The Mosley Review: Ghostbusters: Afterlife
For the longest time, I and countless other fans and Ghost Heads alike, have been waiting for this moment. We have been waiting for a third film in the franchise that would live up to the legacy the 1984 original. I have been a massive fan of Ghostbusters my entire life and to this day I still use my favorite line from the second film in almost every situation. I grew up watching the films, The Real Ghostbusters, Extreme Ghostbusters and even the unrelated 1987 Ghostbusters animated series. To me the third Ghostbusters film will always be the amazing video game that was released in 2009. Now after the atrocious attempt of a remake, this film comes along and I have to say my anticipation was Venkman level. I was so skeptic and scared of the film not capturing what made the original film so special. The first 2 films had the perfect blend of comedy, drama, spiritualism, horror and great characters. From the opening scene of this film, I was immediately put at ease. This film truly captures the magic of the original while establishing its own identity as a family film that's also about the legacy you leave behind. It has great mystery elements and an excellent balance between lighthearted and terrifying images. There is a hefty amount of fan service, but it is done in the correct way throughout the film. There are moments where it was pushing you hard past some character moments and a few suffered in their character development time.
The cast across the board was amazing and they all have their moments to shine. Carrie Coon was great as Callie Spengler. She was excellent as the skeptic mother even though she had a legacy to pass on that she only saw as a burden. Mckenna Grace plays her daughter Phoebe Spengler and she was fantastic. The relationship between them was strong and strained, but not stereotypical. I loved that she was straight up the carbon copy of Egon, but she had a great attitude and strong will. Finn Wolfhard was great as her brother Trevor Spengler and I liked that he didn't over take the film. He was the perfect amount of awkward as a 15 year old and I liked the chemistry he had with his sister. Celeste O'Connor was good as his love interest Lucky Domingo, but I felt she got the shortest end of the stick as far as character development goes. Logan Kim was outstanding as Podcast and my second favorite of the film. He was hilarious and I loved his genuine curiosity and fun as everything gets strange in the neighborhood. He is at his best when his is Phoebe and the 2 of them have the best chemistry of the film. Paul Rudd was as great as you'd expect him to be as Gary Grooberson. He is truly having fun in this film and as a scientist himself, he was stocked to find out the reasons behind the quakes in the town. Honestly, Phoebe, Podcast, Trevor and Lucky were basically the next generation of paranormal trappers and excellent parallels to the original cast. Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson and Annie Potts all return as the Ray Stanz, Peter Venkman, Winston Zeddemore and Janine Melnitz. They were in the film for the perfect amount of time and did not overtake the story or take the spotlight from the new kids. They were exactly the way you remember them; charming, funny and heartwarming. There is truly a heartwarming and perfect tribute to Harold Ramis and Egon in the film that I won't spoil here, but you will cry and that's a FACT!
The score in this film was perfect! Composer Rob Simonsen captured the musical sound of the franchise by taking the same score that Elmer Bernstein created and evolving and elevating it to fit this new chapter. From minute one, it was like a warm blanket of sound wrapped around me that was familiar and new at the same time. Rob captured the emotional, fun and horrific tones of the film brilliantly throughtout and especially during the finale. The sound design was also important and I was so happy to hear all the sounds of the Ghostbusters return. From the seat rumbling vibration of the proton pack turning on and to the thunderous blast of a proton stream, I was in heaven. There are familiar story elements that are almost beat for beat from the original, but there's enough originality here that it doesn't feel like a complete rehash. As far as "fan service" goes, this was a film made by a fan, for the fans! It doesn't get in its own way and focuses on telling the coming of age/passing the torch tale this film was. Director Jason Reitman has taken up the reigns his father Ivan originally laid down and has successfully made a worthy sequel that fans will love and movie goers will have fun with. If this is the last film in the franchise then I'm perfectly content but if there's more, I’m game. This is officially Ghostbusters 3, but the 4th film to me after the game. Definitely stick around for 2 great, emotional and hilarious end credit scenes. Let me know what you thought of the film or my review in the comments below. Thanks for reading!
