Additions like ghost trapping from an RC car were fun, and the gunner seat inside Ecto-1 was an awesome creation. The action sequences involving it were genuinely exciting like when they chase Muncher to the bridge. Honestly, it’s something I wish the old Ghostbusters films came up with. At the very least, The Real Ghostbusters could have had some fun with it.

Unfortunately, it looks like we have to give up on our dream of what could have been Ghostbusters III. However, Ghostbusters: Afterlife is a step in the right direction in continuing the legacy of the Ghostbusters. Would I much rather have seen Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and the rest of the gang hand off the reins of the Ghostbusters to Paul Rudd and three other adult comic actors? Definitely, but the direction they went in instead to bring in a new generation isn’t the worst thing in the world, all things considered. With how this film is handled, nostalgic fans who grew up in the 80s can rest assured that the franchise is in good hands. Jason Reitman did his father proud in helping save this beloved series from obscurity. Though it’s not as thrilling nor is it the comedic masterpiece the first film was, Ghostbusters: Afterlife is a funny, sweet, grounded, intellectual take on the mythology of the Ghostbusters that updates it for the modern era and carves its own foundation to set up a bright future lying ahead.

For Harold.

Fun Fact: The third Ghostbusters‘ time in development hell has been well-documented, with Dan Aykroyd’s original idea had the Ghostbusters travel to a parallel universe of Manhattan and meeting and facing the Devil himself. In the many drafts written, Ben Stiller, Chris Farley, and Chris Rock were some of the potential additions considered at various stages throughout the years before it was decided to go in a completely different direction.