Bring home ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’

Category: Blu-ray's and DVD's

In 1984 director Ivan Reitman brought us the original Ghostbusters movie. Now his son Jason resurrects the characters (literally) with some new and modern elements. Ghostbusters: Afterlife is filled with the same fun and ghosts as the original, adding a new cast and some throwbacks to the past.

When Callie (Carrie Coon) is evicted from her home, she brings her two children, Trevor (Finn Wolfhard) and Phoebe (Mckenna Grace), to the dilapidated house she just inherited from her recently deceased father. Phoebe is an exceptional young girl, in the way young Sheldon Cooper is in that sitcom. (Incidentally, Mckenna made a few appearances on Young Sheldon.)

Callie meets scientist Grooberson (Paul Rudd) who is interested in the strange phenomenon happening in the town. Trevor meets Lucky (Celeste O’Connor) who ends up being his good and only friend so far. And Phoebe connects with a tech savvy boy nicknamed Podcast (Logan Kim). That sums up the cast. Well, except for – you guessed it – the original Ghostbusters and some of the cast from the 1984 film (Annie Potts, Sigourney Weaver, and yes, Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson, Dan Aykroyd, and even Harold Ramis). Spoiler alert – Ramis died in 2014 so it took some great cinematic talent to resurrect him for this film.

To sum up the plot, Phoebe discovers some old Ghostbuster tools in the house and she also learns her estranged grandfather was Egon Spengler (Ramis) who had dedicated his life to ridding the world of all the ghosts once and for all. This led to his estrangement from not only his family but also the other Ghostbusters who thought he was crazy. After all, there had not been a ghost siting in decades.

The story has some adorable elements, not least of which are the tiny marshmallows. Unlike the original film with the giant Stay Puft marshmallow man, this film has dozens of tiny marshmallow kids who are full of mischief and mayhem. But they are absolutely adorable. Another new addition is Munchy, a ghost that eats metal. He’s also kind of cute at times, however he is not a nice guy.

The final scene in the movie is heartwarming, brining together all of the Ghostbusters in a tribute to Harold Ramis.  One of the bonus features on the disc shows exactly how the filmmakers did this. It is really interesting to see how they brought the actor back to life in the movie. Another bonus looks at the gadgets in the film.

An interesting 90-minute feature tells how this story came to be. This is truly a family project, with both Reitmans taking a role in creating this film. Deleted scenes and more add to the fun of this Blu-ray/DVD.

If you’re looking for a fun story that is new but also honors the past classic film, who are you going to call? Ghostbusters, of course.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife is rated PG-13 for supernatural action and some suggestive references.

About the Author

Francine Brokaw has been covering all aspects of the entertainment industry for over 25 years. She also writes about products and travel. She has been published in national and international newspapers and magazines as well as Internet websites. She has written her own book, Beyond the Red Carpet The World of Entertainment Journalists, is the entertainment correspondent for Good Day Orange County, and has her own TV show, Beyond the Red Carpet, on Village Television in Orange County. She is a longstanding member of the Television Critics Association, was a longstanding member of the Los Angeles Press Club, and is accredited by the MPAA. Follow her on Twitter.