Future me: Hello folks. I've been working on this review for about eight days now (it's currently January 14th, 2022). I've written so much about this movie that for your sake, I've gone through it many of times to delete parts I think I can recycle for something later, but also trim the fat and give this review some breathing room. The parts I deleted, which there were some big chunks, I'm going to recycle for some different related posts about Afterlife or Ghostbusters. I'll make sure to link them at the bottom of this when they become available. There's so much I want to discuss about this movie, but if I don't get this out soon, I know I never will, because I'll constantly go, "Oh, shit! I forgot to talk about (this or that)." Anyway, this review is hopefully not long-winded and I really appreciate you reading it. Hell, if you even make it half way I'd still be thankful. So much to cover. Enjoy.
It All Started with a Teaser
I remember seeing the first teaser trailer, the one where it takes place at the Dirt Farm and it's slowly panning toward the barn, as you can hear the Proton Pack, then you see a familiar car draped over with canvas, and just as that wonderful Elmer Bernstein score reaches it's high pitch, the drape moves to the side and you see the Ghostbusters logo on the Ecto-1. Talk about chills. Well, much like Grease, as time went on, they started multiplying.
Then we got the official first trailer, where we get to see some of the new characters and Phoebe using the PKE Meter to find Egon's secret underground lab with some of the props from the first movie, as well as the jumpsuits and the Proton Pack. I remember watching it with a friend of mine and he's a huge Ghostbusters fan too, and we just had these huge smiles on our faces pointing out all the details, like the spores, molds, and fungus, and that the mining company was owned by Ivo Shandor. I remember telling my friend in manic detail about why it makes sense Ivo Shandor would have a mining company. That in the first movie, the jail scene where they were going over the blueprints of the apartment building Dana Barret lived in, and how Ivo Shandor used specific metals to create the gateway at the top of the building to bring Gozer back. It was like being a kid again!
Then, we get to the movie ... well, two years later. Because of Covid, they had to keep pushing the date further and further back, but eventually it came out. But did it came, did it saw, did it kick ass? Short answer: yes. Unfortunately I didn't get to see it in theaters and there's a few reasons why: I live in New Hampshire and the part I live in, there's not a lot of theaters around that are open due to Covid. This movie had to come out in winter time and I'd rather not drive in the middle of a snow storm. The last reason is I accidentally stumbled upon the ending of the movie, just reading about it, not seeing it, and I knew there might be a slight chance some water works will happen, so I'd rather not be a thirty-three year old, grown ass man sobbing like a baby in the middle of a potentially packed movie theater.
On January 4th, I received a Facebook message from my cousin, who was someone else looking forward to this movie. He sends me this image:
My eyes zeroed in on two words, "Watch Now." Look at my reaction. Doesn't sound desperate at all, does it?
Okay, about to start the review, but because I haven't done this in a while, let me give newcomers a disclaimer. I don't do normal reviews where people break down the movie. I just give you The Good, The Middle Ground, and The Bad, because I'm assuming anyone who is reading a spoiler review has already seen this movie. With that out of the way, suit up, get your Proton Packs on, and let's talk Ghostbusters: Afterlife.
The Good to The Great to The I Love This:
Despite what some reviewers are saying, I loved this movie. It was the most fun I've had watching a movie in quite a while. I can't name any Marvel movies that made me feel this happy like this movie did. A lot of people, even those who weren't crazy about this movie, have said this is a love letter to not only Ghostbusters movies, but fans as well, and I fully agree. Afterlife has a lot of heart and even those who didn't care for this movie have said the movie's heart is in the right place.
-Afterlife also has a ton of emotional moments. Now, the only thing that really gives the tear ducts a workout is the ending, or at least to me. The other moment that got me teary eyed was when Callie, who thought her father, Egon, abandoned her, finds out that Egon had been tracking her entire life.
When Callie goes into Egon's secret lab, she finds a wall dedicated to her life, from her being a baby to adulthood. I'm assuming she at least knew her father for a short amount of time by reading Egon's post it notes, which I loved discovering, because I missed those on my first few watch throughs. The post it notes give a little bit more of a back story and they're totally Egon. I remember smiling when discovering them and just exclaiming, "That is so Egon!" Because the notes are scientific. My favorite is a photo of a young Callie and above Egon writes a note saying along the lines, "Get a strange feeling when seeing this photo. Heart pulse goes up. It may be frost bite." Which makes me think Egon actually took the photo, because how would he get frost bite by just looking at a photo?
As of right now, we can only guess by piecing this movie's hints together that Egon did have something to do with her earlier life, which could by why Callie feels abandoned and resentment towards him. Now, if Egon was never a part of her life, she would feel bad, but not this bitter resentment towards him like she does in the movie. She really drives the hate wagon with people when the subject of her father comes up. I think if Egon had nothing to do with her whatsoever, she would hate him for sure, but wouldn't be this mad at him, or at least I don't think.
Also, if you read the notes, you can get a better idea of how old Callie is; the earliest note I found was from 1982 (I think, I know there's one from 1983), so that means Egon had Callie a few years prior to the first Ghostbusters movie, which is 1984, making Callie somewhere in her late 30s by the time the Summerville incident takes place in 2021.
Yes, I know, some people have said they ripped off the "Do It For Her" bit from The Simpsons, but as someone who has had a similar experience to Callie, I think that's why I'm being more lenient towards this part of the movie, because I've felt the same way she did. I'm not going to get into it too much, but I didn't know my father until I was eighteen and always had mixed signals about him prior to meeting him. This group of my Mom's side would say he's a nice man, but this other side would say he's not, and it confused the hell out of me. By the way, when I did meet him, he wasn't a bad guy. He had problems showing his emotions, sure, but he meant well and was a nice guy. Also, where I can relate to Callie is all those photos. I remember when I went to my Dad's parents, my grandparents house, and they had photos of me throughout my childhood as well, and come to find out my mother had been sending them photos of me, so that way they could watch me grow up ... unfortunately through photos, but still. Again, I can relate to this, so that's why I loved this part of the movie, because I can relate to it.
Phoebe finding the jumpsuits, the Crunch bar (not sure if it's the same one Peter gave him. "You earned it."), Egon's glasses, but then also Egon helping her fix the Proton Pack was a terrific scene and showed that, yeah, Egon needed help to save the world, but he was also trying to spend time with his family is touching.
-Afterlife's cast is pretty good in this, but there are a few standouts who I think if they weren't in this movie, I probably wouldn't have enjoyed it as much.
Phoebe - McKenna GraceShe's basically the best part of Afterlife, in my opinion. You can tell McKenna Grace is a Ghostbusters fan and did her homework for this part. She didn't do an Egon impersonation, but instead exhibited traits of him to where people will think that's Egon's granddaughter. Callie and Trevor don't show signs of this at all, which isn't a bad thing. I know some people were like, "How can she act like Egon when she's never met him?" To that I defend it with, dude, I said before I didn't meet my father until I was eighteen, but family members would tell me when I was growing up that I had traits of him, despite not knowing him. Years later, when I did meet him, my uncles would tell me that I have his sense of humor and bits and pieces of his personality. I only knew my father for a year, by the way, even though he lived for a few more years. Long story and this isn't the place to discuss it, but basically what I'm trying to say is some things are genetic. Like I get told quite often I'm grumpy just like my maternal grandmother.
Phoebe also had signs of just being her own person. She wasn't as stiff as Egon was and I would say she was a mixture of Ghostbusters 1 and Ghostbusters 2 Egon, because remember, Egon was a little bit more outgoing in the second movie: cracking jokes (he even tells a dick joke to Peter - "I think they're more interested in my epididymus."), grinning more often, sleeping with the mood slime, "Do Ray Egon-" Wait. Sleeping with mood slime? It's always the quiet ones. Phoebe also likes to tell jokes, but I think this is more of a nervous tick to make friends.
McKenna Grace did wonderful in this role and I hope she's a mainstay in future Ghostbusters installments.
Podcast - Logan Kim
Although I don't like to make comparisons from the new characters to old characters, but Podcast is to Phoebe like Ray was to Egon. Ray was the wide eyed believer who was always excited by anything paranormal. Compared to Egon, who viewed the paranormal through a lens of science rather than excitement. This is the dynamic I felt between Podcast and Phoebe's characters and it worked great. Both of them have proven to not let youth think they can't act, because in their respecting roles, they did fantastic.
Even those who didn't get as much joy out of this film agreed that Podcast was a welcomed addition to the growing assemble of Ghostbusters characters. He's funny, adventurous, smart enough to hold his own, and compliments Phoebe's shy, nerdy demeanor. Also, he's a great friend for laughing at Phoebe's terrible jokes. I wish some of my friends would've done that for me!
Logan Kim, Podcast, did a great job and this was his first movie. Wow! I wish him a bright future and hope he's a mainstay in Ghostbusters. Yes, I've said this twice now, but I'd love to see more of these characters.
Gary Grooberson - Paul Rudd
When I first heard that Paul Rudd was being considered to be in a new Ghostbusters movie, I was excited. In terms of new comedians, I'm usually not a big fan of today's comedians, but I always thought Rudd would fit in nicely in a Ghostbusters movie and thankfully I was right. Afterlife didn't have that many comedians in it, so I was afraid Paul Rudd was going to have to pull double duty to try to make up for the laughs and fall flat, but honestly his comedic timing worked perfectly well with everyone. He pretty much had chemistry with all those he interacted with.
Of course, his best moments is the Mini-Pufts scene. His facial expressions, his timing, and the "Hey, buddy" with the Terror Dog work very well and although I've seen this scene many times, I still haven't tired of it, and it's one of my favorite scenes in the movie. The good thing is, it seems like Paul Rudd enjoyed his experience making this, so hopefully that means he's here to stay and we'll see more of him in future installments.
"Are you a God?"
- Seems I'm in the minority, because I quite dug Gozer's updated look in Afterlife and thought Olivia Wilde did great in the role. But in actuality the credit doesn't just go to Wilde, because three people played Gozer in Afterlife. The face was Wilde, the almost dancer like movement was Emma Portner, and Gozer's vocals were done by Shohreh Aghdashloo (yes, I had to copy and paste that one). All did very well, in my opinion.
"Did you miss us?"
- I remember hearing this in the last trailer and I don't want to admit this, but I did that annoying thing where people fan themselves off with their hands and go, "Oh, my God! Oh, my God!" Listen, I'm not proud of it now, but I was very excited then and I think I came close to having a stroke, so leave me alone! It was great seeing them. Sadly, the boys role in this was minimal, by about ten minutes (which I talk about more in the Middle Ground section), but it was awesome seeing them and I was smiling from ear to ear. I gotta laugh at when Gozer asks Ray again, "Are you a God?" and Winston's like, "Ray?" and Venkman says, "Oh, come on, Ray!" Great part, but you know what's also great is with Gozer remembering them, Gozer asks it almost mockingly, which I thought was a nice touch.
- Speaking of the ending, I think the last thirty minutes of this movie is where it goes from really good to spectacular. The earlier pacing issues are nonexistent in the last half hour of the movie and it seems to go into high gear. I was glued to the TV for the last hour, but was at the edge of my seat for the last half hour.
- The special effects were great in Afterlife. It wasn't neon vomit like it was in 2016 and the great thing is they use practical effects! Like the Terror Dogs are actual puppets and they look great! Yes, they still use CGI, but most of this is practical. Terrific idea and I wish more movies would do practical effects.
- Speaking of special effects, let's talk about the newest addition to the Ghostbusters rogues gallery. That being Muncher. Some people are trying to compare him to Slimer, but I just don't see it aside from their appetites. I like Muncher, though and enjoyed the scenes he was in. I also liked how he inadvertently helped Phoebe and Podcast retrieve the equipment in the jail. I thought that was clever.
- The music. Recycling Elmer Bernstein's original Ghostbusters score was, well, a score for this movie. It fit in well with the scenes they used them for and quite honestly, the new score works well too. A posthumous great job to Mr. Bernstein and a great job to the new composer, Rob Simonsen.
Other than that, their roles in this movie are relatively short, which I understand where people may feel gipped. I mean it does say Ghostbusters in the title, right? But the thing is, Egon's presence is felt throughout the movie, as stated in the Good section of this review and the reason why this is Middle Ground is, yes, I would've felt better if the originals got more screen time, but I also understand what Jason Reitman was trying to do in that this is a movie about the Spengler family and them finding out about their grandfather.
Plus it wouldn't make sense for the Ghostbusters to show up early in the movie when there wasn't a known danger present until later in the movie. As seen in the movie, Egon burned bridges with his friends by taking most of the equipment, the Ecto-1, and high-tailing it to a small town in Oklahoma, where people, including the other Ghostbusters, deemed his ramblings crazy. In movie time, Phoebe doesn't call Ray until the night before Gozer emerges from the "sacrificial pit" (as Podcast calls it).
For reference, it takes 22 hours by car to reach Oklahoma from New York City. If Ray, Peter, and Winston flew they would get there quicker, but even then Ray would have to call Peter and Winston, tell them what's going on, or maybe they met up somewhere, and convince them to drop everything to go to Summerville, OK to help out a small girl they've never met. They would have to pack, maybe test out the equipment they have, jeez, getting all that through the airport would've been quite the experience, I'm sure. Which is why I don't think they flew and they probably pulled an all nighter driving. As of right now it's just a head canon idea of mine is that Ray must've told them about the phone call from Egon's granddaughter and they probably drove, because as said before, they probably wouldn't be able to get three Proton Packs (three nuclear accelerators, mind you) through the airport. I do agree that they should've elaborated more on how they got there. But quite honestly, I'm just glad they showed up, so screw it, this is middle ground for me.
- As mentioned before, I like Muncher, but with what Mr. Grooberson said about how there hasn't been a ghost sighting in 30 years, you would think either Podcast or Phoebe would mention this or how it must be that ghosts didn't disappear, but the threat of the Ghostbusters made them go into hiding.
"And together ... we can rule the-" RIP!
- J.K. Simmons as Ivo Shandor was a cool surprise and I think they based his look off of Shandor in Ghostbusters: The Video Game, which would be wicked cool if true. They even have the same beard. Simmons did a great job in his Ghostbusters debut and I loved what I saw, but the problem is he's only in it for like ten seconds, if you don't include the bits he's lying motionless in his glass coffin. The reason why this is middle ground is I liked what I saw and I'm okay with what they did, but I wish they would've given Simmons more time to shine as Ivo.
Ghostbusters 2 Ecto-1a on left, Ghostbusters 1 Ecto-1 on right.
- Where is Ecto-1A? Well, it's been right there the entire time! People have asked why the Ghostbusters just didn't take Ecto-1A, the car from Ghostbusters 2, to Summerville. I agree that them pulling up in Ecto-1A would've been awesome and a great moment for GB2 fans, but there is a problem with that. Ecto-1 and Ecto-1A are the same car, at least movie canon wise. In reality, they're two separate cars used for their respective movies, but movie wise, they're the same car. Remember in Ghostbusters 2 when Ray and Winston were making ends meet by doing birthday parties, the car was in rough shape, but after they were back in business, the car looked like it had been updated and fixed up. After the events of Vigo, they restored it back to its original Ecto-1 state and then eventually Egon stole it and took it to Summerville.
Jason Reitman was asked about this in an interview about why the car was reverted back to it's original state. He said it would be revealed later, which points to a sequel to Afterlife which may tell us more about the events of Ghostbusters 2 In the same interview, Reitman did say Ghostbusters 2 is canon, but what happened in 2 will be explored some other time. Hey, I love Ghostbusters 2, so I'm all for the movies that come after this to have more references to the sequel.
"Ugh. Disgusting blob."
- Where is Slimer? This is the more common question I saw from friends and even though I'm okay with his absence in Afterlife, it does leave somewhat of an empty void, because we're used to seeing him. The last time we saw Slimer, in this canon at least, was in Ghostbusters 2. He seemed to be living in close proximity to the guys and scared poor Louis Tully on a few occasions. He was last seen in the movie driving a bus. I'm sure after Vigo was taken care of, the New York transit probably didn't let him keep driving bus, so where did he go?
It's clear that in GB2, Slimer must've befriended the Ghostbusters and they kept him as a ghost pet, much like The Real Ghostbusters cartoon. Although their relationship isn't shown, he is seen roaming freely in the firehouse. With that in mind, what happened to him? Well, unfortunately we didn't get our answer in Afterlife, and from what I can see there are no Slimer Easter eggs either hinting at what happened to our favorite disgusting green blob. Is he still roaming the firehouse? Did he go back to the Sedgewick Hotel? ... Is he still driving bus? We don't know.
I can't really see Slimer fitting in with this story. Egon left New York City in a rush to stop, or delay, the return of Gozer. I don't think he would bring Slimer with him, as he would get in the way of his work. I thought maybe to shoehorn Slimer in the movie, Slimer could've followed Egon to Summerville, but how can that be explained in the movie? Maybe Egon re-catches him and builds a makeshift containment unit that Phoebe later finds and uses to study a ghost? Podcast would surely release him on accident and Slimer and Muncher could've been good friends. They like to eat, though their diets are vastly different. I'm not sure and I know some people are not going to like me saying this, I love Slimer, but I just don't see how he fits in this story. Maybe next movie.
I can't really see Slimer fitting in with this story. Egon left New York City in a rush to stop, or delay, the return of Gozer. I don't think he would bring Slimer with him, as he would get in the way of his work. I thought maybe to shoehorn Slimer in the movie, Slimer could've followed Egon to Summerville, but how can that be explained in the movie? Maybe Egon re-catches him and builds a makeshift containment unit that Phoebe later finds and uses to study a ghost? Podcast would surely release him on accident and Slimer and Muncher could've been good friends. They like to eat, though their diets are vastly different. I'm not sure and I know some people are not going to like me saying this, I love Slimer, but I just don't see how he fits in this story. Maybe next movie.
- It doesn't mention Ghostbusters 2016! No, that wasn't meant to be a happy yell, which if it was me it surely would be. That was meant to mimic the angry REEEEEEE! from the peanut gallery who just don't quite get how a sequel works. People actually hated Afterlife, because it ignored Ghostbusters: Answer the Call. Again, do you know how a sequel works, people? This is a sequel to the original Ghostbusters in 1984 and the sequel, Ghostbusters 2 in 1989. Who decided to neglect both these movies? Yes, I can see you shyly raising your hand ATC (Answer the Call). So, why would they put ATC in Afterlife when it completely ignored the original movies? Just because? Oh, I know why. I'll use this South Park gif to explain the reason.
My question to Paul Feig is: How does it feel to be ignored? Doesn't feel nice. That's how we felt with your movie.
The Bad:
-There's not really a lot of bad with this movie. A lot of these are just knit-picks. I know people have talked about pacing issues where the movie just kind of becomes boring, which I somewhat agree. The movie does tend to become less interesting when it doesn't have to do with the story and some parts feel like filler.
Thankfully the scenes that do take me out are relatively short, so they're not a big deal. I understand character building, but I also felt there was no pay off for their story. Sure, they both had a hand in saving the world and that's great, but for their romantic link ... nothing comes from it. There's not even a kiss at the end, so there's no 'reward' for Trevor's part in saving Lucky from eternally becoming a Terror Dog. I also feel that they just didn't really have any chemistry with each other. Again, their acting is fine and I'm good with their inclusion in the story. I just felt like they could've done something else or more to make their connection interesting.
-The first hour has it's moments that keep my interest, but it also has it's moments where my interest went down a little. Only a little. I didn't 'fall asleep' like some other people said. I mean, Reitman does a good enough job to sprinkle some of that delicious Ghostbusters lore between the slower parts to keep me invested in the movie. In other words, there were some pacing issues, but Retiman at least put some stuff in between them to not make the story fall into sleepville.
The RC Ghost Trap is cool and all, but ...
- Another thing is, I think they should've fleshed out Egon helping Phoebe with the Proton Pack. I loved the scene with him helping her, but I think it should've shown Egon also finding a way to help her with the mechanics behind using the pack. She does say to Podcast that she met her grandfather last night and he helped her with the Proton Pack, so maybe Egon taught her about how to use it, but I think the movie would've benefited more showing this than just telling us.
Also, during the climax of the movie, when Lucky kicks open the door and uses the Pack, she automatically knows how to use it. Now, I can just use my head canon and think that Phoebe did a quick course with both Trevor and Lucky on how to use the Proton Packs, but a lot of people are not as forgiving as me and I think the audience would've appreciated seeing this, rather than just accepting it as they just know how to use it. It's not like a regular gun, there's a bit more to it and I think them being taught how to use it would've shown more respect to the equipment they're using. As Egon said to Bobby Brown in Ghostbusters 2, the Proton Pack is not a toy. It shouldn't be treated as one either.
-How did Gozer come back? Unless you remember the crossing the streams climax from the first film, "total protonic reversal", a lot of casual fans will not understand. I understand how Gozer is back, as well as other Ghostheads, because we live for the lore of Ghostbusters and eat up any information we can like Slimer at a hot dog stand. We're all set and even if it's not explained, we can connect the dots. My point is, casual fans who do not study the lore will eventually overtime forget details of the story. I mean, Ghostbusters came out almost 40 years ago in 1984. There's a lot of casual fans, but I'm sure they're not watching it multiple times a year like hardcore fans, or both movies multiple times a year in my case.
Also, I can't count how many Youtubers I saw who are self-proclaimed Ghostbusters mega-fans, can't even name one of the Terror Dogs actual names or even forget names of main characters. You can't rely on the actual die hard fans to tell the casuals how Gozer came back to Afterlife. I'm not saying this to insult casuals, I'm looking out for them, because I want them to enjoy this movie just as much as we do. A simple line could've worked or maybe Phoebe finds a notebook Egon was constantly updating on his pursuits of stopping the arrival of Gozer. He explains how when they crossed the streams, they ended up destroying the gate hence sending Gozer out of our world, but he finds out there are other gateways across the country or the whole world. Ivo Shandor, using his Shandor Mining Company as a cover up, found another shrine with another gateway that would allow Gozer to return. Again, that's one of my major issues with this movie is that they should've done a better job connecting the dots as it would've definitely helped those who wouldn't know how to connect those dots.
- I loved the ending, but I think an additional ten minutes would've been good. With the ending, the Spengler's got closure with their grandfather, but then it just fades to black and I feel like we, the audience, should've gotten closure with the family and the originals. Peter made reference to have cocoa inside (with rum in it for the adults) and maybe we should've seen this bit. I further elaborate on what I would've liked to seen in the Fantasy Writing section, but we got closure from Egon, but I think seeing what happens to the Spengler family would've been nice too. I mean, I know Sony has signed Jason Reitman to a deal and there's a big chance we'll see more Ghostbusters movies from him, but just in case we don't, it would've been nice to see the aftermath of Gozer with the Spengler family and where they go from here. This is something I would've love to see, but I still think they should've had something for the Spengler family after Egon's goodbye. Speaking of ...
That Ending
The ending of this movie deserves it's very own dedicated spot in this review, because it is one of the best, most emotional tributes to a childhood hero of mine that I've ever seen. It has heart and love for not just a character, but for the man who created and played the character. I'm referring to Egon Spengler/Harold Ramis. As we all know this movie's main premise is telling the story about the Spengler family and Callie, Trevor, and Phoebe finding out more about Callie's father and Trevor and Phoebe's grandfather.
I remember accidentally stumbling upon what happened in the ending from a review I watched. I actually did a pretty good job staying away from spoilers and just stuck to non-spoiler reviews, but I did unfortunately hear about the ending to Afterlife before I watched it, but it didn't tarnish it for me. How the ending is is when Peter, Ray, and Winston's plan to cross the streams doesn't work a second time on Gozer and throws them against the car, Phoebe tries to buy them time by taking Gozer on herself and a ghost power versus neuron power ensues, but just when hope seems lost, Egon makes an appearance in ghost form to help out his granddaughter, giving them the hope they need and it's beautiful.
The way the camera is positioned and how at first you just see a ghostly hand go over Phoebe's on the neuron wand and then the camera pans around to the front, you see Callie's shocked face, and then you see him - Egon Spengler for the first time in this movie and maybe final time in a Ghostbusters movie. Graveyard Disciples, I'm telling you, I do get emotional with some movies, especially ones I really love, but I don't cry. It's not a tears running down my cheeks type of cry, just an emotional feeling. This? I lied on my Facebook post where I told my friends and family that I had tears in my eyes. No, no, no. I ugly cried. Both the kid in me who would watch Ghostbusters 1 and 2 on repeat, The Real Ghostbusters, Extreme Ghostbusters, marveled at the Ghostbusters Spooktacular show at Universal Studios: Orlando (I can still smell the marshmallow effect from that show). The adult who played and beat Ghostbusters: The Video Game maybe over ten times, read every IDW Ghostbusters comic, and kept watching both movies in my adult years were both crying in unison.
The best way I can describe it is like how Tom from Midnight's Edge described the whole movie, it was like a religious experience and it was a wonderful ending. A happy hello, it's been a while since we've seen you our old friend, but a tearful goodbye knowing this will be the last time. A true memorial for Egon Spengler to the fans who adored him. The first time I saw this ending was the worst, ugly crying, almost sobbing. The second time I watched this it was a little bit dryer, but folks, I've watched this movie seven times, as of this writing, and the tears don't go away, and I hope they never do. It's that great of an ending and it goes right up there among my most favorites.
I have read and watched numerous reviews for this movie and even the ones who didn't like this movie agree that the ending is great. It's also not cheap either. They really make it look like an aged Harold Ramis is suited up in his Ghostbusters gear. It's so realistic, it's amazing. Great job by the special effects team.
Don't worry about crying, Phoebe. You had grown men in their 30s, 40s, and beyond crying with you.
In Closing ...
I actually feel bad for the people who couldn't get any joy out of this movie. I understand some of their reasons, but I loved this movie. I feel like it is the perfect love letter not just to the movies, but to the fans as well. The references, for the most part, are subtle enough to not go into 'memberberries' territory, or at least I don't think they did. I know some people will disagree with me on that. The movie is charming. The characters fit the movie quite well and I want to see where they can take this and I look forward to it. I also really enjoyed how the movie was Ghostbusters, but it also had flavors of other movies as well. To me, it felt like Ghostbusters meets The Goonies meets Back to the Future (some of the music sounded very BTTF-ish/Alan Silvestri vibes). The Mini-Pufts scene had to be inspired by Gremlins and I don't think I was the only one who was reminded of E.T. from time to time. Like I explained to some family and friends, this movie is like a trail mix of different movies. It's Ghostbusters, yes, but it pays soft homages to other movies as well.
Is there some issues? Yes. This movie isn't perfect. When I started writing this review, I was going to give it 10/10, perfect grade, but when I watched the movie a couple more times, and the excitement mellowed out a little bit, I started seeing the problems and unfortunately it does bring the final grade down a little. I would say this movie is a 7 - 8/10. A really good to great (it may take me a couple more viewings to decide on if it's a 7 or an 8.) The first time experience was definitely a 10/10 and I'll always fondly remember the first time watching this and how much fun I had. All things considered, I still really enjoy the story, the characters, the setting, and most certainly that ending. It may not be as perfect as the original Ghostbusters, but I do find it to be a worthy successor.
My hat is off to everyone who worked on bringing us a continuation of the movies I loved as a child. Jason Reitman, you should be proud, and I look forward to what you have in store for this incredible franchise.
More Ghostbusters Afterlife:
Coming Soon!
More Ghostbusters:
Coming Soon!
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