"Ghostbusters: Afterlife" Feature Talkback (Spoilers)

[Yojimbo]

Discover the past. Save the future.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife
Release Date: November 19, 2021 (November 17 advance screenings)
Studio: Sony Pictures, Columbia Pictures, Bron Studios, Ghostcorps
Director: Jason Reitman
MPAA Rating: PG -13 (for supernatural action and some suggestive references)
Screenwriters: Gil Kenan and Jason Reitman
Starring: Mckenna Grace, Finn Wolfhard, Carrie Coon, Paul Rudd, Logan Kim, Celeste O'Connor, Bokeem Woodbine, Annie Potts, Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver
Runtime: 124 minutes

Plot Summary: When a single mom and her two kids arrive in a small town, they begin to discover their connection to the original Ghostbusters and the secret legacy their grandfather left behind.

Related Threads:
"Ghostbusters: Afterlife" News & Discussion
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"Ghostbusters III (Shelved)" News & Discussion
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Related Links:
Ghostbusters.com
Ghostbusters on Twitter
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[Pooky]

It's OK, in a lot of ways not as "off" as I had feared from the trailers etc, but not as good as I'd hoped. Grace was good, her sidekick straddled the line between slightly annoying and somewhat endearing, the other two kids were dull. Paul Rudd is Paul Rudd, and a lot of people seem to be really into that. Mini-Pufts are fun, Muncher is no Slimer and there needed to be more ghosts altogether.

Spoiler

Most of the Harold Ramis/Egon stuff in this struck me as manipulative, exploitative and in questionable taste. It taints the rest of this just OK movie for me.

 

[AdrenalineRush1996]

I saw it earlier today and found it to be a worthy follow-up to the first two films.

 

[Ghostbuster]

Just absolutely brilliant. You don't expect to be holding back tears at the end of the comedy movie, but it hits you.

 

[Yojimbo]

11/22: Loved the movie a lot. Well worth the long, long, long wait. Phoebe is definitely my favorite new GB character. Mckenna Grace was amazing. The hug at the end got me all choked up! Too many things to list that I loved about the movie.

Ray turning out to be Podcast's one subscriber was a great bit. I admit "bitter Ray" threw me off at first, but his reaction to Phoebe telling him Egon passed away a week ago... Had a feeling it in part involved the supernatural activity drying up at some point much like in the animated canon of The Real Ghostbusters and Extreme Ghostbusters and everyone went their separate ways. And for the latter series, funny that Egon is the lynch pin, too. Cheers for Winston having a big role going forward.

Really cool they incorporated deleted scenes and alternate camera angles from the first movie. Never thought the movie would make stuff like the Lucky Coin deleted scene canon. Neat they used a deleted shot of Mrs. Reitman, Jason, and Catherine running out of 550 Central Park West. Lot of neat easter eggs and I'm sure many more to spot.

And I only had 2 nitpicks about the movie: Shandor didn't need to be in the movie and his inclusion in it was overly gratuitous. And I didn't care for how the voices of Gozer and the Terror Dogs, when they were in possession of Gary and Callie, sounded - just sounded way off.

For the end tags:
Loved that Sigourney Weaver apparently only does endings for GB movies now. heh heh.

So when they ended on the shot of the Containment Unit, who else thought the dock would open and Slimer would fly out? lol. I think the square red button being on meant the the entry grid was set (then you press the middle one to neutronize the field then push the lever down, then the bottom square button and and caged light above the unit go green). And then when the grid was shut off, that red square button came on but didn't blink, it was also a solid red, in this end tag nor did the alarm go off. So if the former, is it a metaphor for the franchise going in a new direction now that Winston is reviving it (entry grid set=new path in life set) or the latter, alluding to the unit faulting and releasing the ghosts in it?

12/27: Digital release is January 4 and 4K/Blu-ray/DVD release is February 1.

 

[tucsoncoyote]

It's been over 30 years in the making, and this time, they got it right..

When I was just a Young adult (at the age of 22 ), I and a friend of mine went to the first screening in our local town for this movie, and I loved it.. Pure and simple.. Now I've seen Ghostbusters 2 , and the 2016 Gender reveal but these two didn't quite feel right, especially the 2016 movie. But now that this movie has come out I can say that Ghostbusters: Afterlife, has finally brought the story full circle. And in fact opens the door to some new ideas .(Let's hope they run with it).

But the one point in this movie is that it's a fitting tribute to Harold Raimis who passed away back in 2014. And this is more of a tribute to him , rather than just the franchise. Jason Jason Reitman, who is the son of the orignal producer, Ivan Jason Reitman. It seems that when this movie gets going, it is like a billion electron volts of energy. Now granted there's a lot of call back to the original with Gozer and the Hell housnd, but i the end the last 10 minutes of the movie made the entire movie worth every buck. Especially when we see a Ghost like Ego show up and actually help. IN fact One reviewer I listened to said it correctly. "Compared to Luke Skywalker i nthe star Wars Trilogy, Egon Spengler is more of a hero than Luke Stywalker is". I mean I can always link the video proving that Egon actually is more than a hero than Luke by a mile. Now the fun bit at the end between the Youtuber known as "Podcast" and Ray Stantz is pure Gold.. (and to think the 46 episode was the one that made that Channel a success it was..

But the real part that makes this golden is seeing Egon look at his grandkids, and then his daughter, and he realizes that he can now go rest in peace.. And the ending really knocked it out of the park with just two simple words.. Just two. And the music right at that point said it all. It was a tribute to a man who took an idea and turned it into a wonderful franchise.. Too bad he's gone, but he won't be forgotten..

And from the looks of the end credits we have a little fun with Sigourney Weaver and Bill Murray, and then the real bombshell hits.. Winston is Batman???! (no, but he could be!) But seeing that last little tidbit makes me wonder.. Could a Ghostbusters 4 be in the works? If not then this was a fitting ending, but you never know.. For Ghostbusters ddi rise from the dead, and In the end, if there is a 4th movie, (and the pandemic ends), I'll go see it.. No questions asked..

In all Ghostbusters: Afterlife isn't a clip show, but rather more of a legacy to a man, and the mythos he created.. and in the end I think if Harold is out there somewhere. He's smiling and is at peace as well.. So long Ego, we'll miss you...

Ghostbusters: Afterlife.. A perfect 5..

 

[Fone Bone]

Ghostbusters: Afterlife

I notice the Rotten Tomatoes reviews were mixed. I really liked it. Maybe I'm easy to please. Or maybe I don't think the first Ghostbusters is the unimpeachable source material many of its fans do. Or maybe I had no real expectations going in, so the film didn't let me down.

When I say I had no expectations, I didn't mean I expected it to be bad. I mean I told myself that if it was totally different than the first two movies, that's okay. That would not bother me. And the tone is entirely different. The first two movies were broad comedies. Literally comedy showcases for former Saturday Night Live cast members. This used more observational character humor, and most differently had some real drama and pathos attached to it. I am not surprised that hit some people the wrong way. It doesn't bother me. Is the movie consistent with the first two? No. Is it great? Yes. I'd argue it's as good or better than the first one. The second one is distant third but I loved all the callbacks in the last 20 minutes.

Maybe people will be ticked off they saved the major Ghostbusters reunions for the last 20 minutes and tags. My concern with them doing that might not be yours. This movie is very much Phoebe Spengler's story, and once the old cast shows up it no longer is. It's weird. Most people will be gratified by that, and no lie, I am too. But I wish Phoebe had been a bigger part of the last scenes.

Getting this movie was SUCH an arduous process, made harder by Bill Murray's weird demands. And frankly, his contract was hinky in that department. So I'm appreciative of Answer The Call for giving him an excuse to fulfill that contractual obligation and make his signing for a new movie less of a big deal. Frankly, the rumor was Bill Murray insisted that Peter Venkman be killed off in the first scene of Ghostbuster 3, and be made a ghost for the rest of it. That always struck me as a lousy idea. Bill Murray may be a fantastic actor and choose his projects wisely. I don't think he's actually a great pitchman if that's his insistence.

Can you really argue with me it's not better seeing Peter Venkman tell Gozer it's over, and correcting Ray Stanz on the proper way to answer if they are Gods? Or could him being a ghost be anywhere near as delightful in realizing him and Dana Barrett are still together and goofing around like a couple of kids with the zap machine? Sorry, Bill, but I think it emotionally resonated more that Egon was the ghost. I'm just sad that Harold Ramis had to die for the producers to have to come to that decision.

The ghost effects of Harold Ramis were pretty good, and I like that the film was dedicated to him. Considering how long people have been waiting for it, it had better have been.

I like Phoebe. I like her awkward jokes. I like her weird friendship with Podcast (although I don't actually like Podcast). I liked Gary and his romance with her mom. And I love that she and her mom don't see eye to eye about her father. And while the hug at the end as Egon's spirit moves on is rewarding, on some level, just having stalker pics of his daughter doesn't make him abandoning his family forgivable. Harsh opinion, but regardless of how things turned out, my opinion of the character of Egon Spengler was forever lowered for that fact. The lifetime wall of stalker pictures changes nothing.

Bill Murray was great, but I have always believed Ernie Hudson was the best Ghostbuster. He showed up out of nowhere two thirds of the way through the first picture, and he's instantly the coolest character from that point forward (for some weird reason). Hudson's Winston Zeddmore has only gotten cooler and awesomer with age, and he still plays the hell out of him. Out of the original Ghostbusters in the movie, Hudson acts the most comfortable in his own skin. I feel very comfortable in saying he's the best Ghostbuster, and very comfortable in saying projects that take shots at him for being a token (looking at you, Stranger Things) are out of their minds, and not actually helping the cause of diversity. You call the coolest Ghostbuster a token, you are not the ally you think you are. Period.

For the record, Sigourney Weaver still looks like a million bucks. But I probably don't have to tell you that.

The action sequences in this film (particularly the car chase with the hungry ghost) are legit in a way they weren't in the old movies. They're exciting and well-boarded, and utterly tension-filled and cinematic. The action in the old films was always clunky compared to Back To The Future, Indiana Jones, and Star Wars. Here, Ecto-1's gun station and roving trap gave us an exciting scene and some great visuals.

I'm going to go out on a limb and giving that an easy five stars. You want to accuse me of taking it far too easy on movies, so be it. I liked it. A lot. I'm not actually difficult to please. *****.

Deleted Scene: Is It Ever Too Late?:

Janine Melnitz's scene was originally bigger and explained how she got her grandfather's piece back at the end. Personally, I think it was right to be trimmed down. I felt like the kids were too disrespectful to her, which turns you against the kids, and that's not something the movie should be doing. I think trimming this down was the right move. **1/2.