Written by Gil Kenan & Jason Reitman, based on Ghostbusters (1984) by Dan Aykroyd & Harold Ramis
Directed by Jason Reitman (with help from Papa Reitman)
Starring McKenna Grace, Finn Wolfhard, Logan Kim and Celeste O’Connor
MPAA Rating PG-13 for supernatural action and some suggestive references
Run time: 2 hours and 4 minutes
In theaters November 19

by Rosalie Kicks, Old Sport & Editor in Chief

“This is how it ends…”

Before being graced with Ghostbusters: Afterlife on the silver screen, I was given the opportunity of having the film introduced by the writer/director Jason Reitman. This was a pre-recorded flim-flam promotional video that was probably most definitely made under duress from the powerful Hollywood slicksters with one main goal in mind: to let you know they got it right this time. (Well, like that's just your opinion man. )

Before I continue further, I feel it necessary to go on the record that I was not a fan of the 2016 Ghostbusters except for one particular scene - the one with the evil mannequins and wigs. That scene is YES. My dislike for the flick had nothing to do with the feeling Paul Feig “ruined my childhood” or the fact that ladies were donning the iconic tan jumpsuits. My distaste was more simple: the script sucked. I truly believe this movie was a missed opportunity and with the right screenplay it would have been gold. The ladies were great, but it is hard to sell a story that just isn’t there. With that said, the outcry was unbelievable and without a doubt unnecessary (especially by those that didn’t even watch the damn thing). Bad movies are made all the time… get over it. Which brings me to, Old Sport’s supercalifragilisticexpialidocious theory about the latest installment: the entire flick was made so that Ivan Reitman could teach everyone a lesson.

Before I get into my cockamamie hypothesis, let’s set the scene of the movie that I have deemed “it’s fine”. The film opens with an elderly Egon Spengler passing to the other side. His estranged daughter Callie (Carrie Coon) on the verge of eviction is notified that she has inherited his estate. She packs up her two kids along with everything they own and heads to a small town Summerville, Oklahoma. They find that her late father was essentially living in the home straight out of Psycho that is situated on a desolate piece of land that the townsfolk refer to as “dirtfarm”.

The kids, Trevor (Finn Wolfhard) and Phoebe (Mckenna Grace) acclimate to their new digs quickly. Trevor acquires a job at the town’s burger joint, while the science obsessed Phoebe befriends her summer school teacher, Mr. Grooberson (Paul Rudd) and a spunky kid that refers to himself as Podcast (Logan Kim). It should be noted that Phoebe is in summer school by choice; the kid loves to learn. Unfortunately, Mr. Grooberson’s idea of a summer education is wheeling in a TV cart complete with VCR and screening such flicks as Child’s Play 2 (I was thrilled for the Chucky cameo).

I truly enjoyed spending time with these kids, especially Phoebe. Hollywood’s current trend is to have a historically male dominated role portrayed by a female identifying character with absolutely no depth at all. It is a check the box exercise so that the film studio can obtain their “gold star” for a job well done. In Ghostbusters: Afterlife, though, the character of Phoebe is an extremely interesting person that I found myself relating to. I loved seeing this character go from a supernatural skeptic to a full blown ghost-buster extraordinaire. The character had moxie and this comes across from the excellent performance from Mckenna Grace, who is clearly dedicated to her craft.

I like that, despite being the older of the siblings, Trevor takes a backseat to Phoebe, which revealed itself to be an interesting dynamic. When inquisitive Phoebe starts to poke around in her grandfather’s old stuff, she comes across one of his old ghost traps. She initially shares the mysterious device with her pal Podcast as he hosts a show with a focus of the mysteries of the unknown and occasional restaurant review. When their teacher, Mr. Grooberson gets sights of this, the memory floodgates are open… cue Ray Parker’s original Ghostbusters Theme Song. Mr. G regales them in the tale of the 1980s and New York, when the famed ghostbusters stopped the world from being taken over by evil specters. And of course, the ghost trap is opened which leads to the spectacular mini stay puft creatures - the entire reason I wanted to watch this film.

Now back to my cockamamie hypothesis…

Up until this point, Jason Reitman does a decent job of weaving in the previous stories into this new world. There are nods to the original films without being excessive. However, there was a moment at which I could not help but be reminded of his words prior to the film. Jason remarked that his father sat right next to his director’s chair throughout the entire making of the film. Jason even went on to figuratively ask us (the audience) if we ever had the opportunity to work side by side with our parents. As someone that spent the entirety of my childhood working for my grandparents slinging produce at their farmer’s market, I am more than familiar what it is like. And welll… let’s just say if you were not performing a task as they see fit, the shit hit the fan. When I looked into Jason’s eyes, I read between the lines and I think it is safe to say he was not the only one directing this picture.

Overall this picture is fine. However, it is also another big budget creation that I don’t necessarily think I needed. Especially if one were to believe my assumption that the sole purpose of the flick was to ensure that this time they got the story “right,” inevitably serving as a mere redo of the 2016 “catastrophe”. $140 million bucks sure is an expensive lesson to teach. Sure this rendition has more nods to the original and attempts to create a cohesive trilogy, but it is truly the new generation that makes this thing worth a watch.