The Ghostbusters Thread (Old, New, Animated, Whatever)

[Grand Wizard Wakka]

Guys, don't worry. Afterlife had to be made this way or nobody would have accepted it. Now the series is free to do whatever it wants in the sequels!

I hope they subvert expectations in the next movie.

 

[Gaear Grimsrud]

Guys, don't worry. Afterlife had to be made this way or nobody would have accepted it. Now the series is free to do whatever it wants in the sequels!

God, that's been an excuse for so long.

I remember hearing it when the first Michael Bay Transformers movie came out.

"They had to make the first movie human-centric to acclimate normies to the concept. I bet the sequel is gonna have a lot more focus on the Transformers as characters!"

 

[Dom Cruise]

I expected them to be cynical especially over the CGI Egon ghost. I think the guys are just burnt out over memberberries which is a fair take. I still liked the movie just fine and it wouldn't be the first time I disagreed with them. I DEFINITELY agreed with them over the Wal-Mart scene and mini Stay Puft's.

It is a fair take, but at the end of the day they're cynics and it's simply not a movie made for cynics.

I thought the Wal-Mart scene worked because it was a contrast between the mundane and the fantastical which has always been a core element of the series, the original movie had product placement too.

Why didn't Egon just text the other guys photos of the Gozer temple and the well of spirits? Why didn't he tell them that a very much alive Ivo Shandor was hanging out in the temple, too?

I'm going with the theory that Egon was genuinely suffering from some mental illness issues, there's a fine line between genius and madness and Egon was such a genius but also such an eccentric that I don't think it's too surprising that as he got older he may have run into some issues and wasn't thinking clearly.

Yes, it's a sad fate for the character, but the actor had a sad fate too, but at least Egon did help save the day and was able to reconnect with everyone.

 

[the_tepes]

I saw Afterlife a couple of days ago and it basically told me to watch the first one.
I think the RLM review is pretty on point for the most part with their review. I liked Rudd and the humor was ok I guess. but pandering too much towards teenagers.
And the integration of the old cast was pretty bad. Overall way better than the cunt version but it doesn't come even close to the 2nd or 1st imo.

Spoiler: SPOILER

I didn't mind Egon turning up as a ghost in the end however the finale is just a bad copy paste from the first movie. The old cast turning up would've been fine if they would've been more integrated through the whole movie. Now it's just a foreseeable lame surprise.

 

[Clown College]

Just got done seeing watching this tonight, overall not bad I'm sure it was miles better than the all woman version. I wouldn't know though since I haven't watched that version. One thing I really appreciated though was the fact that Spangler's granddaughter wasn't a complete mary sue and that it was a team effort trapping gozer this time around. The end was pretty predictable but I thought it was a good homage to Harold Ramis. This movie has a lot of flaws and most of that has been discussed at length here so overall I give it a 7/10. Also lol at Shohreh Aghdashloo voicing gozer this time around that's actually pretty cool.

 

[Commander X]

 

[Creep3r]

I'm going with the theory that Egon was genuinely suffering from some mental illness issues, there's a fine line between genius and madness and Egon was such a genius but also such an eccentric that I don't think it's too surprising that as he got older he may have run into some issues and wasn't thinking clearly.

Yes, it's a sad fate for the character, but the actor had a sad fate too, but at least Egon did help save the day and was able to reconnect with everyone.

I don't think that's fair to Egon's character though. I mean if that had been the case it would've made more sense, but the film plays it as if his teammates didn't believe him about the coming apocalypse. Like after all the shit they've seen, why would they doubt Egon on this? The smartest guy on their team and who built everything they used? I think that's Afterlife's weakest point which could've been handled way better. I mean they could've had it so the other teammates went their own separate ways after their business dried up like how they did in Extreme Ghostbusters, and just have it so Egon left for farm country to deal with this new upcoming threat while the other ex-ghostbusters wished him the best, but didn't go with him because they were too focused on maintaining their new careers and families. Its a better alternative than having Egon be mentally ill and just running off with the equipment because the other guys didn't believe him, especially Ray of all people.

Still, even while I don't like how the film repeats too many beats from the first film, especially the finale and having the same villain, or how its just a pseudo Stranger Things x Ghosbusters crossover, among other things, the theme of Egon going solo was explored once before in the Extreme Ghostbusters cartoon, which is actually pretty great and I recently found out that it still gets referenced by Sony, even in some Cisbusters 2016 tie-ins; so if that was their intent for why they had Egon go solo, then its a nice little nod, but not one that was executed as well as the cartoon, which to be frank while good, I still find the idea of all the ghostbusters (specifically Ray) splitting up and leaving Egon alone to be a bit unbelievable. I mean Peter and Winston leaving would make perfect sense, especially when the money stopped coming in, but Ray was just as obsessed with the science of the supernatural as Egon; so if anyone would've stuck by Egon aside from Janine, it would've been Ray, which is where I think both Afterlife and Extreme fall short. Even in Ghostbusters 2 when they were forced out of business, Ray and Egon were the only ones still obsessed with the occult research (although In Ray's case it was mostly through his book store), while Winston was just trying to keep his job with Ray and Peter had since moved on.

Now while the following isn't a defense of Afterlife's split up plotline or any ideas of Egon being mentally ill, I guess I could see Egon's obsession with ghost hunting being a borderline schizo obsession, since if we go by past Ghostbusters media, they had it so the reason an empirical guy like Egon is the way he is and delved into the supernatural in the first place was because of a traumatic encounter with a Class VII specter when he was a child which eventually led to his goal of understanding and combating the supernatural himself, something that's still referenced in new Ghostbusters media and tie-ins, including the updated versions of Tobin's Spirit Guide which are mostly written from a live-action perspective. I doubt the Afterlife writers put that much forethought into the reasoning though.

But making Egon straight up mentally ill and a sad wreck near the end of his life for no reason over such a silly reason as his fellow ghostbusters not believing him, which they have no reason not to after all they've seen, is just ridiculous.

Also while I thought the Walmart appearance felt like shameless advertising and that the mini-stay pufts felt a bit like a forced attempt at marketing new toys, the latter is at least something that has some precedence, since small chaotic offshoots of Gozer/Stay Puft are almost a recurring thing outside the movies, so I guess there was a reason for them (although the game gave them a nice spooky look). That's the most I'll play Devil's Advocate.

I still stand by my earlier review of the film being around 6/10 or 7/10, but its not as rancid as rlm and their fanboys are making it out to be, but it is definitely flawed and too unoriginal in some parts. Would've enjoyed it more if they had used another separate entity as the main villain or at least one related to Gozer, as well as given Egon better reasoning for his actions and the decline of the Ghostbusters, and that they had used a lookalike for Ramis instead of a cgi zombie. As for the rlm review everyone keeps talking about, I ain't going to watch that shit, but if they're being extra cynical about it, then that's the sort of cynicism they should've used when TFA came out since it did most of what this film did but worse, with more cynicism and was even more disrespectful to the past elements and characters, to the point where some of the people who worked on the DT confirmed that they didn't even watch the films, at least not more than once. Anyway its best if you decide for yourself if the movie is good or bad in the end and base your opinions on either what you saw (legally or through yohoho) or what you read or hear from people you trust or can speak with rather than what e-celebs say.

TL;DR:
As far as my opinion goes, the movie was not as offensive to the senses as other "30 years later" sequels to 80s films and it has some amusing moments and the kids are alright, but too many plot points were too repetitive for their own good, the cast was giving off Stranger Things 4.0. vibes more than they needed to, and Egon's character arc and return as a ghost could've been handled way better. 6.8/10 - Its okay and fun for the kids.

 

[robobobo]

I watched it, was decently entertained. It definitely had flaws, but I didn't find anything outright bad about it. It was definitely not a comedy, RLM was right about that, though it did have fair spicing of humor throughout.

 

[Polyboros2]

The more I think about the movie the less I like it.

It's not a comedy, it's like an hour and a half of family drama and nostalgia as a genre, with some light comedy. All that to set up the ending.

The ending being a 15 minute tribute to Egon and Harold Ramis. And I enjoyed it. Dan Ackroyd and Bill Murray look like shit. Murray's Venkman felt a little hollow. Not bad, just like he was imitating his old character. I felt the emotions they wanted to convey in that scene, and I think it caused me to leave the movie with a higher rating of it than I do now.

Except, the entire premise of the movie is shitting on Egon's character. Maybe I'm forgetting an off hand line from the first movie of Egon having an ex-wife, but this movie makes it clear. Egon was an abandoning father in the first movie. At first I joked about it, cause his daughter looked kinda beat. But when we find his Charlie Day wall of tracking her life, we see her as a school aged girl in the late 80's. I think they used honoring Harold Ramis as sort of an emotional crow bar. Not only to get me to soften on the movie, but to get the original cast back for a cameo.

5/10. Not bad enough to be a bad movie, but would of been better having the majority of the movie edited down to set up the ending as a special 20-30 minutes long for the feels.

 

[RumblyTumbly]

Afterlife is the type of movie that, had it been released twenty years ago, the reaction probably would have been almost nothing. At worst people would have said "Meh, that happened" and at best people would have said "That was cute...but I'd rather see Lord of the Rings!" or something to that extent.

In today's climate, a movie like Afterlife is almost a godsend compared to all the other reboots out there. The fact that its largely inoffensive despite its over the top fan servicy on the nose callbacks to the first movie makes it a winner in 2021.

The bar has come pretty low.

 

[Nut-Roaster the 2nd]

Afterlife was one of two liveaction movies in the last decade or so that didn't leave me with a headache. The first one was Iron Man.

Aside from that, the only real gripe I had was Podcast in the first act of the movie, but he ended up growin' on me like a younger Ray Stanz. Loved the practical effects, and Gozer looked pretty cool.

Overall, I loved it. They gave Ramis a good sendoff, and that's all I could ask for.

 

[Boston Brand]

I really liked it. It's no masterpiece, but the most fun I've had with a Hollywood blockbuster in ages. Not everything works, but when it does? Knocks it outta the park.

Hell, the fact that all the worst people hate it because the movie's success proves how hollow everything from the 2016 reboot to deconstructionist sequels really are? Makes it even better.

Juno fucking sucked. The only yardstick Juno should be used as is, "How much will this movie suck comparatively to Juno?"

Serious film, my ass. Did you take a community college film course or something?

THANK YOU.

What's odd is I like Reitman as a filmmaker - Thank You for Smoking and Up in the Air are two favorite films of mine - but for whatever reason, he kept working with Diablo Cody, whose work makes me want to jam an icepick into my ear drums. Seems I wasn't alone, because aside from Juno, everything Cody has ever worked on tanked, and she nearly killed Reitman's career along the way.

The fact he delivered a quality Ghostbusters movie and made his best movie in a decade in the process is the comeback I'd wanted for him for a while.

 

[Adamska]

See I hear all that, but all I see is that this praise encourages Hollywood to drag more dead people out of their graves and make them dance like puppets using CGI. Because now all they have to do now is pretend to actually be respectful to the dead as they violate their corpse for money.

Calling praise on Ramis' dead convulsing body twitching to the movements dictated via machines controlled by man will make these cunts think they finally found out a way to revive anything.

 

[Trilby]

See I hear all that, but all I see is that this praise encourages Hollywood to drag more dead people out of their graves and make them dance like puppets using CGI. Because now all they have to do now is pretend to actually be respectful to the dead as they violate their corpse for money.

Calling praise on Ramis' dead convulsing body twitching to the movements dictated via machines controlled by man will make these cunts think they finally found out a way to revive anything.

Such a shame.

 

[PS1gamenwatch]

See I hear all that, but all I see is that this praise encourages Hollywood to drag more dead people out of their graves and make them dance like puppets using CGI. Because now all they have to do now is pretend to actually be respectful to the dead as they violate their corpse for money.

Calling praise on Ramis' dead convulsing body twitching to the movements dictated via machines controlled by man will make these cunts think they finally found out a way to revive anything.

And thus Steven Segal has found a way to make more movies

 

[Rotollo 2]

Calling praise on Ramis' dead convulsing body twitching to the movements dictated via machines controlled by man will make these cunts think they finally found out a way to revive anything.

the creepy cgi as passed that point a long time ago, there will be a cut off point but the worst it's been so far is the stuff with james dean

James Dean Reborn in CGI for Vietnam War Action-Drama (Exclusive)

James Dean, who died in a 1955 car crash at the age of 24, is making an unexpected return to the big screen via CGI for the Vietnam War action-drama ‘Finding Jack.’

www.hollywoodreporter.com

Personally I blame paul walker's death for this new trend in cgi-ing actors

 

[Adamska]

the creepy cgi as passed that point a long time ago, there will be a cut off point but the worst it's been so far is the stuff with james dean

James Dean Reborn in CGI for Vietnam War Action-Drama (Exclusive)

James Dean, who died in a 1955 car crash at the age of 24, is making an unexpected return to the big screen via CGI for the Vietnam War action-drama ‘Finding Jack.’

www.hollywoodreporter.com

Personally I blame paul walker's death for this new trend in cgi-ing actors

Yeah, but this time the audiences cheer as the digital zombie groans and gurns as it holds the proton pack's emitter. Remember that? I member it. I clapped when I saw the proton pack get used on the same bad guy from fucking 40 years ago in the exact same final act that was also from the same movie 40 fucking years ago.

 

[BrunoMattei]

the creepy cgi as passed that point a long time ago, there will be a cut off point but the worst it's been so far is the stuff with james dean

James Dean Reborn in CGI for Vietnam War Action-Drama (Exclusive)

James Dean, who died in a 1955 car crash at the age of 24, is making an unexpected return to the big screen via CGI for the Vietnam War action-drama ‘Finding Jack.’

www.hollywoodreporter.com

Personally I blame paul walker's death for this new trend in cgi-ing actors

I mean, it has precedence all the way back with Bruce Lee's Game of Death where the studio took the incomplete footage, used a Lee body double and even taped a picture of his face on a mirror. Blame the estate over the studios for allowing it to happen in the first place.

 

[Trilby]

I mean, it has precedence all the way back with Bruce Lee's Game of Death where the studio took the incomplete footage, used a Lee body double and even taped a picture of his face on a mirror. Blame the estate over the studios for allowing it to happen in the first place.

Someone wanted money.

 

[Gaear Grimsrud]

I really hope this movie franchise eventually gets away from everybody in universe being cartoonishly cynical and refusing to believe in ghosts, despite all the evidence for it.

It's annoying.