I vaguely remember watching the original Ghostbusters when I was a kid, especially with Bill Murray and his unique brand of humour. I enjoyed the combination of a paranormal thriller with a more lighthearted comedy. When Ghostbusters had its first attempt at a reboot in 2016 with an all-women team, I remember being entertained but not excited for the future of the series. With Afterlife, unfortunately, I felt the same. However, it appears that there is more commitment from the studios to build on the series so we may be in for a long haul.

Ghostbusters Afterlife is set 32 years after Ghostbusters II, following Egon Spengler’s family as they spend some time in his residence in Oklahoma after finding out that he had passed away. Trevor, played by Stranger Thing’s Finn Wolfhard, is one of Spengler’s grandkids and is a typical high-schooler on the journey to define his own identity and gain validation from his peers. Phoebe, played by Mckenna Grace, is the other grandkid and the true star of the movie, sporting vintage fashion and boldly owning her passion for science and engineering. Their mom and Spengler’s daughter, Callie is played by Carrie Coon and her boy-tease, Gary (who also happens to be Phoebe’s summer school teacher) is brought to life by Paul Rudd. Most of the rest of the cast are played by the original team, clearly aged together with their characters.

The plot is not unsurprising – the Spengler family discovers that Egon’s recent death (timed to match Harold Ramis’ passing) may have had been caused by the supernatural. Phoebe is the least sceptical (ironic because she initially does not think that ghosts are scientifically tenable) and the key character who uncovers the plot by Gozer (the main villain in the first Ghostbusters) to come back to reign over Earth. The rest of the movie is mostly fan-service, adapting memorable scenes from the original Ghostbusters, with the main difference being the focus on Phoebe as a “woman engineer”. I appreciated this important call-out in our current period of history, but it also felt a bit forced and awkward, likely because of the movie’s pacing.

There are some fun scenes, but most of the movie feels oddly put together. Paul Rudd’s character is really wasted in the film and the ending battle sequences are extremely unbelievable. I also honestly wished they showed a wider variety of ghosts and ghouls because the few actually seen were both not new and not as exciting. Also, only Phoebe and her mom, Callie, seem to have shown any character development by the end of the movie.

It does appear that there are more Ghostbuster movies in the works, especially with what the post-credit scene seems to hint at, so I am hoping future movies are better in quality. In the meantime, here are my ratings for the movie:

Cinematography: 4/5

Screenwriting: 3/5

Musical Score: 3/5

Acting/ Performance: 3/5

Overall: 3.25/5