THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
Ghostbusters has lived on to be part of the list of films that defined the 1980s respectively. What was missing from the franchise was having a follow up that would be considered on par with the original. Ghostbusters II was fun, but it appeared as if it was being held back. The Real Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters: The Video Game were awesome, but then the 2016 remake lacked the spirit. In 2021, Sony Pictures finally got it together and gave the fans what they deserved.
PLOT
Ghostbusters: Afterlife takes place after 30 years since the iconic paranormal investigators were last seen in action capturing ghosts. Former member Egon Spengler is killed by a ghost he was trying to capture in Summerville, Oklahoma. His estranged daughter Callie with her teenage son Trevor and preteen daughter Phoebe inherit the farm he left behind. This is convenient for Callie due to her recent financial struggles cause her to be evicted. Upon arrival, she meets a close friend to Egon named Janine (Annie Potts), former Ghostbusters receptionist, who tells her that the farm has no value, meaning that the family will have to stay. The scientifically minded Phoebe takes notice that the farm is haunted as she makes contact with the ghost of her grandpa, unaware of who he was. While she goes to summer school and befriends a boy who calls himself ‘Podcast’, due to actually hosting one of conspiracy theories, Trevor hangs out with a girl he crushes over named Lucky Domingo, daughter of Sheriff Sherman (Bokeem Woodbine). Phoebe does continue to look around the house and with the help of Egon’s ghost, she finds an actual ghost trap. She shows it to her teacher, seismologist Gary Grooberson, who recognizes it and explains to her & Podcast who the Ghostbusters were. This inspires them to make a big mistake by opening the trap, that ends up releasing other ghosts. When Gary takes her home, she and Podcast find a book that explores the lore of Gozer the Gozerian and its sentinels, the latter of which are the ghosts they released. When Trevor hangs out with Lucky and her friends one evening, they encounter one of the sentinel ghosts. When Phoebe even finds Egon’s laboratory under the farm, discovering more equipment such as a proton pack, spare uniforms and a miniature model of the farm. A day later, she and Podcast test out the proton pack and find another ghost they call ‘Muncher’ (Josh Gad), due to how it feasts on metal. With the help of Trevor driving them around with the Ecto-1 he repaired to capture it. They succeed, but all three get arrested due to the property damage they caused all over town. Rather than calling her mom, Phoebe calls former Ghostbuster Ray Stantz, who still had the same number from his original advertisement. Surprisingly, he willingly decides to tell her what happened to the team, despite not knowing who she is until the end of the call, saddened to know that his friend had died. It turns out that they went out of business due to how there were no more ghosts to capture in New York and everyone decided to part ways. Ray kept his book store, Peter Venkman returned to being a professor and Winston Zeddemore became a wealthy businessman. Egon on the other hand stole the remaining equipment to capture an unspecified threat in Summerville in which no one believed. Callie picks up the kids after they originally passed by her during a date she had with Gary. With the equipment taken, Phoebe is distraught that Callie never told her who Egon was, but her mother makes clear that she couldn’t bare to forgive him for leaving without explanation. Gary gets possessed by the sentinel Vinz Clortho the Keymaster after getting attacked by miniature Stay Puft Marshmallow Men during his attempt to buy groceries. By next morning, Phoebe shares with Trevor, Podcast and now Lucky the map of Summerville. Due to how the town was built by Ivo Shandor (JK Simmons), the same man who built a New York apartment complex where the Ghostbusters first defeated Gozer, she believes there is good reason to inspect the mines. There, they find the temple of Gozer and an alive Shandor in a glass coffin. They also notice traps planted by Egon to prevent Gozer and countless other ghosts from coming through the other side. Seeing the traps made Phoebe realize that Egon left his family for the greater good. When the kids go to the farm to explain their discovery to Callie, they find her to be possessed by Zulu the Gatekeeper. She retreats to reunite with Vinz/Gary, who destroyed Egon’s mine trap when the kids left. When she leaves, Phoebe finds multiple ghost traps outside the farm, planted to trap Gozer itself. The kids suit up in the spare uniforms and get back the equipment and Ecto-1 in hopes to stop the apocalypse from happening. When Ivo re awakens, he pledges his fealty to Gozer, but is killed instead. When Phoebe returns to the mine with Trevor and Podcast, they are able to free Callie by trapping Zuul. Gary/Vinz chases them to the farm where they meet up with Lucky. They intend to set up the farm trap to trap Gozer for good, but Trevor’s proton pack is damaged due to it being tampered by mini Stay Pufts. With the silos out of energy, Gozer is able to break free and Gary/Vinz frees Zuul, possessing Lucky in the process. Gozer attempts to finish off her obstacles, but her old flames that are the original Ghostbusters return to help. They briefly pin her down with their proton packs, but it breaks free and knocks them down in return. Distracted, Phoebe shoots at her with her proton pack, aided by Egon’s ghost to hold her stance. The original team gets back up to keep her down. While Podcast kills the remaining Mini Stay Pufts, he reactivates Trevor’s proton pack, which he uses to charge up the silos. This gives Callie the chance to activate the traps again, to trap all ghosts for good, including Gozer. With the world saved and both Lucky & Gary free from possession, Egon makes amends with his friends. He also does the same with his daughter, who has chosen to forgive him after finding a memory board of her in the laboratory. After reconciling with everyone and finishing his business, he decides to depart for the hereafter. The film ends in two post credit scenes: The first one shows Venkman doing an ESP test with his wife Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver). The second shows Winston return a now refurbished Ecto-1 to the original firehouse that belonged to the Ghostbusters, also reuniting with Janine, reminiscing how grateful he was with the job that changed his life.
THOUGHTS
I was lucky to have a handful of exciting theatric experiences in 2021 when the theaters safely re opened during the COVID-19 pandemic and while most viewers would prefer Dune or Spider-Man: No Way Home, this was the experience I loved the most. Director Jason Reitman grew up with the original film like many in his generaton, so it was fitting of him to recapture the spirit that his father Ivan first sparked. Just by listening to Rob Simonsen's unique score and appreciating the visual/practical effects that make the various ghosts appear as real as possible, I felt like a kid again. It remains just as creative by feeling fun yet suspenseful. The best example goes to how the mini Stay Pufts get as reckless as Gremlins/Mogwai and Muncher is as grotesque as Slimer. The main reason that this movie easily becomes the best sequel of the series is because it teaches viewers the most valuable lesson to always make amends with the ones you love because you'll never know when they'll be gone, while also expressing your roots. All of this is cleverly explored with the mix of familiar and new faces. It is pretty clear that this movie would be difficult to get through without the original cast, so seeing them appear in the climax was a delight. Seeing the three remaining three Ghostbusters reunite spoke volumes in a way no one would expect: For Bill Murray's Venkman reminded me to always have your friend's back. Ernie Hudson's Winston reminded me to be remain humble with your roots. And as for Dan Aykroyd, his return as Ray reminded me not to be ashamed of your beliefs, like Egon. Seeing the array of emotions he was going through when talking to Phoebe on the phone was raw to see because you see the instant regret he felt for not working things out with his best friend and reassembling the team became his chance to redeem himself. It did feel hard to imagine another entry for this series when actor Harold Ramis passed away. Nevertheless, Bob Gunton was a great stand in for Egon, who looked just like him due to incredible make up. Seeing the hug he had with Callie felt perfect because it felt like the only way to say goodbye to a memorable character and his respected actor simultaneously. You know you have a memorable villain on your hands when it's hard to keep them down and they keep coming back. There is no better example than the menacing Gozer. It sounded hard to top the combination of Paddi Edwards' voice and Slavitza Jozan's physical appearance, but the new duo of Shohreh Aghdashloo (voice) and Olivia Wilde (physical) say otherwise as the combination succeeds in making the character as seductive and vile as it's infamously known for. With the ultimate trap unleashed on her, it is safe to say that the worst of ghosts are out of the equation for now. As we enter the new set of characters, McKenna Grace was the true scene stealer of this movie for expressing Egon's genes in the best way. She was shy because she felt alone of how no one had an intelligent mind like hers but when encountering the ghost of her grandpa, she didn't feel so alone anymore. Seeing her embrace her family's past encouraged viewers to not be ashamed of their upbringing because you wouldn't be who are without the predecessors that paved the way. She doesn't try to be socially awkward, but what matters to her is that she is being herself the whole time. It's pretty crazy that Finn Wolfhard went from dressing up as a Ghostbuster in Stranger Things to actually playing one in this sequel. I actually enjoyed him as Trevor because his laid back attitude reminded me of Venkman; He may come off apathetic, but that doesn't mean he doesn't care about his family because in the long run, he was with his sister until the end. Logan Kim was another delight to the cast for being completely enthusiastic as Podcast. Seeing how he expresses his interests through an actual podcast reminded me to not shamed of your beliefs, just like Ray. Without overrating the actress, I enjoyed Celeste O'Connor who portrayed Lucky as free spirited as possible. She doesn't like where she resides, but she doesn't let that bring her down. This backs up why Trevor falls for her because he respects how she has a stronger positive approach in her predicament, whereas he does not. I truly enjoyed Carrie Coon as well because she made Callie just as relatable as the other characters. She comes off highly cynical, but with good reason as she felt abandoned by the most special person in her life. She loves Phoebe just as much as she loves Trevor, but it was hard to socialize with her as her interest in science always reminded her of her dad. She refused any sympathy/condolence because she wasn't able to connect with him before he left. Once she took notice that he never forgot about her and his actions were for the greater good, she quickly saw her selfish perspective and accepted what her daughter loves. Going back to the hug, it is a strong reminder that it's never too late to make amends with loved ones. Last but not least, Paul Rudd was the selling point for me when it came to checking this out because he's genuinely funny in most of his roles. I dug him as Gary for being one who loves what he teaches, but would not teach it everyday that includes the summer. He even reminds me of Louis from the prior film, who is just good natured all around. He seems to crush over Callie because he likes how open minded and doesn't really let too many things get to her and she gives him a chance because she sees how sweet he is deep down. So hopefully, I hope they keep making each other happy now that the world is safe. Even though I love this movie more than I should, it doesn’t really excuse the flaws I found when re watching. Like the opening chase grabs my attention for the wrong reason: How did Egon pass through the gate when it already look closed? Did he really make the time to lock it after already unlocking it? That’s pretty unnecessary to cover your tracks. And how did he not appear injured after the car crashed? I don’t want him to die, but he’s not invincible. So it felt way too unreal of how he wasn’t even limping after that. The only other thing I’d question about him is why didn’t he call Ray after he got proof of what he found? Had he done so, Ray would’ve came to Summerville and take shifts to keep Gozer at bay. And if Egon still died, Ray would’ve protected his family. And what was the official autopsy? Phoebe claims it to be heart attack, but can that really be declared after that car accident? If that is really what tied things together, then that should’ve been clear to the family. On top of that, who was Callie’s mother? I was surprised that it wasn’t Janine, so I’m curious to know who clicked with Egon better than her to have a child together. Also, why does it take so long for the PKE meter to go off immediately when Egon is making his presence known in the farm and multiple ghosts are trapped? That’s kind of a design flaw when you think about it. It is indeed hilarious that Gary allows the kids to watch horror movies during his class, especially since Cujo foreshadows what happens to him, but how have not heard about this? It’s not like the kids don’t care that much that they wouldn’t tell them how their day went. And where the hell is Podcast’s parents? He gets involved in a lot of shenanigans and we don’t see either have concern at all, which is weird. We get at least a cameo from Lucky’s dad, so it’s kinda ridiculous we don’t see Podcast’s parents. I didn’t mind that Phoebe kept her composure when encountering Egon, but how did Lucky’s crew and Trevor keep it together when they saw a ghost? That is not something to be chill about. I then wonder how come Trevor didn’t recognize the Ecto-1? He claimed to hear about the Manhattan ghost stories, yet never looked it up? I mean that is a little ridiculous how he has minimal curiosity. Phoebe is smart to investigate the mines, but why did she go unarmed? If she’s certain that something is there, she should’ve grabbed spare equipment before walking into danger. Also, Gary may come off as a social doofus, but how did he have a hard time triangulating the source of the earthquakes? Considering that he had a hunch as a seismologist, he should’ve checked out the mines way before Egon died. I even have such confusion on bringing the Ecto-1 into the mines because that car is so old that it’s barely hanging on based on Trevor’s efforts. I did say the Mini Stay Pufts were hilarious, but how did they not make a peep when damaging Trevor’s proton pack? I really doubt they’re that stealth, considering how reckless they were at Walmart. Put these issues aside, then you’re still gonna have a blast. In short, Ghostbusters: Afterlife is a satisfying sequel for hitting all the right marks and gave everyone deserving closure. If you’ve been a fan of this franchise from day one, then you’re gonna love this movie too.
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