Initial Thoughts – Ghostbusters: Afterlife

Released: 2021

When development on this was first announced, it really seemed as though it was going to be “the Ghostbusters III we wanted all along.” That was certainly their intention. And, while I am happy they returned to the original continuity, I have a bit of a hard time viewing it as “Ghostbusters III“, per say.

In part because a third movie would probably have looked quite different if it had been made at an earlier point in time, when Harold Ramis was still alive. After he passed, it cast a long shadow over the franchise from then on. The Ghostbusters: Afterlife that we ended up getting is very much written as a love letter both to Harold Ramis and to the fandom at large. Whereas, if a Ghostbusters III had arrived sooner, it probably wouldn’t have had that same “love letter” feel to it.

And I bring this point up because Afterlife is essentially a retelling of the first film’s story, with the Ghostbusters team trying to stop the evil Gozer and their two demonic dogs. Whereas, an earlier version of Ghostbusters III likely would’ve had a different story focus. In particular, there was an in-development script at one point titled Ghostbusters III: Hellbent, which would’ve had the characters transported into an alternate version of Manhattan called Manhellton. That sounds like it would’ve made for a pretty cool movie.

With Ghostbusters: Afterlife, meanwhile, I would make the comparison to Star Wars: The Force Awakens. In that both movies are nostalgic and sentimental in tone, having a similar plot to the original film in their respective franchises, and with both movies starring a new, younger cast, with the original, older cast in supporting roles, and both movies having a “next generation” feel to them.

Although The Force Awakens was presented as “Episode VII” of the Star Wars saga and I can accept it as such, so it’s perhaps a bit unfair then for me to say that Ghostbusters: Afterlife “doesn’t feel like Ghostbusters III.“

I guess my point is, regardless of the movie we got in the end, I still wish we could have gotten a Ghostbusters III as it was originally planned, and it feels like we missed out there.

But as for the movie we did get, I am pleased to say that it’s the best one since the original. It has a great premise with us getting to meet Egon’s family as they move into his old, abandoned house. Phoebe also works well as the film’s protagonist.

One pretty jarring contrast from the previous three films is how the lively and upbeat New York setting is traded away for its opposite; a much smaller and more isolated, but still cozy town called Summerville, in Oklahoma. I thought at first it was a real-life town, but a bit of research shows that it was in fact created for the film. Either way, they did a bang-up job with the set design. A big part of the film’s enjoyment comes from simply looking at all the great small-town scenery and vast landscapes.

I was pleased to see Gozer again. Even though I felt they were a bit underdeveloped in the first film, which kinda applies here too. But still, they were the best of the Ghostbusters villains and the comeback does help flesh them out a bit further. Gozer actually felt even more creepy and intimidating here than in the original.

It all culminates in a great and memorable climax. And the ending was perfect.

Rating: 7.5/10