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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mel O&#039;Drama" data-source="post: 415920" data-attributes="member: 23">Yesterday's matinée was: Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021) <img src="https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fbhpcollectibles.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2023%2F06%2Fsr_1560376_large.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=a9a9aa3e24c970de54a75583d68beab75632c9d4ea2f8aba6eb5442bdae106f8&ipo=images" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="width: 805px" /> I wasn't a fan of the 2016 remake, after suffering through it a couple of years ago: All the same I had picked up along the way that Afterlife was a more faithful continuation of the original series, which gave me some hope. I knew nothing of the plot, but Paul Rudd in the lead boded well. I didn't really clock everyone in the poster, so I hadn't realised there would be such an emphasis on young people. This might have put me off watching and it did take some time for me to make peace with this as I watched, but they grew on me. The familial connection with Spengler's grandchildren was a really nice touch, even though I found the mother a bit whiny and self-involved and quickly got fed up with her (a shame, since in her initial scenes she'd reminded me of Teri Garr). Fortunately, her role felt pretty secondary here so it didn't kill my enjoyment. As the plot went on, it was evident that Rudd was playing a 21st Century version of the Rick Moranis character - he even affected a similar walk after becoming the Keymaster - and that kind of worked for me, especially since he lacked the in-your-face elements of Moranis's "comedy" style. It helped that the cinematography in the film's opening scenes was so atmospheric. Rather than Ghostbusters itself, the spooky rural look of the opening made me think of Close Encounters Of The Third Kind. And, once the kiddified adventure was underway, it evoked The Goonies. Snippets of cues lifted from Elmer Bernstein's original score helped complete the nostalgia. Fun as the original film was, I don't view it as perfect: I'd say Afterlife has similar shortcomings, though possibly to a lesser extent. Past the initial act, I felt much of the ghost action seemed to tap into fast-paced instant gratification, with everyone in on what's happening very quickly. A slightly more leisurely pace might have prevented a recurrence of the less-interesting final act which is mostly a retread of events from the original. The in-jokes and nods to the 1984 film were great fun, though, and was an honest-to-goodness plot, which mostly worked. I really liked the organic way the original characters were brought into it, which worked much better than their cameos in the 2016 film (though one was spoilt by its mid-credits placement, with the person concerned appearing after their credit). As I watched I had no idea which of the original actors were still living, and Egon's appearance would have meant even more to me knowing the actor had died. In general I'm uncomfortable with using AI to replicate dead actors, but this was very nicely and respectfully done. The "For Harold" message at the end was quite touching. All in all, a decent enough film for me to think Frozen Empire will be worth a look.</blockquote>

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