Spoilers Ghostbusters: Afterlife grade and discussion thread

[Mr. Adventure]

Went to an early show and it's was a pretty good adventure movie of the type we got back in the 80s. I liked the cast and thought they did well. Lucky looked so familiar to me but I haven't seen anything she's been in, I think I figured it out though and that she reminded me of China Anne McClain of Black Lightning. Someone beat me to noticing McKenna Grace sang that song during the credits. Having Shohreh Aghdashloo voice Gozer they might not have even needed to do voice processing.

Strangely I almost could've done without the original GBs but I came around with the surprise appearance. I probably would've dropped the call with Aykroyd and just have them appear at the end which I think would've made it even more eventful. I liked how they worked it out that everyone contributed to the final victory. The heavy use of musical callbacks in the first half was a bit distracting.

I don't think they needed the mini-puffs, I would've left it with the faded Stay-Puft promotional art on the downtown building. There were enough callbacks to not need them. I guess it depends how much you liked 'em, I could see kids enjoying that during a family viewing.

I was thinking of 2016 and I don't know if it's a gutsier move to not make this an all-out comedy or to attempt it.

It's a bit strange that even though Summerville is meant to be the isolated town archetype in the middle of nowhere (which doesn't really exist generally outside of Hollywood ), there are times when it seems to be strangely devoid of people even for such an obscure place. It's particularly weird during the Wal-Mart chase, as the Wal-Mart is literally empty except for Gary. It would have been better if it were more normally crowded, since there's plenty of potential for Vince and the mini-Stay Pufts to scare other patrons.

I thought it was a bit odd that small place had a Wal-Mart.

 

[ThankQ]

I guess you guys haven't spent much time in Oklahoma. Even our Wal-Marts have Wal-Marts.

 

[UssGlenn]

I was thinking of 2016 and I don't know if it's a gutsier move to not make this an all-out comedy or to attempt it.

It's a mistake to try and make a Ghostbusters that's all comedy, that was part of the problem with 2016. Ghostbusters is a delicate balance of Comedy and Horror. It's extra tricky since a large part of the comedy of the original comes from the absurdity of Ghost Exterminators, a concept of which we are so used to now it's not objectively funny anymore.

 

[Shaka Zulu]

Yes, it was also full of nostalgic callbacks but Afterlife stands on its own very well by introducing wonderful new characters, most notably Phoebe Spengler, who I can only hope will have a chance to continue to carry the torch in more films. Grace McKenna stole the whole damn film from everyone, even from the likes of Carrie Coon and Paul Rudd! I loved everything about the character, her unrelenting and unapologetic nerdiness, her ceaseless drive to figure out problems, and her steely resolve to do what was right, despite what stupid grown-ups think.

I was glad to see her, too, and also lad that she wasn't overshadowed by the boys (it would've been easier for Alex Reitman and the scriptwriter to let Finn Wolfhard [Trevor Spengler] Marlon Kazadi [Thickneck], and Logan Kim [Podcast] do that to her in the wake of the 2016 movie just to give the [male] fans their 'revenge' for the 2016 movie.) However, many people (female and male) are still angry about what happened to the 2016 movie, as shown here, and here.

Above all else, the film was a beautiful tribute to Harold Ramis and Egon Spengler. There were tears. Many tears. I honestly thought the film was going to leave Egon in shadows and an invisible influence, but imagine my surprise and delight when he appeared as a proper, visible apparition! I was especially impressed by how well they digitally recreated Ramis' performance and how seamless and believable he appeared. Granted, it helped that it was at night, he was a translucent ghost, and very scruffy (as Ramis was in his latter days), but it was very impressive nonetheless.

That was a great moment, but I'm surprised at the 'tears' part; oh well, 'different strokes...'

It was a blink and you miss it moment, but I love how J.K. Simmons briefly appeared as Ivo Shandor (I didn't even recognize him until he opened his eyes the first time)...and then was immediately ripped in half by Gozer! So much for loyalty and devotion!

That reminds me of this scene from this movie..

 

[UssGlenn]

t was a blink and you miss it moment, but I love how J.K. Simmons briefly appeared as Ivo Shandor (I didn't even recognize him until he opened his eyes the first time)...and then was immediately ripped in half by Gozer! So much for loyalty and devotion!

I was reading the making of book, and found out that was a practical effect. They basically built a splitting dummy on a giant pair of scissor and put a little goo in the middle to make it slimey when it opened.

 

[wayoung]

Watched this today. Was Ghostbusters crazy as a kid. Still watch the first two regularly. Thought 2016 was terrible, but seeing how it is embraced among certain demographics am glad they got their Ghostbusters like I had mine. Was not hyped for this at all. Seemed like a by the numbers nostalgia bait pass the torch reboot.

First half was pretty decent. Kidified, sure, but the franchise headed down that path a loooooong time before now. A little over nostalgic, but not terribly so. Not particularly funny but pleasant. Basically reminded me of the games I played when I was in elementary school at recess, a little kid fighting ghosts.

And then the third act hit.

And I totally got why people strongly disliked it.

At least Ghostbusters 2 pretended to have a different ending to the original, this just straight up copies it wholesale.

I think there was a much better movie in here somewhere, but it got lost.

The older brother was pointless beyond needing someone old enough to drive a car, as was his love interest. All those characters and subplots could have been dropped. Paul Rudd and Carrie Coon seemed important but then got little screen time and became pointless. It was a weird choice making the blue collar worker/audience surrogate Winston into a billionaire. As was having Venkman go back into the University system he had so much contempt for. What was with Janine just showing up at the farm? Was she supposed to be the executor of the will and coincidentally arrived at the same time as Egons family? I'm not sure why JK Simmons was in this at all. Was a bit distracting. Gozer wasn't a threat. Just stood there looking menacing waiting for the good guys to stop her.

So... Did Gozer not rise in 1908 Tunguska, or any of the other times listed, because no cult prepped its way? Or were there some pre-ww1 Ghostbuster around to stop it? From the looks of it, Gozer tried to come back every 25 or so years, but never succeeds. Kinda an incompetent God.

Anyway, had potential and squandered it following the by now overly familiar passing the torch reboot formula without even trying to pretend to have a different ending than the first film.

If I saw this when I was 10 I would have adored it. Now, not so much.

 

[EnderAKH]

And I totally got why people strongly disliked it.

Genuinely curious, are you implying there is a large portion of the audience who did not like this? Because I'm not seeing that at all. It has a 95% audience rating at Rotten Tomatoes, 85% of the poll respondents here gave it a B+ or better, so if there is strong dislike for this movie, it would seem to be a few outlier opinions.

 

[wayoung]

Genuinely curious, are you implying there is a large portion of the audience who did not like this? Because I'm not seeing that at all. It has a 95% audience rating at Rotten Tomatoes, 85% of the poll respondents here gave it a B+ or better, so if there is strong dislike for this movie, it would seem to be a few outlier opinions.

62% critic score

 

[EnderAKH]

62% critic score

Personally, I am much more interested in what actual people think about movies as opposed to professional critics who tend, in my opinion, to be a bit jaded. Not to mention it is a much larger sample size, statistically speaking. I mean, critics hated the Wizard of Oz, Fight Club, The Shining, the Exorcist, Psycho, Blade Runner, Love Actually, The Thing, etc.

 

[Booji]

62% critic score

Yet it got excellent reviews in this thread and a fantastic score. I'll take what the people here say over some critic score pulled from the sky.

 

[UssGlenn]

There was speculation that some critics were being overly harsh as retaliation for GB2016, the critic and audience scores are reversed for that one. It's a bit of a conspiracy theory, but politics does pollute everything these days.

 

[wayoung]

That's fine guys, I don't see where I said you have to agree with the critics, I just said *I* get the criticism of the movie

 

[Samurai8472]

"Afterlife" is now out on digital media. The first five minutes have been uploaded by Vudu

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[Amaris]

I absolutely loved it. Had a blast, laughed, got caught up in the excitement, love all the characters, new and old, made me feel like a kid again.

A+

 

[FPAlpha]

Loved it too.. the right blend of nostalgia, new characters that work, humor and a bit of PG13 horror.

They found a good way to continue after GB2 and connect it to the original movies, especially the first, though using Gozer again may have been a bit beating a dead horse but it's ok.

What i absolutely loved was the tribute they did to Harold Ramis - it was both respectful, utterly awesome and completely unexpected. Anyone who has ever seen a sequel knew that the original Ghostbusters would appear in the end for the final fight but never in a million years would i guess Egon returning as a ghost to fight side by side with his friends and family one last time.
Giving them all closure, especially his family, was so nice to see and kudos to the writers for avoiding having him speak - no matter how well they would have adapted his voice it would have still felt off. The CGI was perfect and i also loved the fact that the producers asked Ramis' family for approval and they did.

Now i am curious if and when they decide to continue - they set it all up and if they can keep up this quality and make it their own, new thing i'd be happy to see some new Ghostbusters movies.

 

[Haggis and tatties]

I went into this expecting another GB2016, but i came away with a actual decent sequel to the original first two movies and a very enjoyable GB sequal to boot.

A-

 

[Amaris]

I have now watched this twice, which is unusual for me outside of a Star Trek or MLP film. I just enjoyed it so much, and especially the ending where Egon's holding the proton glider with his granddaughter, being her support in her most dire hour. It's just... oof, you know? It really hits. It really hits for me right now. I loved everything about this film. I'm sure if I wanted to break it down and suss out the bad with the good, I could, but I don't want to, I want it to be exactly what it is for me: a genuinely wonderful adventure that let me be 9 years old, sitting on the console between my parents, in the car at the drive-in, eating homemade popcorn, watching the good guys bust some ghosts, and so that's what I'm going to do.

 

[Booji]

I watched it for the second time last night, and it was every bit as good, if not better than, seeing it the first time in the theater. The two hours just flew by and the ending still gets me in the feels. I really hope there is a sequel.

 

[Turd Ferguson]

I have now watched this twice, which is unusual for me outside of a Star Trek or MLP film. I just enjoyed it so much, and especially the ending where Egon's holding the proton glider with his granddaughter, being her support in her most dire hour. It's just... oof, you know? It really hits. It really hits for me right now. I loved everything about this film. I'm sure if I wanted to break it down and suss out the bad with the good, I could, but I don't want to, I want it to be exactly what it is for me: a genuinely wonderful adventure that let me be 9 years old, sitting on the console between my parents, in the car at the drive-in, eating homemade popcorn, watching the good guys bust some ghosts, and so that's what I'm going to do.

I did get emotional at Egon helping Phoebe at the end, but what really got me was the second end credits scene where you find out Winston was actually helping out Ray and the others by paying their bills and whatnot to pay them back for helping him out when he was down on his luck

 

[theenglish]

We paid the money to buy the digital video this evening. I found it enjoyable, if reminiscent of The Force Awakens in that it played up the nostalgia and gave us a redo of the original movie. My family loved it though. My wife was actually in tears when Egon returned, and the jokes and humor really appealed to my children.

I did really like the actress who played Egon's granddaughter. She was fantastic.