351. Ghostbusters Afterlife; movie review

 

GHOSTBUSTERS AFTERLIFE

Cert 12A

124 mins

BBFC advice: Contains moderate threat, horror, sex references, implied strong language

"Have you see Ghostbusters Afterlife?," asked the radio host. "I loved it!".

I make semi-regular appearances on his show and admitted that I had yet to see one of his favourites of 2021 but vowed that I would before the year was out.

I was as good as my word and have to say that Mrs W and I thought it was much better than expected.

Intriguingly, this Jason Reitman version ignores the previous Kristen Wiig/Melissa McCarthy Ghostbusters which had seemed to breath new life into the franchise five years ago.

Instead it makes an emotional link-up with the original film - in particular Harold Ramis one of its writers and stars.

Ramis died in 2014 but the premise here is that his character, Egon Spengler, has only just passed, leaving a rundown shack in the middle of an Oklahoma farm.

Spengler's daughter, Callie (Carrie Coon), drags her two children, Trevor (Finn Wolfhard) and Phoebe (Mckenna Grace) along for the summer as she sorts the place out.

Pretty soon, however, it becomes clear that Spengler was a recluse and the house and its surroundings are haunted.

This doesn't faze science geek Phoebe and her new best buddy, Podcast (Logan Kim) who want to explore her grandfather's amazing legacy and also nab some ghosts.

Of course, this wouldn't be Ghostbusters without an unlikely romance, so Phoebe's mum has a twinkle in her eye for her daughter's teacher (Paul Rudd) who also happens to be a science nerd.

Inevitably, they are caught in the crossfire as the kids go chasing supernatural beings with some rather funky 1980s equipment.

I have to concur with the radio host - Ghostbusters Afterlife is rather splendid. 

The kids give it a real zest and Rudd adds the requisite humour. You would need to have been on another planet not to know there are also some very special guests.

It will put a smile on the face of anyone who enjoyed the original films.

Reasons to watch: Who doesn't love Ghostbusters?

Reasons to avoid: Yet another sequel

Laughs: Two

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 8/10

Did you know? Ghostbusters was Dan Aykroyd's baby. His fascination with the paranormal (which remains today) was the kicking-off point. His father wrote a book about ghosts, his mother claimed to have seen ghosts and his great grandfather had been a spiritualist.

The final word. Jason Reitman: "McKenna Grace is someone who’s wanted to pick a proton back basically, since she was born. There’s photos of her in the flight suit going back to her being an infant. She’s always loved Ghostbusters. When she finally put on a proton pack, she just started to weep. And we knew we had found our girl." Polygon

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