Ghostbusters: Afterlife

[505thAirborne]

 

[sqidd]

42 minutes ago, 505thAirborne said:

 

Not exactly a ringing endorsement. 

[505thAirborne]

1 hour ago, sqidd said:

Not exactly a ringing endorsement. 

It's a big problem with movies these days, relying so hard on nostalgia or worse, trying to recreate that lightning in a bottle effect vs. just creating something brand new. 

As I saw in one review that praised this film, it was because of all the Easter eggs & 1984 references that won that reviewer over. Though the worst I saw was one of the producers saying that this movie "Introduces Ghostbusters to a whole new generation". Just show them the original movie then, it's why after 37 years we still remember & quote the film.

I'll watch this at some point but I'm in no rush and no not because of Jeremy's review. 

 

[sqidd]

50 minutes ago, 505thAirborne said:

It's a big problem with movies these days, relying so hard on nostalgia or worse, trying to recreate that lightning in a bottle effect vs. just creating something brand new. 

As I saw in one review that praised this film, it was because of all the Easter eggs & 1984 references that won that reviewer over. Though the worst I saw was one of the producers saying that this movie "Introduces Ghostbusters to a whole new generation". Just show them the original movie then, it's why after 37 years we still remember & quote the film.

I'll watch this at some point but I'm in no rush and no not because of Jeremy's review. 

 

I'm not a fan of fan service either (or time travel as plot armor). Hence my complete dislike for Endgame.

I'll probably watch GB too. When it's free and I'm half asleep.

I can't wait for The Drinkers review.

[505thAirborne]

19 minutes ago, sqidd said:

I'm not a fan of fan service either (or time travel as plot armor). Hence my complete dislike for Endgame.

I'll probably watch GB too. When it's free and I'm half asleep.

I can't wait for The Drinkers review.

The Drinkers review will be quite entertaining! 

[505thAirborne]

 

[sh9000]

 

[TangledThorns]

Just saw it tonight. It was a well made over done nostalgia fest much like The Force Awakens but I think Afterlife was worse. It re-used music from the original film that was great for a New York City set but was out of place for a country setting. The film had a few laughs but nowhere near as funny as the original or event the second film. Also...

Spoiler

the original Ghostbusters do show up and it was kinda sad to see them return at their old age. Honestly, I think the franchise could have been rebooted about ten years ago when there was the talent for it but I don't see it now today.

Last, the film is making me lose hope in Hollywood. Everything lately is so boring or safe in the hopes it won't piss off a Twitter mob.

 

 

 

Edited November 21, 2021 by TangledThorns

[eXis10z]

Watched it, loved it, teared abit.

[Thom]

A very enjoyable movie! It has the character dynamics down pretty good and at points their interactions were more of a draw than the story itself. Phoebe's corny jokes had be laughing.  Of course there was plenty of nostalgia to get an old guy like me grinning. It did lean on that nostalgia a little too much, IMO, but not in too bad of a way. I did note that I didn't really hear any reference to Ghostbusters 2. There was a scene where Ray is telling what happened to the team and all the references were to the first movie, like the second hadn't happened. I wonder if Ghostbusters 2 is even canon anymore..?

Anyway, the effects were great and I have to say hearing the proton pack being flicked on just brought me right back to the elevator scene. Love that sound. And seeing Ecto-1 turning and burning like a hot rod was awesome!

The iffy...

Spoiler

As said above, it did lean too heavily on the original movie at times. Especially for the 'big bad.' I would have preferred that they hadn't gone back to Gozer. I liked the Shandor references and now wish that Ivo Shandor had been trying yet another way to bring about the apocalypse. Ivo does make an appearance, but he doesn't do much. But going back to Gozer meant the climactic scenes were a little too reminiscent of the original movie. Going off on a different direction with Shandor would have been better.

Then there were the cameos. Janine was first but after a brief few minutes she just disappeared, never to be seen again. Sad. Then Peter, Ray and Winston at the final five minutes.  And though it was cool to see them again, it came off as a bit cumbersome and I wish they had started to come in a bit sooner, rather than so abruptly right at the end. 

 

But iffies aside, I had fun watching it and that's all that really matters. I'd go and watch it again. Definitely a movie being put on the shelf.😀

[Keith]

If there are no references to:

- Oscar

- Slime tank blasters

- GB2 Ecto-1 mods

Then it should be pretty safe to assume GB2 is no longer in canon.

[Black Valkyrie]

 

Saw it yasterday, not bad but a kiddy movie.  D- 

 

[Thom]

On 11/24/2021 at 4:10 PM, Keith said:

If there are no references to:

- Oscar

- Slime tank blasters

- GB2 Ecto-1 mods

Then it should be pretty safe to assume GB2 is no longer in canon.

Odd choice. I wonder what the reasoning was behind that.

[pengbuzz]

1 hour ago, Thom said:

Odd choice. I wonder what the reasoning was behind that.

That or the mods were temporary.

[Mommar]

6 hours ago, Thom said:

Odd choice. I wonder what the reasoning was behind that.

I think the ages of the kids/grandkids wouldn't work out if GB2 existed or something like that.

[Old_Nash]

Feelings. True feelings in this part...

Fu** you Bill Murray

Spoiler

 

[Dobber]

9 hours ago, Old_Nash said:

Feelings. True feelings in this part...

Fu** you Bill Murray

  Hide contents

 

I don’t understand??

[Knight26]

3 hours ago, Dobber said:

I don’t understand??

I don't either.  

[M'Kyuun]

On 11/24/2021 at 6:11 AM, Thom said:

A very enjoyable movie! It has the character dynamics down pretty good and at points their interactions were more of a draw than the story itself. Phoebe's corny jokes had be laughing.  Of course there was plenty of nostalgia to get an old guy like me grinning. It did lean on that nostalgia a little too much, IMO, but not in too bad of a way. I did note that I didn't really hear any reference to Ghostbusters 2. There was a scene where Ray is telling what happened to the team and all the references were to the first movie, like the second hadn't happened. I wonder if Ghostbusters 2 is even canon anymore..?

Anyway, the effects were great and I have to say hearing the proton pack being flicked on just brought me right back to the elevator scene. Love that sound. And seeing Ecto-1 turning and burning like a hot rod was awesome!

The iffy...

  Reveal hidden contents

As said above, it did lean too heavily on the original movie at times. Especially for the 'big bad.' I would have preferred that they hadn't gone back to Gozer. I liked the Shandor references and now wish that Ivo Shandor had been trying yet another way to bring about the apocalypse. Ivo does make an appearance, but he doesn't do much. But going back to Gozer meant the climactic scenes were a little too reminiscent of the original movie. Going off on a different direction with Shandor would have been better.

Then there were the cameos. Janine was first but after a brief few minutes she just disappeared, never to be seen again. Sad. Then Peter, Ray and Winston at the final five minutes.  And though it was cool to see them again, it came off as a bit cumbersome and I wish they had started to come in a bit sooner, rather than so abruptly right at the end. 

 

But iffies aside, I had fun watching it and that's all that really matters. I'd go and watch it again. Definitely a movie being put on the shelf.😀

Likewise enjoyed it for what it was.

Spoiler

Mckenna Grace makes the film as Egon's grand-daughter, whose character shares his intelligence and wry wit. It tells a good story, although I also wish it hadn't been so derivative of the original. Can no-one come up with anything original anymore in Hollywood? This is already a derivative movie by virtue of franchise, but they could at least expend more effort in telling a story revolving around an entirely new antagonist rather than resurrect the whole Gozer plot again. Missing too was the self-aware tongue-in-cheek humor that made the original films so much fun. This one is played with a far straighter face, and is the poorer for the loss of Akroyd's and Ramis' writing genius. Even when the original stars show up, their banter is lacking for the humor of the original films.  Still, as a film draped in nostalgia, it felt warm and fuzzy for all the old nods, and seeing the old cast back in uniform wielding their proton packs was nice. I too wish they'd had more involvement with the new younger cast, especially Ray, who was the heart and soul of the original movie (it's his baby, after all, and Akroyd's real-life family connections to spiritualism and such that inspired him to write the original film). I think his involvement as a mentor would have been nice to see.  I wasn't as happy with the story they concocted for Egon, and having Ray curse him- just seemed a bit out of character to me on both counts, especially since Ramis is no longer with us. (RIP, good sir). I shed a tear or two at the end; it was good to see Egon there, even if he didn't speak. He was literally there in spirit, and it was a touching tribute to see him there alongside his former comrades. I enjoyed his more subtle interactions with his daughter and grand-daughter in the film as well- I imagine they pondered a way to have him there without really being there, and I like the simple solution they came up with. Moreover the entire situation with Egon and his retreat to the farm, estrangement from family and friends, proved him to be a hero who sacrificed those things to save the world from an evil most wouldn't recognize or accept. It gave him a humanity in absentia. I just wish they'd written it so that the rest of the original crew knew why he'd chosen that course, and supported him.  At the very least, Ray.

 

Anyway, I liked this far better than the all-female version that came out a few years back; this felt more like Ghostbusters to me, even without the humor of the original. And, it marries a young cast to the old in a way that opens the door to more sequels and hopefully Dan Akroyd will be more involved in writing the next film, bringing some of the old spirit, pun somewhat intended, back into it.

 

[TangledThorns]

I re-watched the Ghostbusters 2016 reboot and thought it was funnier than Afterlife. Mainly because it had crude humor which I like, lol. Shame it was so poorly executed as the actresses are funny but the production was way too much.

Frankly the last good Ghostbusters was the Real Ghostbusters animated series.

[Old_Nash]

On 12/5/2021 at 6:57 AM, Dobber said:

I don’t understand??

Sorry for not making it clear. But everyone knows that because of Murray's numerous denials in accepting to do a sequel, time passed and Ramis ended up passing away, without having a new movie of the 4. Leaving just the "feature" in cgi.

Edited December 6, 2021 by Old_Nash

[Keith]

6 hours ago, TangledThorns said:

I re-watched the Ghostbusters 2016 reboot and thought it was funnier than Afterlife. Mainly because it had crude humor which I like, lol. Shame it was so poorly executed as the actresses are funny but the production was way too much.

Frankly the last good Ghostbusters was the Real Ghostbusters animated series.

The Real Ghostbusters needs a decent blu-ray collection/remaster. Not that it will ever happen...

[M'Kyuun]

4 hours ago, Old_Nash said:

Sorry for not making it clear. But everyone knows that because of Murray's numerous denials in accepting to do a sequel, time passed and Ramis ended up passing away, without having a new movie of the 4. Leaving just the "feature" in cgi.

To be clearer, Murray held a grudge against Ramis and refused to work with him.  I don't know what the grudge was about, but that's my understanding of that situation. I'm sure there's more info about on the web.

Seems petty. I'm guessing it was a bit awkward for Bill given that the other three original guys and Ivan Reitman likely had fond memories and strong emotions over Harold's passing and physical absence from the film. Murray and Ramis had a lot of history together, and it's a shame they couldn't get past it before Harold passed on.

FYI, Nimoy held a grudge against Shatner over Shatner's use of media involving Nimoy in one of his productions that Nimoy didn't sign off on.  AFAIK, Shatner neither relented nor apologized, and Nimoy washed his hands of his old friend right up until his passing.  Sad- so much history there, too.

[sh9000]

 

[mikeszekely]

I skipped seeing this in theaters. Was planning on picking up the Blu-ray, but I see it's available now on digital and I'm stuck in COVID quarantine for a few more days. Might just get the digital and watch it today.

[Keith]

Just picked up the blu-ray. I will say that this movie was insanely fun, equal parts Goonies as it is Ghostbusters. It's pretty clear to me now as I suspected that it takes up after only the first film, with the only thing even remotely hinting of Ghostbusters 2 being Ray's Occult Shop. For some reason I was also reminded a biy of "The Real Ghostbusters", buy maybe that's just becauae of the gunner seat.

But who knows, maybe Sony will opt for a Ghostbusters multiverse. Despite all the panning I really liked the 2016 remake.

[Dobber]

2 hours ago, Keith said:

Just picked up the blu-ray. I will say that this movie was insanely fun, equal parts Goonies as it is Ghostbusters. It's pretty clear to me now as I suspected that it takes up after only the first film, with the only thing even remotely hinting of Ghostbusters 2 being Ray's Occult Shop. For some reason I was also reminded a biy of "The Real Ghostbusters", buy maybe that's just becauae of the gunner seat.

But who knows, maybe Sony will opt for a Ghostbusters multiverse. Despite all the panning I really liked the 2016 remake.

I also got a hint of “The Real Ghostbusters” at the beginning with Egon’s Hair and how it had a curl going forward. It may have just been a coincidence but it made me think of the animated character. 
 

Chris

[mikeszekely]

I finally got around to watching Afterlife.  And it was solidly OK.  Far better than the reboot, I enjoyed that this was clearly a sequel to the original film made by people who obviously cared about the property.  I enjoyed some of the nods to the first film; unlike @TangledThorns I liked when they reused music from the original.  I thought the performances by Callie Coon, Paul Rudd, Logan Kim, and especially McKenna Grace were on point.  My main complaints are that, while the performances were generally good, with a few exceptions (Phoebe's jokes, a few of the mom's remarks) the writing lacked a lot of the humor of the original in favor of making something that seemed targeted more for kids, the way the movie ignored Ghostbusters 2, and the fact that the movie was leaning a little too hard on the original.  Calling Ray at his bookstore, making the kids the grandchildren of Egon, checking out the commercial from the original on YouTube*, sure, that's all well and good.  Making Gozer the villain again, rehashing the bit with the Keymaster and Gatekeeper, though, and it starts to feel like you're trading originality for fanservice.

*That reminds me, how in the heck does Phoebe tell Podcast that she doesn't believe in ghosts?  I'd think the Ghostbusters driving the Statue of Liberty with an NES controller would have been a major headline around the world.  Even if the second movie is moved to non-canon, the hauntings of the first film and the original Marshmallow Man happening in New York would have to be common knowledge in the US at the very least, and you'd think that ghosts would just be accepted fact in the Ghostbusters universe.

[Dobber]

I can’t remember exactly….but didn’t the second movie have someone state that the used some form of mass hypnosis or possibly even gas to make people believe they were seeing things? In all honesty, I can believe it….that people would turn a blind eye to what they don’t want to believe.

Chris

[Thom]

Gullibility is a drug all in itself. 

But yes, during the court scene mention was made to hallucinogens. It could be assumed that hallucinogenic drugs was only one of dozens of excuses floated to explain away what happened in the first movie. Just choose whichever you want to believe. 

Thinking on it now, I'm kinda glad they seemed to be erasing the second one from canon.

 

[Keith]

Haven't seen this mentioned, but this movie establishes that the entire coming of gozer in both films could have been stopped by opening ghost traps under Dana & Luis after they were possessed.

Edited February 8, 2022 by Keith

[mikeszekely]

12 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

That reminds me, how in the heck does Phoebe tell Podcast that she doesn't believe in ghosts?  I'd think the Ghostbusters driving the Statue of Liberty with an NES controller would have been a major headline around the world.  Even if the second movie is moved to non-canon, the hauntings of the first film and the original Marshmallow Man happening in New York would have to be common knowledge in the US at the very least, and you'd think that ghosts would just be accepted fact in the Ghostbusters universe.

Seems I'm not the only one who thought this was an issue...

 

[Thom]

16 hours ago, Keith said:

Haven't seen this mentioned, but this movie establishes that the entire coming of gozer in both films could have been stopped by opening ghost traps under Dana & Louise after they were possessed.

The things we learn after the fact...

[no3Ljm]

 

[Thom]

Sorry Screen Junkies. I'm shallow, and I loved it!