OLD LEASE OF LIFE

 

MOVIE
Ghostbusters: Afterlife

Director Jason Reitman

Review Ray Chan

This sequel continues on from Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II (ignoring, of course, the 2016 all-female reboot) and is set three decades later.

    Original Ghostbuster Egon Spengler (the late Harold Ramis) has passed away, and his estranged and financially-strapped daughter Callie is forced to relocate to his derelict farmhouse, accompanied by her milksoppish son Trevor and headstrong daughter Phoebe (McKenna Grace).

    There they soon discover a secret that Egon hid from them, and with assistance from science teacher Chad Grooberson (Paul Rudd) and some plucky local kids, they embark on a dangerous mission to remove a malevolent supernatural presence.

    Therein lies the basic premise of the film, in which the familial theme runs strong: not only does Phoebe follow in her grandfather’s exorcism exercises, but the film is directed by Jason Reitman, the son of the man who produced the first two instalments.

    Sadly though, it seems he tries too hard. Perhaps aiming to recapture the essence of what came before, the story is packed with so much Ghostbusters mythology that it’s hard to see what could be gleaned from this experience that wouldn’t be improved upon by simply watching the 1984 original.

    This reviewer sits in the group of people who didn’t think those movies were side-splittingly funny anyway. So re-using a template of cringe-inducing dialogue and dated gags is not going to impress.

    This is none more so exemplified than by the unexplained appearance of the Stay Puft marshmallows – a mainstay of the franchise. We see sentient marshmallows roast each other on a barbecue, presumably to raise a chuckle from the parents in the audience who enjoyed the original chapters when they came out.

    Indeed, this scenario represents a problem that Hollywood finds itself experiencing time and time again; how do you mine past successes for content without merely regurgitating a series of familiar images in pursuit of box office returns? Even Rudd serves little purpose here … recruited no doubt for his popularity in Ant-Man, just to pull in audiences. His character does nothing of note in the battle against the demons.

    The original troup of Dan Ackroyd, Bill Murray and Ernie Hudson reprise their roles, alongside a digital representation of Ramis, and it’s their inclusion that will delight many viewers old enough to remember what it was like when Ray Parker Jr first belted out the dynamic theme song.

    But that seems to be all this production is: a foray into nostalgia that will bring a smile to the emotionally-invested children of the 80s, but probably not the current crop of teenagers.

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