The original 1984 Ghostbusters film is essentially revered by members of my generation. (Though within the last month I showed it to my teenage niece and nephew for the first time, their response was lukewarm, to them 'Ghostbusters' was no 'Back to the Future' or 'The Goonies'.) That film is very much an example of lightning in a bottle, a product of a very specific grouping of talented individuals at a specific place and time; attempts to recapture that magic on film have been wanting.
The 1989 sequel is largely a beat for beat redo of the first film and now mostly ignored now, while the 2016 reboot with female leads generated huge backlash even before it was released. I frown on the misogyny that prompted much of that films premature condemnation, yet concur with the subsequent critical consensus that the movie turned out to be pretty bad. So my expectations for 'Ghostbusters: Afterlife' were guarded, even with the talented Jason Reitman, son of the original films director Ivan Rittman, directing and co writing.
So now that I've seen it I must say I was surprised to find 'Ghostbusters: Afterlife' to be satisfactory. It's not great, it's not on par with the original film, but it is good and works better as a companion piece then 'Ghostbuster II'.
The plot concerns Egon Spangler's estranged daughter and her children inheriting an Oklahoma farm following the ghostbusters passing (actor Harold Ramis who played Egon passed away in 2014). The change of local from the big city and the young cast of 'junior ghostbusters' (thankfully the film does not use that phrase) is a nice mild twist on the urban thirty-somethings of the first film.
The movie leans heavily on plot elements and homages to the original film, including Elmer Bernstein's memorable score. There were times when this was all a little much and I desired more originality. The ending lays the schmaltz on real thick.
Yet I liked these characters, I liked that seating. The derivative elements were made to mostly work, I've gone back and forth on how much this movie ties into the story of the first one, and if they should have tried for a completely fresh story, but I get the comfort factor and its done well enough that at the end of the day it works, though under lesser hands it could have easily been a disaster.
So yeah, Ghostbusters: Afterlife is a satisfying sequel, they've finally broke the curse. ***
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