Ghostbusters: Afterlife

Starring: Finn Wolfhard, McKenna Grace, Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Logan Kim, Celeste O'Connor, Bokeem Woodbine, Annie Potts
Director: Jason Reitman
Based on the 1984 film "Ghostbusters" directed by Ivan Reitman
After the sudden and mysterious death of her grandfather, Callie (Coon) and her two kids Trevor (Wolfhard) and Phoebe (Grace) move into his house in a remote small town. While Callie tries to make sense of her relationship to a grandfather she barely knew, Trevor and Phoebe try to fit in at summer school. Trevor falls in with a group of kids from a local diner including Lucky (O'Connor), while the incredibly intelligent Phoebe becomes friends with her teacher and seismologist Mr. Grooberson (Rudd), as well as her classmate Podcast (Kim). After Phoebe begins to experience some supernatural phenomena, the kids begin to unravel the mystery of their grandfather's death and discover that the answer revolves around his time as a famed Ghostbuster.
I was a fan of Paul Feig's 2016 female led reboot (there aren't many of us but we exist) and to me this felt like an unnecessary course correction to appease those who were vehemently against that film's existence. Bringing in original director Ivan's son Jason Reitman seemed to confirm my fears about the film. While the trailer was intriguing enough, this type of film isn't exactly in the younger Reitman's wheelhouse and I came in expecting the film to have a massive hill to climb for me to like it.
In the end, Reitman actually does a pretty decent job. While the ending becomes an overdose of CGI, the rest of the film is peppered with quirky characters and some fun dialogue that have mostly been present in the majority of his films. Phoebe in particular feels like she could have appeared in Juno or Young Adult. The interactions and discovery of what is happening in the small town keep the plot moving and enjoyable. And despite all the familiar elements, he does alright directing the action scenes including a fun chase that was teased in the trailer as the kids try to catch Muncher in the Ecto-1.
The film is steeped in nostalgia for the original films and for the characters. While there are elements of this approach that do work, with the ending being unexpectedly emotional, the film doesn't do enough to stand on its own and feels like a retread of the first film. You can easily see which old characters shoes the new ones are stepping into. Scenes also just seem to exist to draw parallels to the original film, including one with little Stay Puffed Marshmallow men (in a weirdly abandoned Wal-Mart) that starts fun but goes on a little too long and doesn't really connect with the larger plot.
The marketing has been mysterious and hiding who the true villain of the film is, which will make a lot of sense once all is revealed. Without ruining it myself this is the most disappointing aspect of the movie, which up until that point had won me over and I had been enjoying. The nostalgia goggles became too powerful and I wish they had done something new.
The real star of the film for me is McKenna Grace. The young actress has appeared in several big name projects throughout her already impressive career but she is so likable as Phoebe you can't help but root for her. The same cannot be said for Finn Wolfhard and I could have done without his character entirely. That's not necessarily a knock on his performance but more about how unnecessary and under developed his character is. He, Carrie Coon, and Paul Rudd get some good scenes together but their conversations never go beyond surface level. That's fine for a film like this but how they end up being used in the plot is ultimately disappointing in its lack of creativity. There are some fun cameos in the mix but many of them have already been spoiled from the trailer.
While I did ultimately enjoy myself, thanks to McKenna Grace and an emotional denouement, Reitman's nostalgia filled film still feels like a cash grab and attempt to get fans of the original back on board for a new franchise. Hopefully in the next film, we get a more original direction for the story,
Grade: B-
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