“Ghostbusters: Afterlife” is a worthy reboot to the franchise which all seemed to turn out so very wrong. It may be called a “reboot,” but “Afterlife” lives up to its title and delivers a touching episode of high concept sci-fi with humor that cements the brand. In one deft move director Paul Feig has managed to crank out a sequel which also upped the stakes for the film.
Viewers will see a return to the original cast of Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson, as well as Emma Stone and Melissa McCarthy. They find themselves in modern day New York City, which is now incredibly dangerous. With radiation still at work and both Ghostbusters are beyond caring about risking their lives for a payoff. Rick Moranis, Sigourney Weaver and Annie Potts will not be appearing in this film, but. They are replaced by Leslie Jones, Kristen Wiig, Andy Garcia and Melissa McCarthy as three young paranormalologists that bring the old ghostbusters into a head-on collision with the new supernatural menace.
WATCH: ‘Ghostbusters’ Trailer Offers Easter Eggs To Movie Fans
One thing that attracted to in the movie was that it not only focuses on the goal of finding New York City’s new Ghostbusters, but also most importantly finding New York’s new Ghostbusters. It is not in this movie at all. The premise for the “afterlife” is that life’s ills do not have a “dead person” side-effect because the wrath of ghosts does not end. If they become human they have a bad side-effect of immortality, however. The ghosts do not hang out, but their victims will be trapped and given no choice but to decide whether to change their habits and avoid the chaos that accompanies the haunting. A part of the tagline for the film is “You want life, you got it.”
The rest of the cast is more than serviceable to the larger concept and performances are on par with other comedies. What stood out above all the cast was the progression of Wiig and McCarthy. This is a movie about young filmmakers and viewers would have been expected to see an older audience that would have been familiar with the tone and feel of the franchise and now is becoming a bit more accustomed to the antics that can involve this kind of humor.
Director Paul Feig did not have a home to begin with, he was a digital producer on some Sony films, but “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” does not need the family name of Sony to attract a substantial audience. If anything, it would likely be joined by “Darkman,” “The Lake House” and “Ghostbusters” in Sony’s recently discontinued Columbia Pictures label.
Still, the all too familiar storyline has already come and gone and “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” took the story into a surprising new dimension that brought back to the screen four of the original team. With its combination of re-inventing the Ghostbusters franchise and playing up the comedy and horror elements for a teenage audience, “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” elevated a quite tired concept into a relatively fresh and fun installment.