Ghostbusters Afterlife

The very first Ghostbusters film was a singular joy in my life. We never saw a trailer before the film came out and all we knew about it was the poster with the line through the ghost and the tag line, "Who you gonna call?" It's rare to go into a movie that fresh and then get rewarded in such a HUGE way.

Ghostbusters was one of the best nights at the movies I can remember because it was such a surprise and a great science fiction comedy adventure - a near perfect genre to get right. The fact that the first could never be replicated in the mind of many, nothing that came after included the first sequel and the 2014 female version could possibly live up to expectations.

Now for THIS sequel I have only watched the trailer ONCE. I don't want to know what's to come. I want to be wonderfully surprised by anything Jason Reitman has to show me. I want to feel that old school 80s vibe his father created in the 80s because my life is desperately in need of some sweet nostalgia. I hope my expectations are not too high.

Paul Rudd has the charm of a Ryan Reynolds who is so over saturated these days. Ryan's 'act' is also becoming tiresome for me. Rudd is a great alterative in this and the ONE adult who is forced by movie law to believe everything the children tell him is happening to them.

Speaking of the kids, they are also great. Phoebe (McKenna Grace) is a terrific find. It's like the anti-Milly Bobby Brown came into my life to set everything right. She looks like Milly but she can express more than one emotion and I actually believed she was a real human kid, not some soulless automaton. Of course she is a mechanical genius like all teen girls. I bet if you ask Finn Wolfhard (a name which sounds made up), he would agree with me. It must have been nice to not have to share screen time with Milly as the big brother. But I ramble.

Soon the family finds themselves the owners of a run down farm in the rural farmland. Not the perfect place for a broke family to land but perfect for our story which has two kids up for all that is coming their way. Both are smart and spunky and perfect. So are the friends they collect the way. It feels like old school Spielberg in that regard.

Annie Potts arrives early on and if SHE is on board then I expect to see some other characters from the past.

The story zips along and gives you everything you need to set the table for what turns out to be a great nostalgic blockbuster that would be huge in the days before the pandemic. There are many throwbacks to the original film with terms like KEYMASTER and GOZER showing up in the story. The Easter eggs are all over the place.

And this looks like Slimmer to me but they call him Muncher.

And instead of ONE Stay Puff Marshmallow man, there are dozens and dozens and from the trailer you can see that they are all evil. They are hardly used, however.

And nothing is as nostalgic as Ecto-1

I don't want to spoil anything else but saying anymore than I already have. It is the kind of movie perfect for the family that will please both old fans and new ones.