Ghostbusters: Afterlife

 

I went into Ghostbusters: Afterlife with pretty high expectations. I had been looking forward to seeing this movie for so long only to have the release repeatedly delayed due to the pandemic. Now that is has finally arrived, I am happy to report it was definitely worth the wait as a worthy follow-up to the first two films. The question is, how does it stack up to the first two films?  

Facing eviction from their apartment, Callie (played by Carrie Coon) is forced to move with her two kids, Phoebe (played by McKenna Grace) and Trevor (played by Finn Wolfhard) are forced to move to the home her estranged and recently deceased father left her in Summerville, Oklahoma. Her father, of course, was former Ghostbuster Egon Spengler. He was a bit of a recluse and lived alone, with no one really knowing what he was up to, known around town as the Dirt Farmer due to his digging around his land, but never growing anything. Soon enough, they settle in for the Summer at least, with Trevor getting a job at the local diner and Phoebe being enrolled in a summer school science course taught by Gary Grooberson (played by Paul Rudd), who passes the time by showing the class old VHS movies. Bored with the movies, Phoebe and her new friend known as Podcast (played by Logan Kim) go to check out what Gary is doing while the class is watching movies. He explains that Summerville has been experiencing earthquakes on an almost daily basis with no earthly reason why. He is researching to try and figure out why when there are no fault lines, no fracking, not even any loud music. Meanwhile, Trevor accompanies his co-worker Lucky (played by Celeste O'Connor) and a bunch of her friends on a ride through the countryside, winding up at an abandoned mine outside of town. The quickly leave when some strange rumblings come from deep within the mine. While exploring the house, Phoebe discovers a hidden panel in the living room floor and upon opening it, discovers a Ghost Trap inside. Further exploring also reveals a PKE meter and Egon's old proton pack. Likewise, Trevor finds in the Barn the old Ecto-1 under a large tarp and begins working on getting it up and running. When Phoebe brings the trap to school to show Podcast, Gary recognizes it immediately. After school, the three power it up and try it out, opening the trap and unwittingly release a ghost trapped inside, which leaves the area immediately and flees directly to the mine. Researching the area, they discover the old Mine was owned by Ivo Shandor, who also was the architect of the building Dana Barrett (played by Sigourney Weaver) lived in and was the head of the cult of Gozer. Realizing that deep in the mine lies a temple for Gozer worship and the same thing that happened in New York in 1984 is about to happen again in Summerville and Egon was trying to stop it. With no other choice, the suit up to face down Gozer once and for all, with some well timed help from their Grandfather's old friends, Peter Venkman (played by Bill Murray), Ray Stantz (played by Dan Aykroyd) and Winston Zeddemore (played by Ernie Hudson). 

The film was directed by Jason Reitman from a script he co-wrote with Gil Kenan. For the most part, this film is a welcome breath of fresh air for the series. With the previous three Ghostbusters movies (yes, I said three!) all taking place in New York, the change of scenery to a small Midwest town makes for an interesting change of pace. There is a bit of a mystery to the film as well, as Egon's grandkids start uncovering what Egon was up to and what he was trying to do with his very unique set-up around his house that keeps the plot pushing forward as they weave in bits and pieces of the Ghostbusters mythos we know and love. There is a certain joy in watching these kids uncover their Grandfather's past that they knew nothing about, especially Phoebe who is in some ways very similar to Egon in her love for science and her intellect. It's heartwarming in the way they show her sort of posthumously bonding with her Grandfather as she uncovers her research and even manages to fix his proton pack. Jason Reitman handles these scenes perfectly and I'll admit, I even found myself getting a bit choked up. Trevor likewise has his own moments as he starts fixing up Ecto-1 and getting it running again. It's pure joy when they have their first field test as Trevor, Phoebe and Podcast find themselves chasing a unique ghost with a taste for metal through the town, and in true Ghostbusters fashion, leaving plenty of destruction in their wake. As a fan of the animated series, it was also a thrill to finally see the gunner seat and remote controlled traps incorporated into Ecto-1 as well. The only place the film begins to falter for me is at about roughly the two-thirds mark when Gozer starts to make her appearance and the plot starts to feel really familiar for anyone who has seen the first film. Still, Reitman and Kenan manage to work in enough surprises to keep things entertaining, even if I knew exactly where it was going.  

The cast for the film is phenomenal. McKenna Grace is a joy to watch as Phoebe. She brings such a unique presence to the film and makes her character so endearing. She is smart and adventurous, not unlike her Grandfather. She loves science and discovering new things. I also loved the little touch that when she gets nervous she tells "Dad Jokes" to try and break the tension, which of course pays off beautifully in the climax. Finn Wolfhard does well as Trevor too. It would have been so easy to play him as this angsty teen who's mad he has to move to the middle of nowhere, but Wolfhard downplays that aspect and while we get a sense of Trevor's displeasure at their situation, it feels genuine rather than forced and it helps that his character does try to make the best of it rather than sulk all the time. Carrie Coon has a trickier role as Callie, Egon's daughter. For much of her life, she's believed her father abandoned her and her mother and resents him for that. Made even worse, she now has to deal with his house and mountain of debt. Still, she's trying desperately to look on the bright side despite it all and Coon manages to balance those two sides of her character quite well. Paul Rudd is a delight as Gary Grooberson, who works as a science teacher at the local high school, but is using his Summer School gig to pay the bills while he does his own research. Rudd plays Gary with plenty of adorkable charm that he has down pat by this point, but I still find a joy to watch. A lot of the exposition about what is going on falls to him but he handles it quite well as he explains what happened back in 1984 New York to the kids and relates it to what is happening in Summerville now. Of course, there is a bit of a blossoming romance between Gary and Callie, which Rudd and Coon make work effortlessly. Logan Kim is a delight as Podcast and makes a great partner in crime for Phoebe as the two bond early on over their own unique interests. Celeste O'Connor gives a fun performance as Lucky, who has a bit of a flirtatious relationship with Trevor and soon gets pulled into the new generation of Ghostbuster antics as well. And last, but certainly not least, it was an a real thrill to see the remaining three Ghostbusters show up on screen again with the return of Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson. Of the three, we get to spend the most time with Ray Stantz, who shares with Phoebe during a phone call what had happened to the Ghostbusters since we last saw them. I also appreciated that they finally revealed what had happened to Winston after the Ghostbusters initially disbanded in this film. But all three slip back into their iconic roles with ease. 

Overall, as a life long Ghostbusters fan, Ghostbusters: Afterlife is everything I could have wanted in a belated follow-up. It has plenty of humor, adventure and a surprising amount of heart as well. It's not only a worthy follow-up, but it's also a loving tribute to both Egon Spengler and also Harold Ramis too. They handled both aspects perfectly but I'll leave it to the viewer to discover just how. It will be very interesting to see what the future holds for the Ghostbusters, because if the post-credits scenes are any indication, we're not done yet and I for one can't wait.