When it comes to the movie series we love, we always remember which was the first one we watched. For me, “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” (2021) was my first Ghostbusters film. Admittedly, I didn’t see it till two months after it hit theaters and I hadn’t planned on watching it in the first place, but I’m so glad I did.
*Be warned: this point forward will have spoilers, but if you haven’t seen it yet, you’re already missing out*
“Ghostbusters: Afterlife” follows a young girl named Phoebe (Mckenna Grace) who, after the passing of her estranged grandfather, is forced to pick up and move out with her mom and brother to Summerville, Oklahoma, to pick through what her grandfather left behind. There, Phoebe realizes that things aren’t all that they seem and that maybe her grandfather wasn’t the crazed dirt farmer everyone thought he was.
This film is what all reboot films should strive to be. It brings in a whole new cast of characters, while still having or paying tribute to those who were before them. All the callbacks to the first film are especially wonderful.
This movie serves as a passing of the torch, not only from the original Ghostbusters to this next generation, but from original director Ivan Reitman to his son Jason, the new director. There was a lot of love put into this film, and it’s prominent from start to finish.
The shift from the past movies, which spent too much time on a romantic subplot, to this film was a needed one. Having the main focus of the film be Phoebe discovering not only who she is, but who her grandfather was, and what he was doing, is something the movies needed. I do think that the film could have gone more in-depth with Gozer, something the first film was also lacking, but I do think they still did well.
Having all of the original crew present and in action in the climax of this film was such a heartfelt moment. My first time watching this film in theaters, I was crying by the end, and I didn’t even understand how much more it meant till I had gone back and watched the originals.
In a sense, this film was a memorial for Harold Ramis, the actor who played Egon Spengler in the original films. When the original crew is saying goodbye to Egon’s ghost, you can tell how much more emotion there is in that scene.
“Ghostbusters: Afterlife” serves as a great start for new fans of the film and a great continuation for long-time fans. The legacy of the films will continue for years to come, and I do think they found the perfect way to make that so.