Saturday, February 19, 2022

Review of GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE: Spengler's Scions

February 18, 2022



Former Ghostbuster Egon Spengler had succumbed to a heart attack while trying to capture a violent ghost in Summerville, Oklahoma. His estranged daughter Callie (Carrie Coon) had just been evicted from her apartment in Chicago, so she decided to move into her late father's farmhouse that she inherited, with her two children, slacker teen Trevor (Finn Wolfhard) and science nerd Phoebe (Mckenna Grace). 

Phoebe discovered ghost traps and other old Ghostbusters paraphernalia in the farm. Together with her new friend Podcast (Logan Kim), she was able to track the ghost to the foundry of town founder Ivo Shandor (JK Simmons). Meanwhile Callie and Phoebe's science teacher Gary Grooberson (Paul Rudd) get possessed by the spirits of the Keymaster and the Gatekeeper, paving the way for the resurrection of malevolent god Gozer (Olivia Wilde).

Majority of this film was devoted to the adventures and misadventures of the kids -- Phoebe and Podcast, Trevor and diner waitress Lucky (Celeste O'Connor)-- as they eventually figured out what Egon Spengler had been up to all these years. The events depicted were not exactly dissimilar to any of the film versions of R.L. Stein's juvenile horror books -- generally fascinating discoveries and lighthearted fun, but with a real sense of dread and danger. 

That these kids were encountering ghosts like the original Ghostbusters (Slimer-like Muncher, mini Stay-Puft Marshmallow Men, Terror Dogs Zuul and Vinz Clortho) and were using vintage Ghostbusters gear (ghost traps, proton packs, Ecto-1) was very exciting to see for fans. Nostalgia has really been the flavor of the 2021 film season, following "F9," "Matrix: Resurrections," "Halloween Kills," and "Spider-Man": Far from Home."

There was a cameo by Janine Melnitz (Annie Potts) and a sneaky inclusion of the line "Who you gonna call?". However, the ultimate nostalgic reconnection came iwhen all the original Ghostbusters -- Peter Venkman (Bill Murray), Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd) and Warren Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson) -- were firing proton streams side by side with the spirit of Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis digitally recreated) in a very heartwarming reunion. 7/10. 



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