This entire film is dedicated to the late Harold Ramis, Igon Spengler as we all knew him in Ghostbusters 1 & 2 back in the 80s. And to the filmmakers: what a beautiful way to bring some sense of him back to the big screen. 

Ghostbusters Afterlife Full Movie Review





WARNING: SLIGHT SPOILERS AND A ESSAY AHEAD!


Pretty much perfect in every way!  At the beginning of everything, and watching the trailers being honest I wasn't sure of what to completely think. The actors looked interesting and the CGI looked great, but I was at a standstill with what they were going to do plot-wise, and if they would decide to bring back our beloved favorite Egon who's actor passed away in 2014. Despite all these questions and the negative reviews from critics, the movie was beyond beautiful in so many ways!


 It was such a perfect balance of emotion and action and was able to show the future of Ghostbusters while paying homage to the original films. There were awesome jokes that got the entire theatre laughing, and not to mention a TON of easter eggs all from the original 1984 and 1989 films. One of the biggest things that I also saw was the stunning CGI villains I guess you could say. The terror dogs looked so much more polished from the originals, and the ghosts were created in such a way one could believe that they were real. 


 The contrast from the 1984 movie to now with CGI is incredible. I really loved how much effort and work was pumped into making things look as well as they could. And let's not forget the awesome actors who played a huge role in the making of this story! My absolute highest kudos to McKenna grace the actress who played Pheobe. The characters were bright and fresh, but so deeply resembled their counterparts from the past movie!  I really enjoyed the  ' drama ' and tension between Callie and Egon as well. Callie never really knew who her father was and thought nothing more of him until further into the movie. The amount of character growth with some characters seemed to drag on a little but was worth it in the end. 


But I think out of all these praises the largest and best thing of the entire movie was it was a giant tribute to Harold. Egon has always been my favorite out of the boys in grey, and his death really still impacts me to this day. I was afraid that it would seem right without him and brought the questions of how they would address his death in the movie, but Ivan and his son pulled it off perfectly. If I knew Harold was watching from above, I surely know he would be happy. 

Egon will always live on in our hearts, and this movie made sure we remember it! 

I know that generations of families whose parents watched the originals will show this new adaptation to their children and possibly even more to come. ( I see how you left it open for another movie ;)   Thank you to all the talented directors, actors, effects, and everyone else who helped make this movie possible. Please don't be deterred by the critics and sceptics, this movie is well worth the time. From the hardcore fans to those who just watched the originals I hope you enjoy this film as much as I have!


Alright, I got to say it.  


WHO  YOU GONNA CALL?!?!





( SIDE NOTE: WATCH UNTIL THE VERY END! THERE IS A ENDING CREDIT SCENE THAT REALLY HITS HARD FOR ALL OUR JANINE X EGON FANS OUT THERE! )


    

Taking place 30 years after the events of the second film, a suburban family discovers a hidden legacy when they move into their grandfather's abandoned house after his unfortunate death. After uncovering some hidden secrets behind his work, they come across the history of the Ghostbusters, including the iconic Ecto-1, uniforms, equipment, and Gozer's attack on New York City in '84. With an extra hand from an eccentric scientist and a few familiar faces, together they must find a way to prevent the return of Gozer and save the world.


After the box office failure of 2016's female-led "Ghostbusters", Jason Reitman, son of the original director Ivan Reitman, stepped in to create a more faithful follow-up and completely disregard what was brought to the table with the reboot. The original cast have returned as their respective characters from the classic films while also adding a fresh batch of new characters geared towards the next generation. By 2019, production was finally wrapped up, but it took another two years before it would finally land on the big screen due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. For being a direct sequel to "Ghostbusters II" and taking place in the same universe, it really delivered on what fans were expected out of it.


This movie was packed with nostalgic fan service all over the place, but it also works very well as its own thing. Even though the plot wasn't the strongest aspect since it tended to recycle villains and story arcs from the first one, I still found it engaging enough to feel invested with everything going on. It's definitely not the original, but the characters had their moments and thought that resurrecting Harold Ramis as a spirit was a nice addition in paying tribute to him. I also thought the action and visual effects looked great and was a HUGE improvement over the 2016 reboot, which hardly dragged on and was also one of the main highlights in this film.


In conclusion, after years of development for a proper sequel following the poor results of their previous attempt, "Ghostbusters: Afterlife" is an entertaining popcorn flick that's a welcome return-to-form for the franchise. If there were to be a continuation in the near future, I'd be intrigued to see where they go next and hope there's further dynamic with the new characters. To end this off, I'd like to pay a tribute to the late Harold Ramis for providing such care and appreciation to a beloved character that made Ghostbusters who they are today. For Egon (1944-2014).

    

This entire film is dedicated to the late Harold Ramis, Igon Spengler as we all knew him in Ghostbusters 1 & 2 back in the 80s. And to the filmmakers: what a beautiful way to bring some sense of him back to the big screen. 


    

Ok first thing is first: Make up your own mind about this movie and do NOT be listening to people telling you not to bother, if you are a fan, die hard or casual of the ghostbusters franchise you will Love this film.


Sure, it does rely a lot on nostalgia but why exactly is this a bad thing? It’s called fan fare for a reason and  that’s to give us what we want. I’m trying to make sure this is a spoiler free review here by talking only about stuff we’ve seen in the trailers but one thing I will mention is that one of my big disappointments with ghostbusters 2 back in ‘89 was that they didn’t use the same spooky music score from the original and therefore changed the tone of the entire film (still a fan of the sequel, don’t get me wrong) but GB: Afterlife rectifies this and it fits amazingly well considering the whole backdrop has changed from the streets and locations of Manhattan to a dusty old town that could have been used in a number of western flicks.


Going back to the point of nostalgia and being linked to the original movie as opposed to its own identity…. I really can’t see how they could have made it any differently if I’m being perfectly honest, we wanted a legit ghostbusters sequel and boy did they deliver. The kids were absolutely superb in it, phoebe captures the EXACT tone of a Spengler but the real star of the show for comedic value has to go to podcast, you’ll see what I mean when you watch the film!


I believe that this movie was the perfect send of not only for our sorely missed Harold Ramis but also all the original team members who despite admittedly looking old, still manage to rock the jumpsuits and proton packs (especially winston who looks amazing for his age).


Paul Rudd does a superb job as a supporting character, so does the mum, I think Rudd’s character didn’t quite get as much screen time as I expected but this doesn’t affect the quality of the story at all, least I don’t think so anyway.


Ok ok, so I am biased to ghostbusters as I’m sure most of us fans are, one could argue that we would just like this movie because it’s a legit sequel in the same canon universe we grew up with but believe me if it really was a bad film that does nothing for the franchise then I would be among the first to slate it, instead I’m going to watch it a second time today with my family (saw it on opening night in Manchester a couple days ago).


 I was highly disappointed by the remake/reboot/whatever they’re calling them these days, not because they are all women (as I love Melissa McCarthy in most things I’ve seen her in) but because most of not all the jokes and comedy scenes felt cringeworthy and just fell flat. My Missus was really looking forward to watching the movie but by 3/4 of the way through we were looking at each other groaning. My point is we have now got what I feel was the right continuation of the franchise, it’s brought the series back on track for the fans and here’s hoping to see more from the same great cast in the future and hopefully more of the original cast members in some advisory roles to the younger up and comers 🤞


Final word: definitely stay till the very end credits like you would at any marvel film, there’s a mid credits scene and a post credits. The post credits scene is AWESOME, you won’t wanna miss it, trust me!