Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021) Review

 Spoilers!

When Egon's estranged daughter, and her two children, Trevor and Phoebe move to Egon's farm they find Gozerian cultist Ivo Shandor's entities have been eager to wreak havoc on the town.

Director Jason Reitman successfully pulls off the impossible by offering a mix of revival and nostalgia while bringing a proper sequel of Ghostbusters to the screen. It's a fine production that benefits from an on-location feel, with some impressive special effects and a fitting score. While it wonderfully lays down the setup and expertly builds the new characters it closes the chapter on the unfinished business of the first Ghostbusters with more nods and homages to ghostbusters 1984 than you can shake a stick at. Visually there are stacked books, arms poping out of chairs, spores moulds and fungus to name a few. There’s a little fridge logic with the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Men, the inclusion of the Terror Dogs; makes perfect sense as it follows some story beats of the source material. For diehard fans there's bug eye ghost, from the cartoon and toyline, the Ecto 1 swing out gunner chair and other franchise connections.  

Thankfully, there's less on the nose gag comedy than the 2016 reboot, this goes back to the ground feel of the original. There's also very little reference to Ghostbusters II. That said, while not as witty as the original, writers Gil Kenan and Reitman do a pretty good job of nailing the tone and story beats to feel part of the same world. One quibble is that the writers seem to double handle the exposition of how and why the Spenglers arrive at the house. The first introduction scene to the family and the landlord is needless, and spoils the character-building moments further on making it slightly redundant. As it offers nothing to what we don’t discover later on.

 With echoes of the Goonies, due mainly to its likeable, engaging young lead actors. Mckenna Grace shoulders the film and is outstanding as the lead. The action sets up are sparce but when they do happen their skillfully handled. Both Paul Rudd and Carrie Coon offer solid support. Rudd has a memorable supermarket encounter, while Coon Extended cameos from the original actors is a joy when Ray arrives with Peter Venkman and Winston Zeddemore to aid the Spenglers. Olivia Wilde , with some great SFX and costume design, brings Gozer the Gozerian to life and does her best to capture original physical performance. J. K. Simmons appearance as Ivo Shandor is short and sweet. Annie Potts as Janine Melnitz shows up early on briefly and makes perfect character sense.

The third act is an absolute Ghostbusters fan's dream. Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson are on form but what is impressive is how they fittingly bring Harold Ramis posthumously back as Dr Egon Spengler. Keeping him fittingly silent, or it would have spoiled the earlier encounters and also respectful to the actor. Only Rick Moranis' Louis Tull is missing.

Jarring and arguably oddly placed dedication to Ramis aside, it's a pity the mid-credit scene which features a humorous cameo from Sigourney Weaver as Dana Barrett and a tacked on after credit scenes were not made part of the main film. A total shame. Both Winston and Janine feature in the after credit scenes, (including a deleted scene from the original Ghostbusters) where Egon and Janine appear in a flashback of sorts teasing a sequel.

Overall, an entertaining fitting sequel, while closing a chapter of the Ghostbusters past, Reitman manages to set the ball rolling for a sequel with endless possibilities.