Adventure Comedy

Review: ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’ is a Love Letter to the Original and a Fun Introduction for Newcomers to the Fan-Favorite Franchise

November 18, 2021Ben MK

Nostalgia can be a powerful thing. These days, however, it's not uncommon for the film franchises that defined many moviegoers' childhoods to get a second chance at winning over new generations of audiences. From Jurassic Park to Indiana Jones, Men in Black to Scream, the industry is anything but shy when it comes to revisiting its seminal titles. Fortunately for director Jason Reitman, Ghostbusters: Afterlife manages to accomplish exactly what it sets out to do — recapturing the magic of his father's original 1984 installment while also serving as a fun entry point for newcomers to the series.

The story begins in Summerville, a middle-of-nowhere Oklahoma town where something suspiciously supernatural has been happening. Unexplained earthquakes have been occurring on a daily basis, perplexing local science teacher Gary Grooberson (Paul Rudd), who's been tracking the seismic activity in an attempt to uncover its origin. Could it have something to do with the town's now-shuttered mine, which was closed down years ago, after several miners jumped to their deaths? Or perhaps the mystery can be attributed to Summerville's founder, Ivo Shandor — the occultist behind the Manhattan apartment building atop which the Ghostbusters encountered the Sumerian god Gozer and a giant Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, as they battled for the fate of New York City and the world.

Enter middle schooler Phoebe Spengler (Mckenna Grace), who, along with her older brother Trevor (Finn Wolfhard) and mom Callie (Carrie Coon), has just moved into the dilapidated farm house that, until recently, belonged to her late grandfather, the one and only Egon Spengler. Totally unaware of her family lineage but keen to discover the secrets Egon left behind, Phoebe and her fellow classmate Podcast (Logan Kim) start doing a little investigation of their own, an endeavor that eventually sees them wielding proton packs and racing through the streets of Summerville in the Ecto-1. But when they unwittingly release one of Gozer's demonic terror dogs, they set into motion a sequence of events that could bring about the very thing Egon was trying to prevent.

That thing, of course, is the apocalypse. And while that makes the stakes undeniably high, there's also no denying how personal the result feels, both for Reitman, who does a commendable job ensuring that Afterlife lives up to the legacy of its predecessor, and for the group of talented, mostly young actors, whose entertaining, on-screen chemistry often evokes the interplay between the members of the original cast. Above all else, however, this is a movie about friendship and family. And for better or for worse, despite the fantastical and comedic aspects involved, the film still boils down to the core familial themes of love, acceptance and reconciliation.

That said, there's no shortage of fan service and callbacks to the original that will make even the most devoted Ghostbusters fans grin from ear to ear. Whether it's Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson reprising their roles as Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz and Winston Zeddmore, or a hungry ghost named Muncher (Josh Gad), whose insatiable appetite rivals that of Slimer himself, Ghostbusters: Afterlife is a love letter to the franchise, proving that when it comes to busting ghosts, you can never be too young or too old to answer the call.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife releases November 19th, 2021 from Sony Pictures. The film has an MPAA rating of PG-13 for supernatural action and some suggestive references. Its runtime is 2 hrs. 4 min.

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