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The notion of the ‘legacy sequel’ has been a major Hollywood force in recent years – follow-ups to classic movies that introduce a new generation of younger characters, while checking in on the iconic heroes of the original film(s) at a later stage in life. Take The Force Awakens, or 2018's Halloween, or Terminator: Dark Fate. But the upcoming Ghostbusters: Afterlife is a legacy sequel in more ways that one – firstly, in that it’s set in the same universe of the original two films, with members of the classic cast (including Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson) returning. And secondly, in that it sees director Jason Reitman pick up the directorial reins from his father, Ivan Reitman, the legendary filmmaker behind both of the previous films.This time, the action moves out of New York and into rural Oklahoma, with fresh young leads in Mckenna Grace and Stranger Things’ Finn Wolfhard, playing a pair of kids who stumble upon the original ‘busters tech. Afterlife is set to arrive this summer, over thirty years since Ghostbusters II hit the big screen – and for Jason Reitman, there was one person above all who he wanted to impress. In early December, he was finally able to screen the film for him. “My father hasn’t been leaving the house much because of Covid,” he tells Empire in his first interview about the movie, published in the upcoming new issue – available to pre-order here. “But he took a test, put on a mask and drove down to the Sony lot to watch the movie with the studio. And after, he cried, and he said, ‘I’m so proud to be your father.’ And it was one of the great moments of my life.” While Ivan Reitman’s original Ghostbusters flicks are mostly remembered for their dry, sly (and surprisingly adult) sense of humour – delivered by its cast of gifted comedians – in picking up the baton from the first two films, Jason Reitman says he looked to make Afterlife as scary as the old films felt too. “The feeling that I’ve kind of held onto is that while it is very funny, it really scared me. It was really my first experience with a horror film,” he explains. “I was at a Directors Guild meeting and I happened to be sitting next to Steven Spielberg – when I told him I was working on Ghostbusters, he out of nowhere said, ‘Library Ghost – top ten scares of all time.’ And it’s true.”
OK, I kinda rescind what I said above: this trailer feels significantly off of the tone of the original. Like, this feels more on par with, maybe "ET but with ghosts." Like, the original Ghostbusters (characters) were looked at as a cross between hucksters & exterminators; finding a ghost trap shouldn't feel like finding some holy relic, but more like a rat trap or something. I know trailers are nothing more than merely marketing tools designed to hit all 'four quadrants' of movie audience to get EVERYONE excited to spend money on a film. It's entirely plausible that this is being marketed towards yet another "play up the nostalgia!!!!!!!!!!!111!!" type thing for the ever-loud Gen X folks who can't get enough of reminders of their childhood. It feels like it's tapping into the "Stranger Things" zeitgeist a few years too late tonally.IDK. It looks great visually/technically, and Jason Reitman is an aces director in my book, so I may be (hope to be) entirely wrong here. But I'm reminded of JURASSIC PARK when they're taking the tour for the first time before it rains/the power goes out and Malcom says to the camera "you will actually have DINOSAURS on your dinosaur tour...right?!" The original 3 films, problematic as any of them may be, were all comedies with the element of horror to them. This feels more like a fanboy (note: directed by the son of the original director) who loves the original but doesn't tonally get WHY he loves the original.We'll see. But I'm more bummed with this trailer than the original teaser & I'm sincerely hoping this is actually more of a comedy than it looks so far
Saw this last night at a critic's screening, and I'll mostly just say that I hate it when my initial negative instincts turn out to be right. This film is of the genre of "Hey, I recognize that thing from that other thing!" cinema: one I'm not really a fan of, though I suspect a lot of people will like this. On a positive note, Mckenna Grace is legit awesome, and I look forward to seeing her again: a lot! I do think my 7 year old will like this, so I suspect sometime during Thanksgiving break next week I'll likely end up seeing this again with him. This movie isn't for me, but if you _really_ like nostalgia, and don't mind a lot of lack-of-substance or originality, or you don't wonder why the other GHOSTBUSTER films hinted at a HUGE world of ghosts and afterlife yet Gozer and (oddly) Stay Puft are seemingly big focus points: chances are you'll be fine with this. I don't mean that to sound as dismissive as it might come across; I just know that I'm not a fan of the current "nostalgia rules ALL" mantra of Hollywood while others don't seem to mind it. This movie is necessarily 'bad,' per say: it's really frustrating because the talent involved could've made a really interesting movie while still keeping some of the themes.Oh well; enjoy this, uber Ghostbuster fans out there!