By Skylla Mumana | Reporter
For an entertaining twist on a classic, I definitely recommend the new movie “Ghostbusters: Afterlife.”
“Ghostbusters: Afterlife” was released in November and features some of the main cast from the original “Ghostbusters,” as well as well-known actors such as Paul Rudd (“Ant-Man”), Mckenna Grace (“Young Sheldon”) and Finn Wolfhard (“Stranger Things”). The film follows a single mother and her two children, as they travel to a small town to gather the belongings of their newly deceased grandfather. There, the children find out that their grandfather was a ghostbuster and learn about the secret legacy he left behind.
“Ghostbusters” is an American supernatural comedy film that was released in 1984. The original film followed a trio of newly unemployed parapsychologists who decided to open up a ghost busting business to continue their research and wage high-tech battle against the supernatural. The film featured big names, such as Ernie Hudson and Bill Murray, and grossed over $298 million in the box office.
I’m usually not a fan of movie remakes. In my opinion, something important always gets left out, or something outlandish always gets put in. Either way, I rarely find movie remakes I truly enjoy watching. Coincidentally, I had also seen another “Ghostbusters” remake that had come out in 2016. That remake had a star-studded cast, great effects and was highly entertaining. With that said, I felt that there were a lot of plot holes and missed opportunities in terms of characters. Despite all of this, I heard about this new Ghostbusters remake, and although I was a bit hesitant to view it, I decided to give it a try after seeing the trailer.
“Ghostbusters: Afterlife,” exceeded my expectations. Not only was the acting great, but the plot and effects were up to par as well. I felt that this version also paid homage to the original “Ghostbusters” movie and the original characters.
One fault I found in the 2016 remake was they really didn’t utilize any of the original characters from the first “Ghostbusters” movie, and instead created an alternate timeline where a quartet of four women became the first ghost fighting crew. The original characters had little bearing on the plot in that movie, which was a bit disappointing to me. Their cameos were noticeable, but they had very little screen time. In “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” however, the original characters came back and were fully utilized in the plot. The joint excitement in the theater when they came out only made watching the movie in theaters even better.
The acting in the movie was also top tier. I loved the character Phoebe and how Mckenna Grace portrayed her, expecially seeing how Phoebe’s confidence rose throughout the plot as she started to experiment with her grandfather’s gadgets and learned to catch ghosts. I love how she was fearless, highly intelligent and even when the townspeople and her own mother doubted her grandfather’s ambition, she never wavered.
I also loved how the parallels between the old “Ghostbusters” and the remake were noticeable, yet not cheesy in nature. As someone who religiously rewatched the original “Ghostbusters” as a child, I had a lot of fun picking through the scenes and finding the similarities and Easter eggs.
All in all, if you’re looking for a fun movie to watch as a breather for after finals that’s family-friendly and action-packed, I definitely recommend this film.
