Sometimes film franchises die, only to come back as zombies. That is, they walk and talk and look like they are alive. But they have no heart, no blood, no anima. They are soulless, pale imitations set to prey on the nostalgia and wallets of a fan base clinging to the hope that their beloved franchise still lives. That is not the case with Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Director Jason Reitman (son of the original Ghostbusters director Ivan Reitman) and Gil Keenan’s script manages to connect back to the story and characters from the original film while forging the story forward for the 21st century. It has a modern sensibility while keeping it grounded in the 1984 comedy classics roots.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife has a talented young cast led by McKenna Grace (Gifted, The Bad Seed) as Phoebe, the precocious 12 year old granddaughter of original Ghostbuster Egon Spengler (the late Harold Ramis). Like her Gifted character, Phoebe is wiser than her years, but she is still a kid. Like the grandfather she never knew, she’s awkward, inquisitive, deadpan, snarky, and smarter than everyone around her. Her older brother, Trevor (Stranger Things’ Finn Wolfhard) is a bit more of an average teenager. He’s into cars, girls, and is embarrassed by his mother Callie (played by The Leftovers’ Carrie Coon), a struggling single mother who brings her family out west hoping to find a better life. June Cleaver she is not. Bitter at the father who left before she got to know, she has not told her kids about him. Coon, a talented actress, does the best she can with the threadbare character.
Phoebe and Trevor both make new friends. No small feat for Phoebe. She meets the equally awkward but immensely confident Podcast (Logan Kim), named so because he has a podcast about ghosts and the supernatural (and occasional restaurant reviews). They meet at a summer school science class taught by Gary Grooberson (Paul Rudd). Rounding out the cast is Lucky (Celeste O’Connor), Trevor’s coworker at the drive-through diner.
Together, the group discovers that a doomsday cult from the 1920s that built the apartment building that the Ghostbusters blew the roof off of saving the city from Babylonian Gods and a 100 ft tall Marshmellow men started in this small midwestern town. It’s here where they mined and forged the special girders. We discover that’s why Egon abandoned New York, the Ghostbusters, and his family. He found that the ghost and monsters had a door to our world, and he stood in their way for 30 years.
As good as it sounds so far, this is not a perfect revival of a once-beloved film franchise. The inevitable third act reveal was not the best-kept secret in the industry, with the original Ghostbusters Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd), Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson), and Peter Venkman (Bill Murray) showing up to help out. It would be easy to write this off as a pandering attempt to the fanbase, but Ghostbusters: Afterlife manages to walk a tightrope between classic fan service and introducing the IP to a new generation.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife has heart, although it does make some odd choices. Despite its title, the bustin’ lives on.
