Review: Ghostbusters: Afterlife
Back at it again, the “Ghostbusters” franchise returns with its fourth movie. Joined by friends both old and new, the Spenglers discover themselves, defeat the God Gozer and save the world.
Single mother Callie Spengler (Carrie Coon) and her two kids Trevor and Phoebe (Finn Wolfhard and Mckenna Grace) move to a house Egon Spengler left his daughter in the little town Summerville. There they find that a series of earthquakes are a side effect of the god Gozer once again trying to enter their world.
Throughout the movie, Phoebe is portrayed as being remarkably similar to her grandfather Egon. Her mother’s inability to connect with and understand Phoebe correlates with Callie’s major daddy issues from him abandoning her which caused a passive hatred for science. Eventually the tension between Callie and Phoebe snaps and they have an argument when Phoebe finds out that her grandfather was so much like her — a weird science outcast. These relationship parallels are one of the most enjoyable parts of the movie.
Phoebe’s summer school teacher Mr. Gary Gooberson (Paul Rudd) encourages Callie to better understand her daughter. Gooberson is like many of Rudd’s characters in that he portrays the goofy comic relief love interest, always making jokes and tripping over himself.
The tension is accentuated by the equally dramatic lighting and music (composed by Rob Simonsen) as gray tinted lighting helps visualize the suspenseful atmosphere. The music provides a trip to the past by mixing Simonsen’s score and some tunes from the original “Ghostbusters.”
The music and the Spenglers are not the only nostalgia. The movie teems with cameos and easter eggs from the past. Everyone’s favorite secretary Janine Melnitz (Annie Potts) makes a brief unsurprising appearance, as a call back to her and Egon Spengler’s obvious romantic spark in the original “Ghostbusters.”
Director Jason Reitman revealed his favorite cameo was of his father the director of the original “Ghostbusters” Ivan Reitman on his Instagram. In the scene where the four remaining original Ghostbusters show up to save the world, Ray Stantz fires up his proton blaster, except those aren’t Stantz’s hands: they’re Ivan Reitman’s.
With an easy story line and full of predictable clichés, “Afterlife” allows nostalgic fans of the original “Ghostbusters” to relive watching it for the first time. “Afterlife” serves its purpose to hit the viewer with a sense of nostalgia.
