Ghostbusters: Afterlife Movie Review

“Ghostbusters: Afterlife” is a continuation of the Ghostbusters Saga, begun back in the Olden Days (1984, to be exact). The Ghosts are back, and now it is family affair. One of the key ‘Busters’ has passed away. Now it is up to a tenacious grand-daughter to follow in the nerdy footsteps of the Grandpa she never knew. It is a ‘family affair’ in more ways that that…

Callie (played by Carrie Coon) is a scatter-brained single mom attempted to keep and even keel with two hard-to-control kids.  Trevor (played by Finn Wolfhard) is a teenager who wants to be much older so he can do the cool stuff. Phoebe (played by Mckenna Grace) is the younger sister who is a super science nerd and a little bit introverted. Callie finds out that her estranged father has passed away, and she needs to take over his small farm in Summerville, Oklahoma.

Callie is flat broke, so they all pack up and move to the ‘dirt farm’ (as the locals call it). Her father was considered a weirdo, and the farm has many odd items. Trevor gets a job at the local burger place, and he wants to get on the good side of Lucky (played by Celeste O’Connor). She is his attractive coworker, but he is too young her. Phoebe goes to summer school and meets her teacher, Chad Grooberson (played by Paul Rudd). She also has a classmate named Podcast (played by Logan Kim) — because he creates his own podcast, duh…

Phoebe gets some supernatural clues that a ghost is helping her find out stuff that is hidden on the farm. Trevor also finds an ancient hearse that is marked with some very unusual markings. It looks like some logo of a company that started in New York in 1984. Before you can decide about “Who you gonna call”, the entire group finds out that the Ghostbusters team has relocated to Summerville. Or at least one of them — Dr. Egon Spengler.

Mr Grooberson, along with Phoebe and Podcast, by accident release a Ghost called Muncher. This one loves to eat any type of metal that he can find. Trevor gets the ‘Ectomobile’ running and he helps out Phoebe and Podcast to try and catch the Muncher, but he gets away to a nearby mountain. This area was home to a mining operation many years ago, and now it is the home of the banished creepy ghosts from the 1984 Ghostbusters.

Callie and Chad Grooberson have run-ins with some Demon Dogs. The mountain has been setup to trap all the evil ghosts down the well. Sure hope Lassie does not come around and the save the ones down in the well. Dr. Spengler spent years trapping them all down there, and he has more ‘traps’ set up on his ‘dirt farm’. Phoebe finds out that Dr. Spangler was her grandfather. And now, his spirit is counting on her and her fellow ‘Ghostbuster’ squad to come to the rescue. Callie and Chad need to be saved, and the temporary mountain prison is about to give out.

Phoebe, Podcast, Trevor and Lucky are ready to make the dreams of Dr. Spengler come true. The ‘dirt farm’ is about to be become the final resting place for Zuul and his buddies. But there are issues that they did not expect. It are looking like the end might come for real. But they get some assistance from a few people who have experience in that ‘Ghostbuster’ thing…

“Ghostbusters: Afterlife” is a fun and frantic update on the original classic. The story takes a very respectful tone in regards to original actor who had played Dr. Egon Spengler in the 1984 “Ghostbusters” (Harold Ramis). Ramis passed away in 2014, but he had a great influence in the original film (as an actor and co-writer). Another great thing is the original Director in 1984 was Ivan Reitman. Now this version is Directed and Co-written by his son, Jason Reitman.

Mckenna Grace is terrific as Phoebe, with a few mannerisms that match the original Dr. Egon Spengler actor, Harold Ramis. Her character shows a lot of inner drive and smarts. The other acting is also really good, with Paul Rudd getting a fun performance as a bored teacher with more on his mind. There are some interesting cameo appearances and you might find it fun to catch up with some old friends on the big screen. There is even an after-credits scene that might build up a possible sequel.

“Ghostbusters: Afterlife” is all about the giving credit to the original. But it gets to be a fun movie with a bunch of new ‘Busters’ – while keeping in mind (and honoring) the 1984 crew…