THE NEXT GENERATION

 Ghostbusters: Afterlife

Release date: November 19 2021

Writers: Gil Kenan and Jason Reitman

Director: Jason Reitman

Main Cast:

•             Carrie Coon as Callie Spengler

•             Finn Wolfhard as Trevor

•             Mckenna Grace as Phoebe

•             Paul Rudd as Gary Grooberson

•             Logan Kim as Podcast: Phoebe's classmate

•             Celeste O'Connor as Lucky Domingo

•             Bill Murray as Peter Venkman

•             Dan Aykroyd as Raymond Stantz

•             Harold Ramis as Egon Spengler

•             Ernie Hudson as Winston Zeddemore

•             Annie Potts as Janine Melnitz

•             Sigourney Weaver as Dana Barrett

·         Josh Gad as Muncher\

·     J. K. Simmons as Ivo Shandor

•      Olivia Wilde as Gozer the Gozerian

(Rating 5 of 5)

Summary: (Spoilers! After all it’s a summary. Stop reading if you don’t want a spoiler.) The movie begins with the view of a mountain and we see a proton blast.  Then a truck races away, inside we see a full ghost trap and the driver is clearly Egon Spengler.  After the truck crashes Egon escapes to a farmhouse that he clearly has wired into his own Home Alone disaster for ghosts. As an invisible force steps forward, Egon pulls his house trap, only to have it short out.  He retreats into the farmhouse and hides the trap, sits in a chair with a PKE meter and waits. As ghost steam enters the room the PKE meter starts blinking more rapidly.  Arms come out the chair indicating the return of Zuul.  However, ghost energy retreats from the farm house empty handed for Egon Spengler has died.

Elsewhere, we are introduced to Callie, a mother of two.  She is having a number of problems for her attempt to trim her son’s hair ends up with her cutting him, she can’t identify with her genius daughter at all, and the worst is that they are about to get evicted.  According to her daughter Phoebe, Callie has never been good with money.  The good news is her absentee father has died and she is about to inherit his farmhouse. 

old farm house!

They travel out west to Summerville, Oklahoma.  The family arrives at a farmhouse and they have to break in.  The place is not very nice inside but it has some books stacked in a way the no human would stack them.  Trevor likes all the junk cars that he finds because cars are his thing.  Phoebe finds the PKE meter.  There is a brief earthquake that forces them to get under the table for shelter.   They also meet Janine Melnitz, who tries to introduce herself but hesitates to describe her exact relationship with the previous owner.  We learn from Janine that Callie seems to have inherited her money skills from her dad who left and awful lot of debt on the farm. 

As they travel about town, they find that the “dirt farmer” as he was known had quite the reputation as being the area’s local weirdo.  Trevor gets a job at a local burger joint in order to get to know the local girl named Lucky, who he finds very hot.  Trevor trying to get with Lucky is a subplot throughout the film.  It’s hard but not Louis/Dana pathetic level. 

(Two kids on the move)

For some reason Phoebe has to do summer school, with all the strange things that goes on with this movie I find this part to be the thing the makes the least amount of sense.  Most students are there because they failed in regular school, so now they are in credit recovery.  Credit recovery is easy as their teacher, Mr. Grooberson, just makes them watch movies so he can work on his hobbies during class time. 

Phoebe in summer school for some reason

Phoebe meets her new friend Podcast, who I have time imagining why he is in summer school, the two bond in a non-romantic kid way.  Phoebe goes to see what Grooberson is up to and finds that he is researching why the area has so much earthquakes.  In being able to read his work, Phoebe convinces Grooberson of her own genius and he begins consulting with her as an equal. 

When a supernatural force starts moving the chess pieces at the farm, Phoebe has seemed to have found a friendly ghost to play chess with.  Using her PKE meter she follows the ghost energy until it leads her to discover the ghost trap and its secret location.  Her brother Trevor finds another Ghostbusters’ treasure: the Ecto-1 itself.  It is not working but Trevor is a genius with cars and he begins to use the parts around the farm to begin repairs.

Finds a car!

Phoebe brings her trap to school to show Podcast, but Mr. Grooberson is the one who is excited about the “replica.” Grooberson discovers two things.  The first it might not be a replica and the second his kids know nothing about the Ghostbusters.  Being the responsible teacher that he is, he decides that they need to learn about the Ghostbusters right away.  He tells them everything that happened in the first Ghostbusters movie.  To Phoebe and Podcast this is the most important history lesson of their life.

Grooberson goes all fanboy

The trio decide they need to see what is in the ghost trap and in doing so they accidently release a non-corporal terror dog onto the world, who also ends up breaking a lot of glass.  With that the teacher brings the kids home and hits on Phoebe’s mom.

Trevor gets to hang out with co-workers doing the only thing that kids can do in this strange town: they go up the mountain that use to be a mine.  They’re hanging out and Trevor is having a moment with Lucky but then they hear monster noises and lights coming from the abandoned mineshaft.  They laugh it off but leave pretty quick. 

History lesson

At the farmhouse Phoebe follows her ghost friend who turns out to be her late grandfather to his secret lab where he had all his ghostbuster equipment.  There she spends the night tuning up proton packs and going over his notes.  The next day she is trying out her proton pack with Podcast.  After she destroys her target, they hear something in an old abandoned factory.  There is a metal eating ghost we will call Muncher.  The two try to capture it without much success.  While they are doing that Trevor with some grandfather ghost help gets the Ecto-1 running and goes for a joyride.

Lets see what is inside

The two would-be-ghostbusters run into the Ghostbuster car.  Phoebe and Podcast convince Trevor to join in the chase.  When they find the ghost, they chase it all around town.   Using the Ecto-1 gunner seat and remote-control trap they finally get Muncher.  Shortly after they promptly arrest by the police for all the property damage and unlicensed driving. 

practice makes prefect 

It turns out Lucky is the top cop’s daughter so she sees their fall.  Ecto-1 and the Ghostbuster equipment is confiscated.  While there, Phoebe uses her one phone call to contact Ray Stantz.  Ray informs her of how the Ghostbusters came to an end and she informs him that Spengler is dead and she is granddaughter.  Some seeds have been planted.  Mom and Grooberson interrupt their date to bail the klids out.  Mom is very annoyed despite the fact she was just saying she wanted her kids to get into a bit of trouble. 

Here comes trouble!

After their release the trio teams up with Lucky and compare their notes with Lucky’s knowledge of the town.  It turns out Ivo Shandor built the whole place.  This is where he secured the substance for Dana Barrett’s apartment building.  The four of them investigate the interior of the mountain and discover a fallback temple for Gozer to rise again if the New York invasion didn’t work out.  There is even a date of attempt dates on the wall and this year is one of them.  Ivo Shandor’s body is also on display.   Gozer’s return however is being held off by an elaborate ghostbusting set-up built by Egon Spengler.  After seeing it in action and Shandor almost wake up the kids retreat home.

Checking out Gozer's HQ

Grooberson is getting some shopping down at a Wal-Mart where he is attacked by mini-Stay Puft Marshmallow men.  Things go from bad to worse when he is confronted by the terror dog, Vinz Clortho.  The dog chases him out to the parking lot and traps him in his car.  Callie is off in Egon’s secret lab finding out her dad did care for her where she is attacked by Zuul.  When the kids return, they find her possessed.  She escapes to join Vinz who has just wreaked Egon’s elaborate ghostbusting set-up releasing the netherworld into the town of Summerville.  The two meet up and mate so they can summon of Gozer.   

Gozer rises up and is looking as great as Oliva Wilde normally does.  Ivo Shandor wakes up to greet her and she is so grateful that she rips him in half.  After all, don’t all Gozer worshippers want to be sacrifices? Sorry Shandor!  However, as Gozer is rising the Ghostbusters are being reborn.  Trevor, Phoebe, Podcast, and Lucky grab the classic jumpsuits and get to work.  They liberate their equipment including Ecto-1 from a police station with the help of the first capture. 

Gozer is back!

They split up with Lucky taking a police cruiser and the other three taking Ecto-1 to the mountain.  Phoebe distracts the great Gozer with jokes while Podcast uses the remote trap to capture Zuul and free Callie.  This disrupts Gozer on Earth and gives the kids and Mom a chance to escape.  The Ghostbusters flee in Ecto-1 being chased by Vinz Clortho still possessing Grooberson.  They lead the supernatural creatures back to the farmhouse to replay the battle at the beginning of the movie. 

Like grandfather like grandkids! However, the trap maybe well designed but it still has a lot of bugs and mini-Stay Puft Marshmallow Men getting in the way.  Zuul is freed and takes control of Lucky.  Just when all seems lost the three original Ghostbusters show up.  Phoebe’s phone call to Ray inspired some other phone calls.  The three confront Gozer for a forced reunion and Ray finally gets a chance to correct the god question answer.  However, Gozer is able to undo the stream cross this time (since it was only three) and all looks lost again.  Phoebe still has her proton pack and attacks and her hold on her particle thrower is aided by the ghost of Egon Spengler.  Then the Ghostbusters new, old, alive, and dead unite with Callie the Mom and stop Gozer for good permanently trapping the god.

The return!

              Grooberson and Lucky are freed.  Egon’s two families wish him the best and let him know he was loved.  His spirt moves on and two sets of Ghostbusters get to know each other.  There are some light hearted after credit scenes letting you know the Ghostbusters are back.  

 

My Take: (Lots of Spoilers in this section too!  Yup spoilers.) Okay I am going to straight for something that is very important to me.  Although I love Ghostbusters II, I never liked the breaking up of Egon and Janine in favor of a Janine/Louis relationship.  One the reasons Janine You’ve Changed is in my mind the last great episode of The Real Ghostbusters for confirming them as an actual couple.  Now to have live action confirmation of this as well makes me happy.  When the whole world was against Egon, Janine was still with him keeping his head above the sand!

Janine

I was concerned at first, I heard a rumor on the internet that although this was Egon’s family, Janine was not going to be the mother/grandmother.  However, when the family meets her Janine is hesitant to say what her relationship with him was exactly.  How do you say to a daughter who feels her father abandoned her “I am your dad’s one true sole mate and romantic partner for almost your entire life.”?  When we see the “wall of Callie” there are some dates and the earliest is from 1983.  Callie was born before Egon meet Janine. 

So, what happened with Egon and Callie’s mom.  Well Egon can not be the easiest person to have a relationship with however he has been known to get girls.  Not only was Janine attracted to him but he also has been shown to have gotten the eye of many secretaries over the years.  I think Egon had a brief relationship with Callie’s mother that resulted in a pregnancy.  I also think it is very probable that we have a Jim Kirk/Carol Marcus situation.  

“Were we together?  Were we going to be? You had your world and I had mine and I wanted him in mine.  Not chasing through the universe with his father.” From Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan. Carol Marcus explaining why she never told David about his father. 

Callie’s mom had found Egon’s interest in the paranormal a cute hobby until one day she became convinced of how real and dangerous it could actually be.  Not wanting harm to come to her daughter she simple asks Egon to stay away.  Egon originally might have hoped to work things out but the founding of the Ghostbusters and the rise of Gozer back in New York convinced him of the righteousness of Callie’s mom decision and chose to watch from a distance.   The whole “I was abandoned” story was a lie her mother told her to protect her.  If you think you are not wanted it could kill the ambition to search. 

This wouldn’t be the only time a mother sought to protect her child from the world of a ghostbuster father.  This is the reason that Dana tried to keep Oscar a secret from Peter for over a year. (Yes, Oscar is Peter’s biological son. Remind me to explain that in detail one day.) The Ghostbusters world can be a scary place I can see why someone would want to shield their kids.

I have to say I love all these characters and I am excited for the future as the new Ghostbusters.  Trevor, Phoebe, Lucky, and Podcast will make a great team.  Will Gary Grooberson and Callie be there as well?  I like the idea of Ray hanging on as an advisor and Winston being the bank.  Peter can be recalled for sarcastic advice. I have a lot of hope for the future.

Now for some random thoughts:

·         All of Phoebe’s jokes are extremely funny.  I really like the one about the dead polar bear. 

·         Did Egon go by natural causes or some sort of suicide? We know Zuul didn’t kill him at least not intentionally.  Zuul’s goal was possession to undo the set-up that Egon had put together to stop Gozer.  Did Egon die of a panic attack since he was an older man?  Or did he take something to kill himself to avoid capture?  

·         The Ghostbusters are finally held to account.  Ghost busting causes a lot of property destruction.  It is about time someone called them out on it.  Kudos to Lucky’s dad!

Capturing ghosts and lots of property damage!

·         I like the call out to the animated series.  Winston's love of the Ecto-1 wasn’t present in the movies.

·         Speaking of The Real Ghostbusters remember the episode where Egon became a ghost? Or when he became Slimer?

·         Someone tell Podcast to destroy that jumpsuit before it is too late!   

·         Winston is right that sound is the best.

The Ghostbusters are back I can’t wait for some of the adventures that will be coming.