A new dangerous force has awakened in New York, and it’s up to the new band of Ghostbusters; the family of Eugene Spengler to save the day… along with some help from some former members.
Direction
Written, but not directed by Jason Reitman this time around – instead the directors chair went to Gil Kenan.
There was a nice tribute to Jason’s dad Ivan at the end as well, as he directed the first two films.
Cast/Characters
All the prominent players from Afterlife are back; including the Spengler family…
Greg (Paul Rudd now given top billing), Callie (Carrie Coon), Trevor (Finn Wolfhard), Phoebe (McKenna Grace).
Secondary cast from that film like Lucky, and Podcast return too.
We get more from the OG cast this time, with Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts, Bill Murray and even William Atherton’s Walter Peck – who is now the mayor of New York returning.
New players add their own personalities to the film. Kumail Nanjiani adds another layer of humor to the film (such as asking ‘who you gonna call?) , and Patton Oswalt adds his usual exposition diatribe as one of the professors the characters turn to for information.
Screenplay/Setting/Themes
A new genuinely frightening villain is ‘introduced in a pre opening scene (in a 1904 New York). I thought there was a good amount of screen time designated to the take down once it was unleashed.
This then dissolves into a ‘current’ year opening, where the ‘new’ Ghostbusters use new tech such as drones etc to catch the ghosts plaguing NY. This itself dissolves into a scene with Mayor Peck’s (I really hate he has my last name) exposition diatribe of the damage they’ve caused, no change from his 1984 character.
More of the film is put towards the character of Phoebe here, and her loss of identity. She is banned from being a Ghostbuster, which leads her to try to ‘find herself’ – this leads to her meeting and befriending ghost Melody. Melody herself plays an important part of the film throughout too.
There is also the relationships she has with others throughout the film like her mother, and Greg – who is now acting as a father figure to her, having been her teacher in the first film.. I liked this, and especially the ending where she calls him Dad for the first time.
There are some good throwbacks to the original film, including the lady in the library scaring Ray once again, Slimer and the Marshmallow man (the mini men returning from Afterlife are still quite cute).
Overall
Solid enough sequel from the third film, has just enough heart. The villain is also solid, and is genuinely scary as well as dangerous.
I liked the extra attention to the originals, but wish a couple of others could have made an appearance.
3.5/5
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