by Flack » Fri Jan 07, 2022 9:36 am
Shortly after the release of 2021's Ghostbusters: Afterlife, the fourth (or third) movie in the Ghostbusters franchise, I read a negative review of the film that began with the headline, "Ghostbusters franchise finally gives up and delivers audiences what they want." I get it. The internet has taught us that being cynical is cool. Nostalgia is lame. Call backs are lame. Everybody wants to be Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons, nobody wants to be the guy who likes comic books, and god help you if you still like the comics from your youth.
Financially struggling mother-of-two Callie (Carrie Coon) learns about the passing of her estranged father the same week she learns she's getting evicted from her apartment. After loading up the car she, along with her 15-year-old son Trevor (Finn Wolfhard) and 12-year-old daughter Phoebe (Mckenna Grace), set out to hopefully find something of their grandfather's they can flip for cash. Instead they find a dilapidated house straight out of a Scooby Doo episode, a bunch of dust covered junk, and, out in the garage, the Ecto-1. Who Callie's father was is presented as a mystery, but the kids' goofy hair and horn-rimmed glasses make it pretty obvious and it doesn't take long before they find Ghostbuster jumpsuits hanging in the closet with sewn-on SPENGLER name patches.
The pieces fall into place conveniently and quickly. Phoebe, a budding scientist curious about her grandfather's work, quickly meets Gary Grooberson (Paul Rudd), a school teacher and -- ho ho! -- amateur geologist, curious about the town's strange seismic activity. Phoebe's first (and only) school age friend is a kid named Podcast who has a podcast about the paranormal and knows enough about the town's history ("Summerville, Oklahoma" -- I guess Sleepyoldtimedirtyshitsville was taken) to provide exposition as needed. Trevor meets Lucky, a girl who works at the local drive-in diner (gosh, they wear roller skates and everything!) to complete the ensemble of four kids who suspiciously resemble four Ghostbusters from nearly 40 years ago.
Grandpa Spangler (referred to by locals as "the Dirt Farmer") wasn't retreating to Oklahoma -- he was chasing something. The town's seismic events are tied to a mine and a curse. Bill, strange things are afoot at the Circle K. Soon the kids have captured their first ghost, are cruising the sleepy streets of Summerville in Ecto-1, and getting in way over their heads. When the kids get in over their heads, who they gonna call? You can probably guess.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife (along with Sony) disavowed the third, female-led film of the franchise and goes back to the nostalgic well of the first two films. If seeing the Ecto-1 appear in an old dusty barn or a non-stop parade of cameos (some more surprising than others) doesn't sound appealing, Ghostbusters: Afterlife is not for you. This Ghostbusters film owes as much to Stranger Things (which Wolfhard co-stars in) as it does The Goonies. It has the special effects of 2021 wrapped around the heart of an 80s film.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife isn't meat and potatoes -- it's a (granted, $75 million dollar) Hot Pocket. And not one of those crummy new Hot Pockets, but one of those old ones, the ones you used to have for lunch as a kid, back when you ran around the playground pretending to be a Ghostbuster and unironically enjoyed Ray Parker, Jr.'s music. If that joy is gone from your heart, may Zuul and the Gatekeeper have mercy on your soul.
[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahZFCF--uRY[/media]
Shortly after the release of 2021's [i]Ghostbusters: Afterlife[/i], the fourth (or third) movie in the Ghostbusters franchise, I read a negative review of the film that began with the headline, "Ghostbusters franchise finally gives up and delivers audiences what they want." I get it. The internet has taught us that being cynical is cool. Nostalgia is lame. Call backs are lame. Everybody wants to be Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons, nobody wants to be the guy who likes comic books, and god help you if you still like the comics from your youth.
Financially struggling mother-of-two Callie (Carrie Coon) learns about the passing of her estranged father the same week she learns she's getting evicted from her apartment. After loading up the car she, along with her 15-year-old son Trevor (Finn Wolfhard) and 12-year-old daughter Phoebe (Mckenna Grace), set out to hopefully find something of their grandfather's they can flip for cash. Instead they find a dilapidated house straight out of a Scooby Doo episode, a bunch of dust covered junk, and, out in the garage, the Ecto-1. Who Callie's father was is presented as a mystery, but the kids' goofy hair and horn-rimmed glasses make it pretty obvious and it doesn't take long before they find Ghostbuster jumpsuits hanging in the closet with sewn-on SPENGLER name patches.
The pieces fall into place conveniently and quickly. Phoebe, a budding scientist curious about her grandfather's work, quickly meets Gary Grooberson (Paul Rudd), a school teacher and -- ho ho! -- amateur geologist, curious about the town's strange seismic activity. Phoebe's first (and only) school age friend is a kid named Podcast who has a podcast about the paranormal and knows enough about the town's history ("Summerville, Oklahoma" -- I guess Sleepyoldtimedirtyshitsville was taken) to provide exposition as needed. Trevor meets Lucky, a girl who works at the local drive-in diner (gosh, they wear roller skates and everything!) to complete the ensemble of four kids who suspiciously resemble four Ghostbusters from nearly 40 years ago.
Grandpa Spangler (referred to by locals as "the Dirt Farmer") wasn't retreating to Oklahoma -- he was chasing something. The town's seismic events are tied to a mine and a curse. Bill, strange things are afoot at the Circle K. Soon the kids have captured their first ghost, are cruising the sleepy streets of Summerville in Ecto-1, and getting in way over their heads. When the kids get in over their heads, who they gonna call? You can probably guess.
[i]Ghostbusters: Afterlife[/i] (along with Sony) disavowed the third, female-led film of the franchise and goes back to the nostalgic well of the first two films. If seeing the Ecto-1 appear in an old dusty barn or a non-stop parade of cameos (some more surprising than others) doesn't sound appealing, [i]Ghostbusters: Afterlife[/i] is not for you. This Ghostbusters film owes as much to [i]Stranger Things[/i] (which Wolfhard co-stars in) as it does [i]The Goonies[/i]. It has the special effects of 2021 wrapped around the heart of an 80s film.
[i]Ghostbusters: Afterlife[/i] isn't meat and potatoes -- it's a (granted, $75 million dollar) Hot Pocket. And not one of those crummy new Hot Pockets, but one of those old ones, the ones you used to have for lunch as a kid, back when you ran around the playground pretending to be a Ghostbuster and unironically enjoyed Ray Parker, Jr.'s music. If that joy is gone from your heart, may Zuul and the Gatekeeper have mercy on your soul.