A film with hundreds of CGI effect shots hires an ex mythbuster to show off like ten practical shots. No idea why people suddenly hate CGI but disingenuous stuff like this is annoying.
I'm not sure why celebrating the use of practical effects is disengenious. Geek made no claim to the amount or saturation of the effects, they just showed their appreciation for them.
Like, they could have easily done CG for that spark effect, but instead paid someone to do an elaborate practical prop. That's something to appreciate.
+5
Dark Raven XLaugh hard, run fast,be kindRegistered Userregular
Apparently production companies have been straight up lying about that sorta stuff lately. Came up in a Corridor Crew vid this week that all the Behind The Scenes vids of the Barbie movie had been edited to hide bluescreens, because they wanted to pretend it was all done with practical sets for some bizarre reason.
Apparently production companies have been straight up lying about that sorta stuff lately. Came up in a Corridor Crew vid this week that all the Behind The Scenes vids of the Barbie movie had been edited to hide bluescreens, because they wanted to pretend it was all done with practical sets for some bizarre reason.
Same with Top Gun. The line was that it was all practical, all the jets are real, but no, that movie is chock full of CG. The actors were in planes, but everything else was painted over.
Celebrating the use of practical effects is great, but this weird sort of turn against all cg and the accompanying smoke and mirrors embrace of that vitriol by studios is bizarre.
All that said, the new Ghostbusters equipment looks awesome.
Frozen Empire debuts with 44% on RT. Take it away from Kenan and Reitman, they are not the right people for this.
Ghostbusters II has a 55% on Rotten Tomatoes and IMO, it's notably better than the 2016 reboot (74%) and Afterlife (64%) so maybe don't take Rotten Tomatoes to be the end all, be all.
I'm seeing it tomorrow. I'm sure I'll like it more than the critics. They were pretty harsh on the last one. I think it's a safe assumption that they're looking for something different out of the franchise than I am.
My friends who saw it yesterday and last week both had very positive things to say.
The thing about critics is that they aren't just viewers, they're professionals. They see way more movies than the average person and naturally because of that, they're going to be looking for different things than the average audience goer.
Ghostbusters II is a quintessential example. Low RT score, mainly stemming (IIRC) from it being a retread of the original. Critics wanted something new, not a rehash.
But like, the original Ghostbustes rules and GB2 keeps pace with it nicely. It's not as novel or original as the first movie, but it's still a great movie because it absolutely captures the humor and style and quality of the first movie without just retreading jokes and being centered around references. It's a great movie that sits in the shadow of a masterpiece.
So while the critics aren't wrong about it essentially being the first movie again but different, it doesn't bother me in the slightest and honestly I think works to the movies strength. It's like they got to work out the kinks making GB1.
Long story short, Critic Reviews are opinions from people who probably watch too many movies and have to watch a lot of dreck they don't like, so their opinions are going to be a little weird compared to people like you and me.
+4
Bloods EndBlade of TyshallePunch dimensionRegistered Userregular
Reviews are just opinions at the end of the day but the ones I have read have the theme of "it's not as good as the 1984 original" and "this premise is getting a little thin". I suspect that ghostbusters fans will like it while the mainstream audience might be a bit meh on it, just like Afterlife.
This has been a problem for the franchise since 1989 and only the video game manages to break out of it, largely by doing something so off the wall it can't be done on film. (Sidenore: It is worth watching the cutscenes for the most phoned in performance ever recorded by Bill Murray).
Scottsman attempts to give Afterlife a chance take 4:
I watched Afterlife again as part of my series rewatch, and this time I tried to take the movie completely on it's own merits and not as a Ghostbusters sequel.
And it's fine. It's more amusing than funny, and a lot of beats fall flat without the nostalgia. And prior movies or no, the stuff with Egon just doesn't work. We spend 80% of the movie with Carrie absolutely hating his guts (for good reason!), then she finds his stalker board and all is forgiven.
I think I like Podcast more the more I see the movie, even with his really dumb name that just feels so much like an adult trying to write for a kid. He has good chemistry with Phoebe
Trevor still feels superfluous to me. It's like he's only there to drive the Ecto-1. He has the romance with Lucky, but it really feels like she was added specifically because they needed something else for Trevor to do. All of his "I hate it here, Mom" stuff is also handled by Phoebe and Lucky's "I know this town" is handled by Podcast and Grooberson.
I feel like they should have amped up Trevor's mechanical skills; he fixes the Ecto-1 (with help) and we can see him working on the family car during the road trip.
And man, if you hadn't seen the originals, the bit where the OG's show up has got to feel out of place.
I had more to say, but honestly I've whined about this movie enough and we got a new one coming out tomorrow. Hopefully I'll just come to think of Afterlife as the weird spinoff that sets up the characters for Frozen Empire.
Undead Scottsman on
+1
RingoHe/Hima distinct lack of substanceRegistered Userregular
Podcast and Phoebe are the best parts of Afterlife
I didn't get into the early screenings (I could have if I had tried harder, I'm sure) but I'm primed for this tonight!
I even got my jacket!
$25 Temu jacket with like $75 worth of bits bought to modify it.
I'm not worried about reviews. Most of them I've ignored and just read the tldr responses and it just seems like people looking for a headline to get clicks. I have liked every Ghostbusters movie we've gotten (with some criticisms here and there, but nothing damning) and I'm ready to like this one.
Honestly the “Egon running off” part of Afterlife bugged me too, and I’ve always wondered if there was something on the cutting room floor that better explained it like some kind of major falling out.
Still like it even if its primary thing is playing on nostalgia.
To be fair I don't think Afterlife is anywhere near as nostalgic as people think it is. There are not many callbacks and the few there are mainly exist to prod the plot along (altough having Paul Rudd wax lyrical about the busters was a bit much). The Stay Puft scene (sponsored by Walmart it seems) is really the only place where it seemed obivious but at least it was short.
Egon running off really hurts the movie though and should have been rewritten.
Caught an early showing, and bought the ghost trap popcorn bucket from a worker who seemed very stressed about it. He made sure to stress that they couldn't put popcorn in it and he could not take it out of the plastic. No popcorn was included, but there was an offer for a cheap large bucket.
I really enjoyed the movie. It stands out over Afterlife and the game in that it feels like it moves forwards with characters and concepts, rather than focusing on the events of the first movie. It has room to breathe on it's own.
To be fair I don't think Afterlife is anywhere near as nostalgic as people think it is. There are not many callbacks and the few there are mainly exist to prod the plot along (altough having Paul Rudd wax lyrical about the busters was a bit much). The Stay Puft scene (sponsored by Walmart it seems) is really the only place where it seemed obivious but at least it was short.
Egon running off really hurts the movie though and should have been rewritten.
When you say "not many" callbacks... how do you mean? I would say the movie rarely lets ANY scene go by without some kind of callback. Maybe you're using the term in a different way? Otherwise... no, that's just incorrect, frankly.
Caught an early showing, and bought the ghost trap popcorn bucket from a worker who seemed very stressed about it. He made sure to stress that they couldn't put popcorn in it and he could not take it out of the plastic. No popcorn was included, but there was an offer for a cheap large bucket.
To be fair I don't think Afterlife is anywhere near as nostalgic as people think it is. There are not many callbacks and the few there are mainly exist to prod the plot along (altough having Paul Rudd wax lyrical about the busters was a bit much). The Stay Puft scene (sponsored by Walmart it seems) is really the only place where it seemed obivious but at least it was short.
Egon running off really hurts the movie though and should have been rewritten.
When you say "not many" callbacks... how do you mean? I would say the movie rarely lets ANY scene go by without some kind of callback. Maybe you're using the term in a different way? Otherwise... no, that's just incorrect, frankly.
Fair enough, as I was reading your comment the "who you gonna call" jail scene played in my head and I realised you were right.
Caught an early showing, and bought the ghost trap popcorn bucket from a worker who seemed very stressed about it. He made sure to stress that they couldn't put popcorn in it and he could not take it out of the plastic. No popcorn was included, but there was an offer for a cheap large bucket.
At that point, is it even a popcorn bucket?
I think the cinema realised many people want it as a cosplay accessory and/or display piece rather than a popcorn holder so keep them separate. Really wish the Regal version is available online. It would go great with my pke meter and wand with flashing lights and knobs.
I loved the movie. It was a proper Ghostbusters™ adventure that balanced the return to NYC by expanding the lore and scope of the franchise without retconning any of the previous movies (something that I felt was a flaw in Afterlife).
What's more, it was much funnier this time with the new and returning cast having some great comic moments! Lucky got some time to shine there and Kumail Nanjiani was surprisingly well-used. I didn't expect much from his character from the previews but it does seem like those were intentionally misleading on a few scenes.
Dan Aykroyd is having a blast in this one. He clearly is happy with Ray's new role and I suspect we'll see him return in every new movie until he dies. Ernie Hudson continues to make this look easy. Great to see the two of them reprise their characters' friendship. The chemistry is still there. Bill also seemed to be enjoying playing Venkman in a way we haven't seen since his scenes with Dana in GB2. They've found a fun track for that character that echoes some of the work done in the comics.
Going into unrestrained spoilers now:
15-year-old Phoebe's fashion choices and side-plot couldn't scream more "this girl is gay and autistic" without just letting her KISS Melody by the end. Clearly that is the reason Phoebs was so quick to jump out of her body with experimental tech so they could be on the same plane. I am here for it! It made my queer, ghost-busting heart swell. We are so lucky to have McKenna Grace in this fandom/franchise.
Walter Peck as mayor is confusing and his return is also a return to "he has extremely valid points/concerns but then he acts like a vindictive asshole about it". At least they steamroll through his attempts to roadblock him to keep the plot rolling. I enjoy how it ends with him having to feign mutual support for the team for political reasons. Again, a little bit of his role in the '09 video game and IDW comics.
I loved the new gear, even though the slime blower was relegated to a blink-and-miss-it background gag. The Paranormal Research Institute being a separate location (a repurposed aquarium) with it's own equipment and super-sized containment unit is a welcome expansion to the setting. It's fun to have a place to view the captured ghosts. The wrist-mounted thrower feels appropriately home-brew. Not hugely practical, but I suppose it frees up an arm.
The incorporation of folklore with the brass containment orb and Garakka worked for me. That's the part that feels like it pulls the most from the cartoon, setting up a new pre-Sumarian god and planting seeds for how to beat it. Thank God they didn't try to tie it to Gozer this time. In general this movie dodges anything that shrinks the world and actively grows it instead. Patton Oswalt's character works well here. It's an entertaining exposition dump. Please patronize your local library!
I feel like the Melody plotline was stripped down for time but I like how you're not quite sure how responsible the ghost is for the fire that killed her and her family. It adds to the tension of her betraying Phoebe, not because of any fear of physical harm but out of emotional concern. It wasn't explored as much as it could have been but it helped give the movie stakes. Again, the lack of closure in the end for what is clearly a teen romance subplot was missed. Phoebs embracing her mom after all the family tension earlier could have really used a "mom, I'm gay" to really throw some nitrous in the tank. It feels like there's a draft of a script it there that'll never see the light of day.
Podcast got barely any character development other than revealing he speaks Korean with his parents. I did like his YouTube show with Ray and his continued friendship with Phoebe, though the later could have been fleshed out more. Hopefully he gets more to do in the next one, if they make it.
The Mini-pufts following him to NYC and multiplying makes barely any sense but it was fun seeing the little guys anyway. I just think they're neat.
Trevor having a Peter-like relationship with Slimer is almost disconnected from the whole rest of the movie but it's funny when you know it's about to come back.
Speaking of which, the possessor ghost is the MVG of the film. It pinged between a cute and funny Jack Russell terrier, and a calculating killing machine from beginning to end. When the Ecto-1 turned red I gasped!
Using the firehouse itself to fight Garakka was cool, with the brass from the poles (though they should have electroplated the pack parts, rather than dip them in molten metal imo, that was silly) and the ruptured ECU being used as a super powered ghost trap. Kumail Nanjiani being revealed as a pyrokinetic was a fun addition I didn't see coming but I am sure it was a better super hero moment than whatever happened in the Eternals.
Overall I feel like I got the best version of a sequel to Afterlife that opens the franchise up to a lot of new paths. I didn't know how someone watches that and thinks it's actively bad, unless they just do not want to see any more Ghostbusters. Maybe Sony isn't buying enough ad-space or something.
Not-really-spoilers:
Ghostbusters 2 is canon!
Ghostbusters Cereal is canon!
The Real Ghostbusters Toys are canon!
The late-80s/early-90s era must have been wild for the Ghostbusters before Egon flew the coop to Oklahoma!
Librarian's ghostLibrarian, Ghostbuster, and TimSporkRegistered Userregular
I just saw the movie and I really enjoyed it.
Also a reminder for why I love dressing up as a Ghostbuster, I was wearing just my casual buster clothes. “I survived the coming of Gozer” tshirt, jacket with patch. Not even close to a full outfit. As we were walking out of the theater into the parking lot a tiny kid runs up to tell us that he loves ghostbusters.
It's an average movie with some pretty good ideas in places. The problem is that it doesn't know what it wants to be, an action adventure comedy, a ghostbusters movie, a teenage drama, a family sitcom. So it tries to do all of them and gives them about 5 minutes each. The performances are fine, with Ackroyd clearly enjoying himself. The interactions between the OG ghostbusters was a highlight though.
I suspect there was a lot of footage cut as there are several scenes in the trailers not in the movie and some plots that don't go anywhere. Hope the bluray has some of the deleted scenes.
I feel bad for all the cosplayers who rushed out and spent money on new packs and that bloody red coat only to watch them get more scene time in the trailer than in the movie.
I loved the movie. It was a proper Ghostbusters™ adventure that balanced the return to NYC by expanding the lore and scope of the franchise without retconning any of the previous movies (something that I felt was a flaw in Afterlife).
Wait, they retconned the previous movies? =O
Like Mega Man Legends? Then check out my story, Legends of the Halcyon Era - An Adventure in the World of Mega Man Legends on TMMN and AO3!
I loved the movie. It was a proper Ghostbusters™ adventure that balanced the return to NYC by expanding the lore and scope of the franchise without retconning any of the previous movies (something that I felt was a flaw in Afterlife).
Wait, they retconned the previous movies? =O
Afterlife strongly implies 2 didn't take place by omitting all the details from it (basically every minor detail from 1 comes up, but nothing from 2 does, that I can remember).
Just got back. This was the first time I really wore my getup in public (I previously wore it to work the day of the Halloween party last year, so I don't count that)
Got my photo taken six different times and a ton of compliments and wowed kids. Felt awesome. Guy at the counter almost spoiled my evening by saying I couldn't take my pack in until I pointed out I got a second ticket. (Pack fit perfectly into the seat which was nice. I was worried about that.
Wound up misaligning the safety band-aid on my right ankle so I have a wee bit of a blister, but nothing like the first time I wore the boots. Totally worth it.
Also met a guy who apparently has his own costume (though he didn't wear it to the movie.) so that was great. I figured I was the only one in town.
As for the movie.
I liked it, but it was definitely a bit overstuffed, which just meant I wanted to see more.
There's a lot of good stuff here. I feel like Trevor and Lucky got more to do here, and the Spengler family was a nice centerpiece of the film, but the Engineering Corp stuff was also really cool, and the stuff with Ray and Winston was great. I enjoyed Kumail's character (though speaking of actors who just play the same character...) and it's interesting they're bringing in other supernatural phenomena into the universe.
We're never getting Podcast's real name, are we?
Really wish they could have had some notable ghosts during the escape instead of them all looking like generic ghouls.
But like, all of it is so truncated because it has to fit into a less than two hour runtime, and I don't think the solution was "just make it 2.5 hours instead of 2." Like, this almost feels like a season of TV that got crammed into a film.
Overall, good movie, but it almost feels like it could have been a six hour streaming miniseries. (Usually I'm on the opposite end of the spectrum going "Why is this six hour miniseries not just a two hour movie?"). In the pantheon of Ghostbusters films, it's not as tight or as funny as GB1 or 2, but I don't have major qualms with it like I did Afterlife. I'd probably rate it above the reboot, though the compressed nature prevents it from being the runaway winner that contest
I hope Hasbro puts out one of those arm throwers for their next Plasma series toy. They're supposed to announce something Ghostbusters related on the 30th, so fingers crossed. Might just be more Kenner reissues though, so who knows.
I loved the movie. It was a proper Ghostbusters™ adventure that balanced the return to NYC by expanding the lore and scope of the franchise without retconning any of the previous movies (something that I felt was a flaw in Afterlife).
Wait, they retconned the previous movies? =O
Afterlife strongly implies 2 didn't take place by omitting all the details from it (basically every minor detail from 1 comes up, but nothing from 2 does, that I can remember).
Some people claim Afterlife takes GB2 out of canon, but it's a silly conclusion to jump to. Ghostbusters 2 exists, it just gets mostly ignored with the plot focusing more on the continuity from the first movie. Ray's Occult is still there and there are mood slime samples in Egon's lab. It just isn't focused on at all outside of that.
The retcons I am referring to with Afterlife are:
Establishing that Egon Spengler had an estranged child the entire time the first two movies were happening
Ivo Shandor having a backup Gozer temple the entire time
Not only Gozer but Zuul and Vinz Clortho surviving the protonic reversal in 1984 making the Ghostbusters' victory more of a snooze button
The characterization of Ray not only disbelieving Egon, but seemingly having no intellectual curiosity in a Shandorian cult and selenium mine covered in Gozer carvings
Crossing the streams treated like a Power Rangers finishing move instead of the near-suicidal act of desperation it was introduced as in Ghostbusters
I loved Afterlife but it took some creative license with the original film to get the emotional story it wanted. Looping back to the past was part of the theme. Frozen Empire explicitly is angling towards opening up the future of the franchise both with the Spengler family and with Zeddemore Industries. Previous movies are still required viewing for understanding the characters but it isn't trying to reinterpret any past events to support the story. Everything within Frozen Empire's main plot/conflict is established within the movie outside of Walter Peck being a petty tyrant (with some extremely valid points at first) like he was in the original.
Frozen Empire has Peck claiming that there were no eyewitnesses to Ghostbuster activity. If he means "no one was up on that building with them at the end of 1", that's defensible. If he means, "there wasn't a cheering crowd watching them move the Statue of Liberty with the power of mood goo", then 2 has to be being actively ignored.
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Librarian's ghostLibrarian, Ghostbuster, and TimSporkRegistered Userregular
Frozen Empire has Peck claiming that there were no eyewitnesses to Ghostbuster activity. If he means "no one was up on that building with them at the end of 1", that's defensible. If he means, "there wasn't a cheering crowd watching them move the Statue of Liberty with the power of mood goo", then 2 has to be being actively ignored.
I took it to mean the building top thing.
Also I find just ignoring the timeline of people's ages does wonders. Though thought, what if the girl in the puppy scene in 2 is actually Egon's. Could go a long way to explain why she hated her dad.
There's a scene in Frozen Empire that I feel both exemplifies the best and worst parts of the movie.
After Ray nearly gets eaten by a stone lion, Winston is reading him the riot act for putting himself in harms way. All of the talk about how it's supposed to be their golden years and how Ray doesn't want to stop despite being too old. It's genuinely a powerful sscene and absolutely the plot thread best suited for the two characters and where they are at in their lives.
And like, it's never really dealt with again. The next time we see these two together, it's near the end of the movie where they need all hands on deck so sure, why not put Ray in the uniform again, it doesn't matter they're all going to die if they lose.
There's just no real catharsis for that otherwise incredible scene, just a quick joke at the end, and this is what I meant by Frozen Throne has lots of "good" moments, but is too stuffed to allow any of them to become "great" moments.
EDIT: Also, anyone who says this movie is "too dark" really needs to watch Ghostbusters II again. GB2 has a fantastically dark tone in contrast to the first movie.
Went we didn't get any new DLC announcment for Spirits Unleashed, I figured the game was dead. Then when we got news of the Frozen Empire update, figured 'Okay, NOW the game is dead' but looks like I was proven wrong again
So first update is Frozen Empire, next update is a Slimer celebration, next update after that sounds like the Scoleri brothers and after that is an update focusing around a "Fan favorite" ghost and given Samhain and Slimer are already in the game, there only thing I can think of is maybe the Boogyman?
I loved the movie. It was a proper Ghostbusters™ adventure that balanced the return to NYC by expanding the lore and scope of the franchise without retconning any of the previous movies (something that I felt was a flaw in Afterlife).
Wait, they retconned the previous movies? =O
Afterlife strongly implies 2 didn't take place by omitting all the details from it (basically every minor detail from 1 comes up, but nothing from 2 does, that I can remember).
Ghost Corps has always maintained that GB2 was in cannon. The video game isn't (I like to think it is).
Peck's deal has always been that the Ghostbusters were using tricks to make people think they were seeing ghosts, in the first movie he gets called out on it in the major's office but Peck ignores that. In 2024 he is clearly sticking to that version of events. All Pheobe had to do was show him a youtube video of the statue of liberty walking around (we saw the footage earlier) to shut him up.
Regardless, the wording of 'there were no eye witnesses' is just bad writing. It's bad writing because even if you've only seen GB 2 once in your life, you probably remember the Statue of Liberty rolling around the city. If you've seen GB1 you probably remember the big crowds cheering the Ghostbusters on before and after the final battle.
And it invites all sorts of mental gymnastics to try and justify why Peck would say that.
It also reeks of 'we don't actually want to explore what the world looks like after GB2' - which would be a much more challenging and entertaining film.
Posts
I'm not sure why celebrating the use of practical effects is disengenious. Geek made no claim to the amount or saturation of the effects, they just showed their appreciation for them.
Like, they could have easily done CG for that spark effect, but instead paid someone to do an elaborate practical prop. That's something to appreciate.
Same with Top Gun. The line was that it was all practical, all the jets are real, but no, that movie is chock full of CG. The actors were in planes, but everything else was painted over.
Celebrating the use of practical effects is great, but this weird sort of turn against all cg and the accompanying smoke and mirrors embrace of that vitriol by studios is bizarre.
All that said, the new Ghostbusters equipment looks awesome.
Ghostbusters II has a 55% on Rotten Tomatoes and IMO, it's notably better than the 2016 reboot (74%) and Afterlife (64%) so maybe don't take Rotten Tomatoes to be the end all, be all.
My friends who saw it yesterday and last week both had very positive things to say.
RT sucks, but critics are good, you just have to find the ones that tend to have your same tastes which is why I trust Sepinwall and Sims
{Bluesky Account }{Writing and Story Blog}
Ghostbusters II is a quintessential example. Low RT score, mainly stemming (IIRC) from it being a retread of the original. Critics wanted something new, not a rehash.
But like, the original Ghostbustes rules and GB2 keeps pace with it nicely. It's not as novel or original as the first movie, but it's still a great movie because it absolutely captures the humor and style and quality of the first movie without just retreading jokes and being centered around references. It's a great movie that sits in the shadow of a masterpiece.
So while the critics aren't wrong about it essentially being the first movie again but different, it doesn't bother me in the slightest and honestly I think works to the movies strength. It's like they got to work out the kinks making GB1.
Long story short, Critic Reviews are opinions from people who probably watch too many movies and have to watch a lot of dreck they don't like, so their opinions are going to be a little weird compared to people like you and me.
This has been a problem for the franchise since 1989 and only the video game manages to break out of it, largely by doing something so off the wall it can't be done on film. (Sidenore: It is worth watching the cutscenes for the most phoned in performance ever recorded by Bill Murray).
I watched Afterlife again as part of my series rewatch, and this time I tried to take the movie completely on it's own merits and not as a Ghostbusters sequel.
And it's fine. It's more amusing than funny, and a lot of beats fall flat without the nostalgia. And prior movies or no, the stuff with Egon just doesn't work. We spend 80% of the movie with Carrie absolutely hating his guts (for good reason!), then she finds his stalker board and all is forgiven.
I think I like Podcast more the more I see the movie, even with his really dumb name that just feels so much like an adult trying to write for a kid. He has good chemistry with Phoebe
Trevor still feels superfluous to me. It's like he's only there to drive the Ecto-1. He has the romance with Lucky, but it really feels like she was added specifically because they needed something else for Trevor to do. All of his "I hate it here, Mom" stuff is also handled by Phoebe and Lucky's "I know this town" is handled by Podcast and Grooberson.
I feel like they should have amped up Trevor's mechanical skills; he fixes the Ecto-1 (with help) and we can see him working on the family car during the road trip.
And man, if you hadn't seen the originals, the bit where the OG's show up has got to feel out of place.
I had more to say, but honestly I've whined about this movie enough and we got a new one coming out tomorrow. Hopefully I'll just come to think of Afterlife as the weird spinoff that sets up the characters for Frozen Empire.
Despite just being Paul Rudd being Paul Rudd (in the tradition of Bill Murray), I found Grooberson to actually be fun in every scene he was in.
I even got my jacket!
I'm not worried about reviews. Most of them I've ignored and just read the tldr responses and it just seems like people looking for a headline to get clicks. I have liked every Ghostbusters movie we've gotten (with some criticisms here and there, but nothing damning) and I'm ready to like this one.
Still like it even if its primary thing is playing on nostalgia.
Egon running off really hurts the movie though and should have been rewritten.
Oh I enjoyed Paul Rudd, but like you say he was just bringing his regular charm whereas the kids made me excited about the movie
I really enjoyed the movie. It stands out over Afterlife and the game in that it feels like it moves forwards with characters and concepts, rather than focusing on the events of the first movie. It has room to breathe on it's own.
When you say "not many" callbacks... how do you mean? I would say the movie rarely lets ANY scene go by without some kind of callback. Maybe you're using the term in a different way? Otherwise... no, that's just incorrect, frankly.
At that point, is it even a popcorn bucket?
Fair enough, as I was reading your comment the "who you gonna call" jail scene played in my head and I realised you were right.
I think the cinema realised many people want it as a cosplay accessory and/or display piece rather than a popcorn holder so keep them separate. Really wish the Regal version is available online. It would go great with my pke meter and wand with flashing lights and knobs.
What's more, it was much funnier this time with the new and returning cast having some great comic moments! Lucky got some time to shine there and Kumail Nanjiani was surprisingly well-used. I didn't expect much from his character from the previews but it does seem like those were intentionally misleading on a few scenes.
Dan Aykroyd is having a blast in this one. He clearly is happy with Ray's new role and I suspect we'll see him return in every new movie until he dies. Ernie Hudson continues to make this look easy. Great to see the two of them reprise their characters' friendship. The chemistry is still there. Bill also seemed to be enjoying playing Venkman in a way we haven't seen since his scenes with Dana in GB2. They've found a fun track for that character that echoes some of the work done in the comics.
Going into unrestrained spoilers now:
Walter Peck as mayor is confusing and his return is also a return to "he has extremely valid points/concerns but then he acts like a vindictive asshole about it". At least they steamroll through his attempts to roadblock him to keep the plot rolling. I enjoy how it ends with him having to feign mutual support for the team for political reasons. Again, a little bit of his role in the '09 video game and IDW comics.
I loved the new gear, even though the slime blower was relegated to a blink-and-miss-it background gag. The Paranormal Research Institute being a separate location (a repurposed aquarium) with it's own equipment and super-sized containment unit is a welcome expansion to the setting. It's fun to have a place to view the captured ghosts. The wrist-mounted thrower feels appropriately home-brew. Not hugely practical, but I suppose it frees up an arm.
The incorporation of folklore with the brass containment orb and Garakka worked for me. That's the part that feels like it pulls the most from the cartoon, setting up a new pre-Sumarian god and planting seeds for how to beat it. Thank God they didn't try to tie it to Gozer this time. In general this movie dodges anything that shrinks the world and actively grows it instead. Patton Oswalt's character works well here. It's an entertaining exposition dump. Please patronize your local library!
I feel like the Melody plotline was stripped down for time but I like how you're not quite sure how responsible the ghost is for the fire that killed her and her family. It adds to the tension of her betraying Phoebe, not because of any fear of physical harm but out of emotional concern. It wasn't explored as much as it could have been but it helped give the movie stakes. Again, the lack of closure in the end for what is clearly a teen romance subplot was missed. Phoebs embracing her mom after all the family tension earlier could have really used a "mom, I'm gay" to really throw some nitrous in the tank. It feels like there's a draft of a script it there that'll never see the light of day.
Podcast got barely any character development other than revealing he speaks Korean with his parents. I did like his YouTube show with Ray and his continued friendship with Phoebe, though the later could have been fleshed out more. Hopefully he gets more to do in the next one, if they make it.
The Mini-pufts following him to NYC and multiplying makes barely any sense but it was fun seeing the little guys anyway. I just think they're neat.
Trevor having a Peter-like relationship with Slimer is almost disconnected from the whole rest of the movie but it's funny when you know it's about to come back.
Speaking of which, the possessor ghost is the MVG of the film. It pinged between a cute and funny Jack Russell terrier, and a calculating killing machine from beginning to end. When the Ecto-1 turned red I gasped!
Using the firehouse itself to fight Garakka was cool, with the brass from the poles (though they should have electroplated the pack parts, rather than dip them in molten metal imo, that was silly) and the ruptured ECU being used as a super powered ghost trap. Kumail Nanjiani being revealed as a pyrokinetic was a fun addition I didn't see coming but I am sure it was a better super hero moment than whatever happened in the Eternals.
Overall I feel like I got the best version of a sequel to Afterlife that opens the franchise up to a lot of new paths. I didn't know how someone watches that and thinks it's actively bad, unless they just do not want to see any more Ghostbusters. Maybe Sony isn't buying enough ad-space or something.
Not-really-spoilers:
Ghostbusters Cereal is canon!
The Real Ghostbusters Toys are canon!
The late-80s/early-90s era must have been wild for the Ghostbusters before Egon flew the coop to Oklahoma!
Also a reminder for why I love dressing up as a Ghostbuster, I was wearing just my casual buster clothes. “I survived the coming of Gozer” tshirt, jacket with patch. Not even close to a full outfit. As we were walking out of the theater into the parking lot a tiny kid runs up to tell us that he loves ghostbusters.
I can see why it reviewed so poorly.
I suspect there was a lot of footage cut as there are several scenes in the trailers not in the movie and some plots that don't go anywhere. Hope the bluray has some of the deleted scenes.
I feel bad for all the cosplayers who rushed out and spent money on new packs and that bloody red coat only to watch them get more scene time in the trailer than in the movie.
Wait, they retconned the previous movies? =O
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Afterlife strongly implies 2 didn't take place by omitting all the details from it (basically every minor detail from 1 comes up, but nothing from 2 does, that I can remember).
Just got back. This was the first time I really wore my getup in public (I previously wore it to work the day of the Halloween party last year, so I don't count that)
Got my photo taken six different times and a ton of compliments and wowed kids. Felt awesome. Guy at the counter almost spoiled my evening by saying I couldn't take my pack in until I pointed out I got a second ticket. (Pack fit perfectly into the seat which was nice. I was worried about that.
Wound up misaligning the safety band-aid on my right ankle so I have a wee bit of a blister, but nothing like the first time I wore the boots. Totally worth it.
Also met a guy who apparently has his own costume (though he didn't wear it to the movie.) so that was great. I figured I was the only one in town.
As for the movie.
I liked it, but it was definitely a bit overstuffed, which just meant I wanted to see more.
We're never getting Podcast's real name, are we?
Really wish they could have had some notable ghosts during the escape instead of them all looking like generic ghouls.
But like, all of it is so truncated because it has to fit into a less than two hour runtime, and I don't think the solution was "just make it 2.5 hours instead of 2." Like, this almost feels like a season of TV that got crammed into a film.
Overall, good movie, but it almost feels like it could have been a six hour streaming miniseries. (Usually I'm on the opposite end of the spectrum going "Why is this six hour miniseries not just a two hour movie?"). In the pantheon of Ghostbusters films, it's not as tight or as funny as GB1 or 2, but I don't have major qualms with it like I did Afterlife. I'd probably rate it above the reboot, though the compressed nature prevents it from being the runaway winner that contest
I hope Hasbro puts out one of those arm throwers for their next Plasma series toy. They're supposed to announce something Ghostbusters related on the 30th, so fingers crossed. Might just be more Kenner reissues though, so who knows.
Apparently unlike the commercial from the first movie, they shot a full commercial for GB2 and there's a lot that didn't make the film.
Some people claim Afterlife takes GB2 out of canon, but it's a silly conclusion to jump to. Ghostbusters 2 exists, it just gets mostly ignored with the plot focusing more on the continuity from the first movie. Ray's Occult is still there and there are mood slime samples in Egon's lab. It just isn't focused on at all outside of that.
The retcons I am referring to with Afterlife are:
Establishing that Egon Spengler had an estranged child the entire time the first two movies were happening
Ivo Shandor having a backup Gozer temple the entire time
Not only Gozer but Zuul and Vinz Clortho surviving the protonic reversal in 1984 making the Ghostbusters' victory more of a snooze button
The characterization of Ray not only disbelieving Egon, but seemingly having no intellectual curiosity in a Shandorian cult and selenium mine covered in Gozer carvings
Crossing the streams treated like a Power Rangers finishing move instead of the near-suicidal act of desperation it was introduced as in Ghostbusters
I loved Afterlife but it took some creative license with the original film to get the emotional story it wanted. Looping back to the past was part of the theme. Frozen Empire explicitly is angling towards opening up the future of the franchise both with the Spengler family and with Zeddemore Industries. Previous movies are still required viewing for understanding the characters but it isn't trying to reinterpret any past events to support the story. Everything within Frozen Empire's main plot/conflict is established within the movie outside of Walter Peck being a petty tyrant (with some extremely valid points at first) like he was in the original.
I took it to mean the building top thing.
Also I find just ignoring the timeline of people's ages does wonders. Though thought, what if the girl in the puppy scene in 2 is actually Egon's. Could go a long way to explain why she hated her dad.
And like, it's never really dealt with again. The next time we see these two together, it's near the end of the movie where they need all hands on deck so sure, why not put Ray in the uniform again, it doesn't matter they're all going to die if they lose.
There's just no real catharsis for that otherwise incredible scene, just a quick joke at the end, and this is what I meant by Frozen Throne has lots of "good" moments, but is too stuffed to allow any of them to become "great" moments.
EDIT: Also, anyone who says this movie is "too dark" really needs to watch Ghostbusters II again. GB2 has a fantastically dark tone in contrast to the first movie.
So first update is Frozen Empire, next update is a Slimer celebration, next update after that sounds like the Scoleri brothers and after that is an update focusing around a "Fan favorite" ghost and given Samhain and Slimer are already in the game, there only thing I can think of is maybe the Boogyman?
Ghost Corps has always maintained that GB2 was in cannon. The video game isn't (I like to think it is).
And it invites all sorts of mental gymnastics to try and justify why Peck would say that.
It also reeks of 'we don't actually want to explore what the world looks like after GB2' - which would be a much more challenging and entertaining film.