Director Ivan Reitman’s original Ghostbusters came out in 1984. When audiences drove their Chevrolet Cavaliers—which was the best-selling car that year—to movie theaters three decades ago, they did so to laugh at Bill Murray and a gang of exterminators who specialize in New York City’s supernatural population. No one could’ve predicted that those jumpsuits and proton packs would become as recognizable as lightsabers or a Delorean. Now, everyone knows who to call.
Director Jason Reitman’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife introduces his father’s franchise to a new generation. The film follows Egon Spengler’s daughter, Callie, who is forced to move to her late father’s farmhouse in Summerville, Oklahoma after being evicted. Joining Callie are her children, Trevor and Phoebe, the latter of which is the spitting image of Egon. Suffice to say, the pair discover their grandfather’s ghostbusting equipment including the Ecto-1 just in time to thwart a ghostpocalypse. Is Afterlife a comedy like the original? Is it a drama? Exactly how sexy is Paul Rudd? Like comparing Rudd to People Magazine’s previously sexy men, it’s unfair to pit Afterlife against the original. However, we’re going to do it anyway in the latest edition of Mandatory Movie Battles.
Cover Photo: Sony Pictures/Columbia Pictures
Afterlife’s CGI does a (tasteful?) job of paying tribute to Ramis while paving the way for future installments in the Ghostbusters franchise but it often feels shackled by the originals. When audiences drove their Ford F Series pickups to movie theaters this year, they kept being told they were watching a Ghostbusters movie. Those who didn’t get the message (or decide to buy a bunch of Stay Puft Funko Pops!) likely went home afterwards, streamed the original and laughed at Bill Murray and his gang of supernatural exterminators. Five Ghostbusters nuked Gozer (yes, Olivia Wilde plays her/him/it in Afterlife) back in ’84 and five categories bested a threequel in 2021.
P.S. Did Afterlife really need all that product placement? We’re looking at you Wal-Mart. Pay your employees.
Overall Winner: Ghostbusters
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Ghostbusters Battle
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Father v. Son (Director)
When talking about an uncanny offspring, people like to evoke, “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” That phrase may be appropriate when comparing Phoebe to Egon but the directorial styles of Ivan and Jason bring to mind “apples and oranges.” While Ghostbusters is a comedy, Afterlife is a family drama, and it works best when playing to Jason’s strengths in that regard—from Egon as the absentee father to Phoebe struggling to fit in both at home and in school.
Afterlife falters when trying to imitate the original. In its final act, it’s almost as if the studio stepped in and said “we need to remind people this is a Ghostbusters movie.” The amount of references here is comical. Cue a Twinkie and the homicidal Stay Pufts. At least they’re cute. The OG fires on all cylinders and knows exactly what it is.
Winner: Ghostbusters
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Comedy
Afterlife has heart and will make one chuckle. In that sense, it’s more akin to Netflix’s Strange Things—which is clearly what it tries to be at times (right down to the casting of nostalgia expert Finn Wolfhard)—than the original Ghostbusters films. The franchise itself has always fallen in the realm of horror-comedy and Jason Reitman’s film may flirt with comedy as a sub-genre but it’s not at the forefront...unless we’re talking about the scenes Murray is in. The man’s still got it.
Winner: Ghostbusters
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Pacing
Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis’ original Ghostbusters script is a masterclass in pitch-perfect pacing: its eccentric trio of parapsychologists are introduced, form a team, and then bust their first ghost, the illustrious Slimer, all within the first thirty minutes. The remainder of the film builds Gozer the Gozerian as the main threat before crescendoing into an epic showdown with the giant Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, who, turns out, could possibly destroy us.
Afterlife fixates on its family dynamic (as well as Trevor’s love life) for a good hour while Phoebe plays chess with Egon’s ghost, fixes up a proton pack, and busts Muncher (Slimer 2.0). Then Afterlife decides to double down on nostalgia, cramming the original movie’s third act into its climax—from Gozer and Stay Pufts to Rudd as a sexy Rick Moranis. None of this is necessarily bad, and all of the original busters showing up and crossing streams is certainly a moment, but it feels contrived after spending half of the film emphasizing the fact that Egon took all their equipment.
Winner: Ghostbusters
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Lead
Prediction: Mckenna Grace will win Oscars someday—she carries Afterlife. You empathize with her as the nerdy outcast who’s wise beyond her years even when her character is built atop a handful of tropes. For example, she’s “good a science,” therefore, she knows everything and can do anything. Phoebe is Afterlife’s socially-awkward Tony Stark if all the other Avengers were given (much) less to do. Logan Kim is entertaining as “Podcast,” who, of course, has a podcast, and Rudd does enough but it’s Grace’s show. While Murray was technically Ghostbusters’ lead he also benefited from a well-rounded cast—we’re giving this one to the fifteen-year-old superstar.
Winner: Afterlife
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Supporting Cast
Based on that previous statement, this one won’t be a shocker. The original cast, including Murray, Aykroyd, Moranis, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts, and Sigourney Weaver are unmatched. While they do briefly appear in Afterlife, it’s not their movie, and would be disingenuous to call them supporting players. So, of course, Afterlife’s second string pales in comparison to Spengler, Stantz, Venkman, Zeddemore, and the other OGs.
Winner: Ghostbusters
