Ghostbusters: Afterlife was a lot of fun and brought back a lot of 80’s nostalgia. If you walk out of this one with dry eyes you might need to rethink your life a bit.
From director Jason Reitman and producer Ivan Reitman, comes the next chapter in the original Ghostbusters universe. In Ghostbusters: Afterlife, when a single mom and her two kids arrive in a small town, they begin to discover their connection to the original ghostbusters and the secret legacy their grandfather left behind. The film is written by Jason Reitman & Gil Kenan.
I get a lot of flack from my fellow critics because I really enjoyed the 2016 female led Ghostbusters. I liked that one for far different reasons than this newest one. Afterlife is a perfect companion to the 1984 film. The story is funny, action packed, with plenty of familiar faces. Plus, Jason and Ivan make some really smart decisions when it comes to synching the past and present.
In this one a single mom and her two kids relocate to Oklahoma when her estranged father passes away. She is hoping to at least inherit enough to cover her back rent. Instead she gets a decrepit old farm house and small town rumors of her crazy father. It is only when her youngest daughter Phoebe (Mckenna Grace) starts doing some research do they find out that he was not that crazy after all.
This film lets the kids carry the plot forward. Normally this would elicit groans and eye rolls, but I found the characters to be engaging and likable. My inner nerd found much to relate to in all of them. Paul Rudd adds an extra dose of humor in this one as the local science teacher. If you want the actual scene stealer it is young actor Logan Kim who plays Podcast, a classmate of Phoebe. His comic timing and delivery make him seem like a big screen veteran.
This is a modern film but the Reitman’s make it feel timeless. The little OK town has horrible cell reception so modern technology is set aside. If not for a couple of laptop google searches this film could be as much 1980s as the others. Fans of the original films will have much to ohh and aah about in this one. I will not tell you what those are as you need to see them fresh. But you will love them for sure.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife is rated PG-13 for supernatural action and some suggestive references. For the most part the ghosts are funny and cartoony. It is only in the final act that things get a bit scary. I give this one 3.5 out of 5 VHS tapes. It had all the right feels and was super fun to watch.
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