Movie Review: Ghostbusters — Afterlife

4 stars out of 5

Ghostbusters is my jam. It was perfection when I was 15: an ideal blend of smart, silly, juvenile, and flat-out funny. I’ll always remember being at my buddy John’s house for New Year’s Eve; at midnight we discovered that HBO was playing Ghostbusters, and even though we’d both seen it in the theater, that was the best thing ever. In short, bustin’ makes me feel good.

So I was incredibly excited when this reboot was announced, with involvement from… Bill Murray! Dan Aykroyd! The black Ghostbuster! And then Covid delayed it, building my anticipation even more.

I am not shocked that when I finally got to see the movie, I was a bit disappointed. Where were my guys? Where were the zingers? Was this a kindler, gentler Ghostbusters? In a word, yes. But when I shifted my expectations, I began to enjoy the movie, and by the end (no spoilers) I truly enjoyed it quite a lot.

This is what’s known as a family movie, and hey, that’s OK. There’s plenty of family to go around here: Carrie Coon is the single mom of teen Trevor and tween Phoebe, who moves the kids to a weird old farmhouse that was owned by her late dad who had abandoned her… Dr. Egon Spengler. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, Jason Reitman takes over the reins as director from his dad, Ivan.

The pace is slow but pleasant for a long while, as the family explores its new rural environment, of course ghosts start to pop up, and the kids — especially Phoebe — eventually learn their ancestral link to a 1980s group of beige jumpsuit-wearing gentlemen who busted ghosts in Manhattan. McKenna Grace (who I saw in one of those Conjuring flicks) is especially good as nerdy, friendless, but really trying Phoebe. Finn Wolfhard, who I know from IT but not from Stranger Things, is likable and non-punk Joey Ramone-looking as Trevor. Carrie Coon’s frazzledness gets a little tiresome but perhaps her character has an arc, so please be patient. And Paul Rudd is the awkward nice guy as per usual.

As ghost activity and resultant busting picks up, so does the film, with fun action sequences and effects that kids and Peter Pan syndrome adults will enjoy. When the OG Ghostbusters arrived, I got seriously verklempt. And the memory of Harold Ramis is shown proper respect. Why wouldn’t it be? Those guys are our family too.