In 1984, the original “Ghostbusters” film was released and instantly became a sensation. After making over 200 million dollars in the box office, “Ghostbusters” two was released five years later with similar results. 32 years later, the “Ghostbusters” franchise is back in theaters with “Ghostbusters: Afterlife.”
“Ghostbusters: Afterlife” continues 32 years after the events in the second film, and in this version of the franchise, the movie follows along with a new set of characters. While many of the characters from the original film appear in this one, the main characters in “Afterlife” are completely different. Afterlife follows Phoebe (McKenna Grace) and Trevor (Finn Wolfhard), grandchildren of the deceased original ghostbuster Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis). The film details their journey to Egon’s old house and farm in fictional town Summerville, OK, after their mother Callie (Carrie Coon) was evicted from her apartment.
After arriving in Summerville, the family has to quickly settle into their new way of living, all while having a bad reputation inside the city from their grandpa’s weird way of living. Egon was formerly known as the “dirt farmer,” for living on a large plot of farming land but farming none of it, however, It is revealed later on in the movie that Egon had instead been creating a large trap to capture Gozer, the Gatekeeper and the Keymaster, and stop their gateway between dimensions.
While in the town, Callie quickly meets Gary Grooberson (Paul Rudd) and the two undergo a love story of their own for the duration of the movie, all while playing a major role in the kids’ journey. The kids meet new friends and, throughout the film, discover Egon’s old equipment and traps and attempt to finish what Egon had started.
Although the film takes place in a fictional town, it does a great job of capturing the true visuals of the state of Oklahoma. While the town has mountains atypical of the state outside of the city limits, the town itself captures the true feel of a rural Oklahoma town. With a classic downtown area with restaurants and shops, director Jason Reitman truly captured the Oklahoma feel, even though the film was filmed in Canada.
Overall the film is solid. While not a historical, awe-dropping production, “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” does an excellent job of continuing the “Ghostbusters” franchise. The character development in the production is a little faster than most would desire, but on the broadscale, the film captures the emotions of every “Ghostbusters” fan and does an excellent job of setting up the franchise for future films or spin-offs through the two post-credit scenes.