So I got back from seeing Ghostbusters: Afterlife today and it was pretty good. I gonna try to keep this short as I don’t have too much to say but we’ll see how it goes. Ghostbusters: Afterlife is about a dysfunctional family that inherits a run down farm from their grandfather that passed away, and gets more than they bargained for when they discover the reason he came to Summervile. The film stars Mckenna Grace as Phoebe, Finn Wolfhard as Trevor, Carrie Coon as Callie, Paul Rudd as Mr Grooberson, Logan Kim as Podcast, and Celeste O’Conner as Lucky.
The story and plot of the film is effective for me. It’s a reintroduction into this world that we haven’t been to in a while. The movie does pull something like the second movie in that people have kinda forgotten the ghostbusters and what they did, but I like the way the film went about explaining why. Back to the over-all story, this movie is about family, and the things people do for the love of their family. The movie is also a coming of age as it’s about Phoebe learning about her family and coming out of her shell. I do like how they don’t try to change too much about her character, just that she learns has friends and does things she never did before.
I like the characters in the movie. Everyone is fun and interesting and brings a lot to the movie. The cast does very well, McKenna Grace is a stand out in the movie as well. She gets the most to work with as the movie focuses on her and gives her the biggest arc. Everyone else does well but doesn’t change that much throughout the film. Finn Wolfhard continues to play a great prick at the start, and kind of mellows out throughout the movie. Everyone else does well and has fun. Logan Kim as Podcast was fun as the more knowledgeable character, kind of like the Ray of this group. Celeste O’Conner was good as Lucky, she kinda has a bit of that no-nonsense attitude, but doesn’t do that much outside of being Trevor’s love interest. The adults do pretty good as well and have their moments throughout. I would say Callie is the other character with focus in the movie as she has an arc of learning about why her father did what he did and has a moment of letting go all the years of suffering she went through due to his actions.
This is very much a fan service movie, as there’s a lot of elements that the movie uses from the originals. Character types, music, plot elements etc. As a fan of the franchise I can say they all work for me. It helps give it that familiarity and tugs on our nostalgia, while adding in new things to keep it fresh. I don’t want to say to much about the threat of the film…..even though it’s probably well known at this point due to the toyline showing stuff off. I will say one thing though, it was cool to see them back and done in a modern way and they all look so good.
The production design of this movie is phenomenal, really shown off in the costuming and design of the scenes in the mountain. The cinematography is well done. The effects are all great and are great modern versions of the classic affects. The CG is well done and nothing was too noticeable or took me out of the movie. The movie goes back to the creative ghost designs of the first two, although I wish we got to see more of them. I loved the music, it’s the perfect blend of classic nostalgia with a lot of the motifs of the original, as well as making it it’s own thing. I’ll mention it here as it does have to do with the effects a bit, but some people might be upset or mad at something that happens at the end. I saw it talked about weeks ago but I don’t want to spoil it here, but I feel like out of context it could be seen as tacky and bad, but to me in context I think it works as is done respectfully as in a way they’re apart of the movie the whole time.
Jason Reitman did an amazing job with this movie. It’s a fun ride and might make you emotional. I give this movie two-thumbs up, see it if you can.
Andy's Thoughts 