The 7 Most Surprising Elements of Ghostbusters: Afterlife

 

I’m a little late seeing Ghostbusters: Afterlife but you know what they say, “Better late than never.” Well, mostly it’s better to be late experiencing something than to miss out altogether. Did that hold true in this case too?

Yes. Unequivocally, yes.

Like many other fans of the original, I had mixed feelings at best about the 2016 Ghostbusters remake. (I so badly really, really wanted to like it because of the killer cast, but I just couldn’t get into it.)

That’s why when Ghostbusters: Afterlife was first announced, I received the news with cautious optimism. I hoped it would meet expectations, but I also didn’t want to get my hopes up either.

Then the teasers and trailers started coming out and like all other Ghostbusters fans, my enthusiasm grew. But apparently, I’m not the diehard fan I thought I was because when it was finally released in theaters in November 2019 after a few delays (thanks, Covid), I didn’t rush to the theater to see it. (Again, thanks, Covid.)

However, after reading my friend Pamela K. Kinney’s review of it on I Smell Sheep, I was more curious than ever to see it. It was scarier than the other films that preceded it? It had made her cry? Interest piqued!

Well, the wait finally ended. I saw it.

Did I cry too? Yes. Bawled in fact. I’ll tell you why and about six other elements that made Ghostbusters: Afterlife such an enjoyable surprise after a quick recap of what the movie’s about.

**Warning: Spoilers ahead!**

Ghostbusters: Afterlife Plot

Here’s the synopsis straight from the Ghostbusters site:

From director Jason Reitman and producer Ivan Reitman, comes the next chapter in the original Ghostbusters universe. In Ghostbusters: Afterlife, when a single mom and her two kids arrive in a small town, they begin to discover their connection to the original ghostbusters and the secret legacy their grandfather left behind. The film is written by Jason Reitman & Gil Kenan.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife Trailer

7 Surprising Ghostbusters: Afterlife Moments

1. The cast.

In the original, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver, Rick Moranis, and Annie Potts combined to create about as close to perfect casting alchemy as you can get in a movie.

Could others have played their parts and done just as good of a job? Sure. Possibly. But in the end, they set the bar.

With the exception of Moranis, they’re all back in Ghostbusters: Afterlife but not as the stars. That honor falls to Mckenna Grace, Finn Wolfhard, Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Logan Kim, and Celeste O’Connor, who absolutely owned their parts and cemented their place in the Ghostbusters legacy.

2. The storyline.

Is it one we’ve seen before in other movies? Sure. Struggling single mom inherits haunted house and moves in.

But in this case, the inheritance from her absentee genius father, Egon Spengler, turned “Dirt Farmer” was disappointing. At first. Until mom, with the help of her kids, all realize the true legacy Spengler left behind and that his heart was in the right place all along: with his daughter, who he sacrificed getting to know in order to keep the world safe.

The end result is a nice, heart-tugging, twist on a cliched theme.

3. The setting.

Oklahoma? How did a movie where the action previously took place in exciting New York City now find itself being set out in the middle of boring nowhere?

Again, credit that to the storyline’s brilliance. They somehow managed to make the implausible plausible and work Spengler’s farmhouse into the center of the action.

4. Surprise appearances from Sigourney Weaver and Harold Ramis.

Sigourney Weaver is still alive, but Harold Ramis died in 2014. Fittingly, his spirit was still very much incorporated in the movie anyway —as a spirit no less!

But his part is integral to the plot overall. Could they have used another actor? Yes. And in a way they did. But they also brought Harold Ramis back to life.

TheWrap spoke with Dan Zelcs, MPC film character supervisor for Ghostbusters: Afterlife about all the hard work that went into combing a “supernatural stand-in” with “visual effects wizardry” that resulted in what director Jason Reitman hailed as “magic.”

It was. After doing a double-take (and then wiping away tears), the first thing I Googled when I saw him was, “Is that really Harold Ramis in Ghostbusters: Afterlife?”

5. The return of Gozer.

Another character from the original who was resurrected was Gozer. And like I would do later in the movie when Egon returned to fight the Sumerian god/goddess, I wondered, “Is that the same actress who played her the first time? No, it can’t be. How’d they do that? She looks so similar!”

At first, she did, but then it was apparent it was of course a different actress. Three, in fact.

Slavitza Jovan played her in the 1984 movie, but as Ghostbusters News explained, Gozer the Gozerian in Ghostbusters: Afterlife was played by Emma Portner, Olivia Wilde, and Shohreh Aghdashloo. Portner brought Gozer’s movement to life, Wilde provides her face, and Aghdashloo creates her voice.

6. How much it embodied the spirit of the original.

Speaking of resurrecting spirits, this new Ghostbusters movie combines a modern sensibility and feel to the good-natured foundation of the original.

As TheWrap quoted Reitman, “This is a movie that doesn’t end with an explosion… It’s a movie that ends with a hug.”

At the end of Pam’s I Smell Sheep review she had written, “And if at the ending of the film, you feel tears in your eyes like I did, well, you’ll see why.”

It was because of that “hug.” It was seeing Egon standing side-by-side with his ghostbusting cohorts, Venkman, Ray, and Winston, to battle Gozer one more time.

Right after the final credits rolled, I emailed Pam, with tears still falling, to let her know it had made me cry too.

7. That there’s a chance for another one.

A handy suggestion Pam made in her I Smell Sheep review was to stick around during the credits and after them. It’s actually during the credits when Sigourney Weaver makes her hilarious appearance in the movie. But then at the end, we see more of Potts and Hudson too, as well as a glimpse into the firehouse. It definitely suggests there may be more to come from the franchise.

Rating

As all of us cinephiles are painfully aware, there is no shortage of sequels anymore. In fact, movie-making seems to be more about creating the next hot franchise than anything new and interesting. (Because that’s where the money is, sadly.)

But as is also often the case, sequels rarely compare to the originals. Yet, once in a while one comes along that’s just as good, if maybe not even better than the original.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife is one of those movies and definitely merits five enthusiastic skulls.

5 Places to Watch Ghostbusters: Afterlife Right Now

At the time of this posting, Ghostbusters: Afterlife rents for $5.99 on each of the following platforms: Google Play Movies & TV, Apple TV, Vudu, YouTube, and Amazon Prime Video.

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