After more than a year of scheduling delays due to the pandemic, Ghostbusters: Afterlife has finally made it into some theatres across the world. The newest film in this iconic franchise is a direct sequel to the original 1984 Ghostbusters and 1989s Ghostbusters II, which was released more than thirty years ago. Director and co-writer Jason Reitman, is the son of Ivan Reitman, who directed both Ghostbuster films and his legacy to his Father’s Ghostbusting franchise was a nostalgic joyride that features the same heart and soul as the originals and truly took me back to when I first experienced the spiritualistic, scientific wonder. 

Ghostbusters: Afterlife follows Callie (Carrie Coon) and her children Trevor (Finn Wolfhard), and Phoebe (McKenna Grace), who after becoming broke and indebted are evicted from their home and are forced to move to a decayed farmhouse in Summerville, Oklahoma, left to them by the children’s late grandfather. A series of unexplained earthquakes are occurring despite not being situated on any fault lines or tetctonic plates. In addition Phoebe discovers strange and ominous ruins in an old mine that is rumoured to have once belonged to the alleged occultist Ivo Shandor.

The children also discover the history of their grandfather with the original Ghostbusters, who have since been largely forgotten by the world beyond their fan base. But when a supernatural phenomena relating to New York City’s Manhattan Crossrip of 1984 occur and threaten the world, the kids along with their family and friends, must solve the decades-old mystery of the relocation of their grandfather and use the equipment of the Ghostbusters and become their successors to save it. 

At the heart of the story is the youngest child of the family. Mckenna Grace who is perfect in the role as Phoebe and her character is certainly relatable, she’s a young person trying to find a way in a world where her mum sadly doesn’t encourage her scientific cleverness and she has few but very little friends. Bespectacled and introverted with a dry wit, Afterlife is her journey of discovering the importance of her heritage and embracing her true gifts and talents. 

Mckenna Grace personifies the person in this story with the intelligence to see through the paranormal of everything that’s happening, Much like Egon did and certainly would have, had he been part of this spectacle of a movie. she also gives subtle homages to Ramis’s comedic approach.  

Afterlife felt like it was built around paying homage to his absence, but he and Egon loom largely over the whole film especially with a touching dedication “For Harold” which truly had me tearing up and speechless, the tribute is just loving. Not only is the movie an energetic ghost-blasting joyride, its filled with beautiful emotion, which I wasn’t emotionally prepared for. 

Among the supporting cast Carrie Coon portrays Callie as she comes to grips with the loss of a father she never really knew. She’s a dedicated, yet struggling single mother and doing her best whilst childhood wounds heal. She is also not quite understanding of phoebe’s hobbies. Both her and Mr Grooberson played by Ant-Man and current People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive aka Paul Rudd have great chemistry and comedic moments together. 

Stranger things star Finn Wolfhard also seems to be in familiar territory with all the supernatural things going on. His character trevor seems to have a crush on Lucky, a classmate at High School and a forth-generation resident of Summerville. As for Logan Kim, he truly steals every scene he’s in as Podcast. He’s an intrepid kid obsessed with mystery and the supernatural, this mixes well with Phoebe’s science. The 10 year old podcaster also has some great sequences with all the iconic gadgets. 

The cast is just so good in this movie, they’re simply terrific and all serve the purpose of this story. The script and dialogue also are so cleaver and truly honours and acknowledges the nostalgia that longtime Ghostheads like myself feel for the original story. moments of fan service occur with iconic imagery scattered throughout the film as the camera pans and lingers on iconic props like the P.K.E. Meter, Twinkie, etc. 

The dirt farm is also a fantastic location that also serves as a character. It’s decaying state shows neglect but also that something isn’t quite right. Egon has suddenly left hundreds of tools and paraphernalia for the family to uncover. Reitman creates a film that truly honours the legacy of Ghostbuters, but he also creates a phenomenal new film to introduce to new generations. It’s an expansion of the universe in which these kids are finding where they fit into the world whilst it passes the torch onto the next generation of Ghostbusting heroes. 

If you’ve watched the trailers then you’ll be aware of Muncher, Mini-Pufts and the return of the terror dogs, every Ghostbusters fan will have a favourite. The Mini-Puts were absolutely hilarious and mischievous, they’re small humanoid marshmallow men that are somewhat the same shape as the mascot on the Stay Put Marshmallows packaging. And though they may look cute at first sight, they are quite a destructive bunch and tend to not think before acting, and don’t care about their or others of their kind’s well-being. 

Muncher surprisingly voiced by Josh Gad loves to chew down on anything metal it can get its hands on. He’s somewhat smart, but more of a pest than an actual threat. 

The action sequences are done brilliantly especially with ghosts flying about everywhere. And seeing the Ecto-1 drifting through a wheat field and then driving through Smallville chasing after Muncher with all the proton blasting was thrilling and energetic. 

The music and score by Rob Simonsen is phenomenal and truly nostalgic as he uses many of the late Elmer Bernstein’s iconic themes from the original film which truly gave me goosebumps.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife truly left me wanting more, especially with the new mythology and characters. It’s perfectly a story about a father’s forgiveness and a young girl on a journey to discover herself and her grandfather’s legacy. That relationship really resonated with me as my own grandfather introduced me to this franchise growing up on VHS, so I really wished he’d have been here to watch this, even though I felt his presence whilst watching the film. And whilst the film still honours the original in an emotionally incredible satisfying way, writer-director Jason Reitman and co-writer Gil Kenan have truly crafted a phenomenal, engaging and an emotional story about lineage. Jason Reitman has truly outdone himself and pays tribute to his father’s greatest work. 

So Who you gonna call?