This past weekend, I took my family out to the movie theater to watch Ghostbusters Afterlife. And it was not a disappointment. The movie delivers exactly what it sets out to achieve and my family and I enjoyed every minute of it.
The following is my review of the movie with some minor spoilers:
The Good
The movie is a solid follow-up to the Ghostbusters movie franchise. While the movie doesn't take place in New York City, which was a staple of past films, it does seem to highlight how small town areas can be seriously affected by the actions of big city elites. Essentially, the town where most of the action takes place was built by Ivo Shandor (I think that's right), the same man who built the apartment complex where Gozer breaks through in the first movie. Basically, this town appears to have been his back-up plan.
And yes, the big bad is Gozer. You can't keep a cosmic force like Gozer locked up in another dimension for very long, especially when you've already weakened the walls between ours and its.
The film mainly focuses on the granddaughter of Egon Spengler and this makes the film charming. We see a young girl discovering her grandfather's legacy and there is something wonderful in that story. Her mother was estranged from him and part of the film deals with her having to learn to forgive him for who he is and understand that what he was doing was quite possibly the most important thing he could do.
The effects of the film are fantastic with both practical and CGI effects used properly when the scenes called for it. The acting was excellent and for the most part it was hard to see any editing flaws or cut scenes.
And the film remains true to the original in terms of tone and pacing. It's funny when it needs to be funny. It's serious when it needs to be. There's no over-the-top nonsense when it comes to the jokes which basically kills the humor, unlike the 2016 remake.
The Bad
The movie has an overload of nostalgia. This isn't a bad thing, but it's clearly meant for fans of the original to catch on to. If you've never seen the original two movies (and why haven't you?), then there are references that might be over your head. The good news about that is that you won't find yourself lost in the plot because of this.
There are few plot holes, like how Egon Spengler had a daughter. She'd have to be at least 40 years old at this point, which means Egon would have to have fathered her before the events of the first film. I think it would've made more sense if he had a niece who was his last living relative. Also, it's mentioned that he left her all his debt, which is not what happens when you die in the USA. When you die with debts to your name, any assets you own are confiscated to pay the debt off. But then his daughter would've had to sell the farmhouse he apparently owned.
Egon's daughter also spends a lot of the movie attacking her absent father. And while this is understandable, it also gets annoying after a time. It's like the movie is trying to make its dumb audience understand that she resents her father every second of her screen time. And when she finally finds that moment in the film where she forgives him, the pay off isn't as rewarding.
The Ugly
The only ugly thing I can say about this film is that there are brief allusions to sex (Gatekeeper and Keymaster make a return) and one characters comments on Gozer being "woke" because it's genderless. These things, however, will go over kid's heads and they aren't nearly as bad as Ray getting a ghost blowjob in the first film.
The only other ugly thing is that this movie ignores the events of the 2009 video game, which for a long time was considered the unofficial third movie.
So overall, this is a fun film that you'll enjoy, especially if you're a fan of the original films. It certainly makes up for the dumpster fire that was the 2016 reboot. Go see it for yourself. You won't be disappointed.