Ghostbusters Afterlife Review · 3:54am Dec 5th, 2021
*SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE*
Squeee heee heee
HOLY SHIT! THAT WAS AWESOME! AAAAAHH YEESSSSSS! Where was this movie when we needed it five years ago, what the hell took us so long? This was the movie that 2016's Ghostbusters wishes it could be. It has everything 2016 thinks it's got; heart, humor, respect for the source material, respect to the man who freaking died. This movie pays more respect to Harold Ramis, and it does it in a much more heartfelt manner than that movie. And yes I'm being a bitch, I have the right to call out that movie's hypocrisy and bullshit again, cause this shows that they could have tried!
So yes. We finally got it; We finally got Ghostbusters Afterlife. I've waited an entire damn year for this, and thanks to Covid delaying it, it just made me pissed I couldn't see it. But now that I finally saw it last night with some friends... I don't think I've felt so happy. I cheered my head off in the theater, this is the first time I cheered in a theater, and I'm usually well behaved in a theater. And this movie also doesn't pull a Force Awakens! What do I mean? Well, let me explain. Before I dive in, I'll let you all know, there aren't gonna be spoilers. I'm gonna keep this a spoiler free review so I don't ruin anything.
So my friends; who you gonna call? The Afterlife!
Ghostbusters Afterlife focuses on a small family who are not doing so well. They're broke, they're trying to make do with what they got, and so they're now having to live in a creepy old house that once belonged to their isolated grandfather who split off from everyone, in a small rinky-dink town in Oklahoma. As the family settles in, they start to notice strange things happening. Earthquakes. Strange paranormal beings. And they find equipment belonging to the Ghostbusters all the way from 1984. And so they must figure out what's happening in this town and uncover the history of their late-grandfather...
So let me get into literally everything awesome about this movie cause I got a lot to uncover.
First off; let me make this clear about the story. For those thinking it might do a Force Awakens and just do a carbon copy of the original; it seems like it might, but it doesn't. The movie stands on it's own feet and makes it's own story, while still being respectful to the original. When you think it's gonna go a certain way, it actually does the opposite; and unlike the thousands of 'subversions of expectations' in TLJ, the subversions here actually make sense with context of the story and the things around them. That's the key word; sense. There was clearly time and effort to try and make the story have sense with everything established. So it definitely wins points in my book for that. And thankfully this also isn't the case of where the new characters make everyone else around them or the old characters look bad. Everyone gets equal game regarding luck, vulnerability, and fear. It doesn't pull that shit where the characters are so perfect they can do literally no wrong unlike... well you know.
Another thing I like in this film are the characters; well, except for one, but we'll get to him later. The characters while nothing new, are still great and well acted. My favorite one in the whole movie is Phoebe, played by McKenna Grace.
She took a bit of growing on me, but I grew to love her as the film went on. She's awkward, she's strange, she's got an surprisingly high IQ to understand and fix machines, but she's also a very flawed kid; and that's important, flawed. She's a kid trying to adapt in a new town, honestly I related to this kid very well. Except for the IQ, I'm not that smart. 
And I also loved the new friend she makes in the town as well; Podcast, played by Logan Kim. I thought he was gonna be super annoying, but thankfully he does end up being a good character and a valuable member of the main 'team' I suppose. Also he's a fan of My Little Pony, that's awesome! 
Paul Rudd also does a solid job playing the teacher; and he definitely gets some pretty funny lines in the movie. I must admit, I'm kinda sad he didn't end up being a Ghostbuster, but that's okay. He still did a solid job, and he's not the main character. There are special appearances, all ya'll probably know them by now, but I'm still staying silent for those who don't wanna spoil. I will definitely say this; once again, more respect to them in this movie than they ever had in the 2016 Ghostbusters. And they don't feel forced. Another point in it's favor.
The special effects in this movie are also pretty well done. Some CGI for sure, but there is also a blend of animatronics here which look really fantastic. Props to the special effects department there as well. And hell, I'll admit, they actually got a couple of scares about of me. Not kidding, there's actually some freaky moments in this movie that caught me off guard, I did not expect to see some freaky shit. Especially one particular scene... DAMN! 
And there are a few funny moments in the movie that got me laughing at times. While probably not as funny as the original film, they still got a good chuckle out of me throughout and it didn't feel forced. Even if there wasn't a joke that wasn't funny, there was still another one that followed that got me.
Admittedly I don't have many negatives, but I did have a few minor issues. One I was hoping didn't happen, but unfortunately did was Finn Wolfhard as Trevor. I don't hate this guy, I think he does an okay job with his character, and hell, I think he's alright in Stranger Things. But I just didn't really didn't care about his character. I felt sympathy for him and the situation he was in regarding the financial situation, absolutely. But the romance side-plot with him and the other girl, I just.. I don't know, I didn't really care about that. I felt like that was unnecessary to the overall story, I was more interested in Phoebe and her learning about the history of her dead relative, and thankfully the movie focuses on that much more.
And admittedly the pacing does get a bit slow at the start of the movie, it does take a while for it to get started, but once it does, it picks itself up.
Honestly, like I said, broken record here. This is the movie we should have gotten a long time ago. We have a fresh main cast, we've got a new story, there's homages to the original without taking it completely wholesale, it doesn't make you feel like shit for being a fan or enjoying Ghostbusters as a property. This is honestly a great sequel to Ghostbusters, and I have no idea if Reitman's team has plans to do a follow-up or continuation, but if they do, I'm open to following more of these new characters. But at the same time, if this is the final movie, I think it's a great conclusion. Okay, it's not perfect by any means, I'm not gonna say it's a perfect movie, cause it's not. But I came in there, expecting nothing, and I got a great surprise that made me feel so damn happy.
If you're a fan of Ghostbusters or just wanna see a fun movie, I highly recommend giving it a watch.
I give Ghostbusters Afterlife; an 8 out of 10.
Thank you for reading, and have an awesome evening everyone!
Glad you enjoy the film
Had to skip the whole review cuz I haven't watched yet
Btw love your new avatar. Adagio is one of the sexy ones
5613932
That's fair. ^^
hehe, thank you.
Ow.
Oh, I loved this movie! I was so freaking pumped to see it, and turned out awesome! There are absolutely things in the movie you’ll have to withhold doubt like Trevor driving the Ecto-1 or Phoebe and Podcast knowing how to turn on and use the proton packs, but it was still awesome!!!