In the multi-sensory 4DX format laden with over 20 different motion and environment effects we bring you this Ghostbusters: Afterlife 4DX review.
When a single mother and her two children move to a new town, they soon discover they have a connection to the original Ghostbusters and the secret legacy their grandfather left behind.
Casting aside the 2016 movie as far into the back of my subconscious as humanly possible we’re back again with a much delayed Ghostbusters: Afterlife.
Directed by Jason Reitman (son of original Ghostbusters director Ivan Reitman) our story now focuses on the grandchildren (Trevor played by Finn Wolfhard and Phoebe played by Mckenna Grace) of Egon Spengler not to mention their mother and Egon’s daughter, Callie (Carrie Coon) who inherit Egon’s barn after his death.
What they don’t know is the heightened ghost activity that not only surrounds the property but the town of Summerville in which the old dilapidated barn resides.
From start to finish I had mixed feelings about Ghostbusters: Afterlife, it just feels like it’s trying too hard and I can’t invest in the films cast whatsoever.
Phoebe’s character is a very arrogant little know-it-all, Finn Wolfhard plays the same goofy, dorky little character in everything he’s ever starred in and Callie is about as wooden as the floorboards in Egon’s barn.
Our sole source of entertainment comes in the form of Paul Rudd and the stand-out star of the show Logan Kim who plays a character called podcast.
Logan’s comedic timing and line delivery is absolutely spot on and he stands head and shoulders above the rest of the cast.
Paul Rudd’s character is literally thrown into a romantic storyline with Carrie Coon’s character Callie but it’s so rushed which makes no sense after the first lethargic 60 minutes!
Even Rudd’s awkward character drags some jokes on far too long but at least there’s some relatable features there with our audience. As far as the others go, I was rather siding with the ghosts to take care of them and take care of them quickly.
The film as a whole is very enduring and is so reliant on nostalgic winks and nods that it forgets to be anything other than a glorified fan-film.
The rather sluggish pacing of the film drags the story down to a snails pace until the ghosts are unleashed and then there’s actually something enjoyable to watch on screen.
I rarely side with the critics when it comes to their reviews but they’re absolutely spot on with this one, Ghostbusters: Afterlife is a drag.
Die-hard fans will be pleased with the references and will be happy just seeing the ECTO-1 on the screen and will wet their tighty whities when the original cast (including a nice Harold Ramis tribute) turn up at the end.
Instead of moving an original story forward it’s constantly telling us to look at the past movies.
Hey remember this?
Hey remember what happened in New York?
Oh look it’s the ECTO-1!
The sad thing us, those fans will absolutely lap it up and what results is lazy script-writing leaving no progression of a story of note. This film serves only as a amuse-bouche to the Ghostbusters films of old served to a brand new audience.
Suffocated by its past instalments Ghostbusters: Afterlife doesn’t have chance to breathe.
The tribute to Ramis was a beautiful touch if albeit one that went on a little longer than I was expecting.
The ending didn’t feel deserved, this emotional tribute after enduring such an emotionless film felt out of place.
Throw all the references you like into a pot, stir them up and you’ll have this mess.
Annoying characters, pointless story progression that felt like it’s been copied and pasted from a Ghostbusters film of old and nothing positive of note other than superbly immersive 4DX effects to save the day.
Every proton blast lit up the theatre, wind and smoke effects in full flow during ghost apparitions and don’t even get me started on the earthquake shakes throughout the film.
There was numerous times where my seat felt as though I was going to end up in the car park outside!
A film where the 4DX gimmick kept my bum on the seat as without it, I’d have probably walked out half way through.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife 4DX Review by Sean Evans
Our Rating
Summary
So fixated on reminding us that better Ghostbusters movies have been made years before Afterlife falls flat on its face with an Easter egg riddled feature that focuses too much on nostalgia and better films before it that it loses its way.
A cast we don’t care about but lazily cobbled together to cater to fan-service and further milking of this once beautiful franchise.
