Just because I was alive for the original 1984 Ghostbusters doesn't mean you young'uns won't enjoy it as much as I do. Ghostbusters: Afterlife is an entertainment for the entire family: It has scary ghosts, nerdy kids, young teen romance, adult romance, and nostalgic special effects as well as equipment like a tricked-out Ectomobile, a portable nuclear particle accelerator, and a ghost trap, to name only a few to delight kids and adults, who may fondly remember analog.
Phoebe (Mckenna Grace) as the science-friendly 12-year-old and her siblings, grandkids of an original Ghostbuster, move to a remote Oklahoma farm, the dilapidated "Dirt" estate. They encounter ghosts, as to be expected because gramps didn't quite finish the ghost-busting job from '84.
The ghosts are a bit goofy (more like out-of-control dogs and marshmallows), and the stakes may not be earth-shattering, but the fun they have trying to capture the critters is a high-spirited chase coupled with a subtle lesson about the importance of family, legacy, and cooperation. The relevance of this classic-based tale is in the notion that working together is an answer to beating back intruders (COVID, anyone?).
Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver, and Harold Ramis appear (appropriately Ramis as ghost since he has left us in death to write about them somewhere), not enough but just enough to link the past to the present. This fourth iteration, and certainly the best of the sequels, will make you chuckle, maybe cry a little, scare you a tad, but never bore you.
As adult romancers, Mr. Grooberson (Paul Rudd) and Callie (Carrie Coon) are charming and clueless enough for us to beg for more time with them. Finn Wolfhard (star of Stranger Things) as brother Trevor (just enough of Timothee Chalamet in his look) and the gifted comic kid, Logan Kim, as Podcast will make teens, and us all, quite happy with their shenanigans.
A sweet comic atmosphere prevails over this successful sequel. I hope it's enough to get you back to the theater where hosts serve up comfy seats, knockout sound, and fantasy relief from the pandemic.
Phoebe (Mckenna Grace) as the science-friendly 12-year-old and her siblings, grandkids of an original Ghostbuster, move to a remote Oklahoma farm, the dilapidated "Dirt" estate. They encounter ghosts, as to be expected because gramps didn't quite finish the ghost-busting job from '84.
The ghosts are a bit goofy (more like out-of-control dogs and marshmallows), and the stakes may not be earth-shattering, but the fun they have trying to capture the critters is a high-spirited chase coupled with a subtle lesson about the importance of family, legacy, and cooperation. The relevance of this classic-based tale is in the notion that working together is an answer to beating back intruders (COVID, anyone?).
Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver, and Harold Ramis appear (appropriately Ramis as ghost since he has left us in death to write about them somewhere), not enough but just enough to link the past to the present. This fourth iteration, and certainly the best of the sequels, will make you chuckle, maybe cry a little, scare you a tad, but never bore you.
As adult romancers, Mr. Grooberson (Paul Rudd) and Callie (Carrie Coon) are charming and clueless enough for us to beg for more time with them. Finn Wolfhard (star of Stranger Things) as brother Trevor (just enough of Timothee Chalamet in his look) and the gifted comic kid, Logan Kim, as Podcast will make teens, and us all, quite happy with their shenanigans.
A sweet comic atmosphere prevails over this successful sequel. I hope it's enough to get you back to the theater where hosts serve up comfy seats, knockout sound, and fantasy relief from the pandemic.