REVIEW: GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE (2021) Best Movie Comedy
In 2016, director Paul Feig ( Last Christmas , 2019) had the audacity to remake Ghostbusters ( Ivan Reitman , 1984) – a comedy film that was a huge success during its release period, expanding into media franchises such as film and television series, comic books, video games, to amusement parks that are able to attract many loyal fans and become a popular culture phenomenon. Instead of presenting a presentation that retells the story of its predecessor in full, Feig's Ghostbusters (2016) provides a number of crucial changes, such as choosing a line of female actors to play the main character line.
With the support of good performances from Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones, and Chris Hemsworth, Feig is actually able to produce a comedy that is not only quality but also really entertaining. Unfortunately, the negative reaction that the film received on various social media and the internet – and most of it was misogynistic in refusing female actors to portray the characters that were considered so iconic – then resulted in a bad perception of the film and made Ghostbusters (2016) a failure. to achieve maximum commercial success.
Three years later, director Jason Reitman ( Tully , 2018) – who is also the son of Ivan Reitman – announced that he would direct the latest version of Ghostbusters which became the storytelling sequel to Ghostbusters (1984) and Ghostbusters II (Ivan Reitman, 1989) with no heeding. storyline that has been featured in Ghostbusters (2016). On a number of occasions, Jason Reitman also revealed that his Ghostbusters film Ghostbusters: Afterlife will adhere to the formula that has been applied to the two Ghostbusters films.earlier to please fans of the film series. A statement that seems to really reflect the quality of the script for Ghostbusters: Afterlife directed by Jason Reitman and Gil Kenan ( Poltergeist , 2015) which is full of references to various conflicts and characters that have appeared in various Ghostbusters products .
As a continuation of the story of Ghostbusters II , the storyline of Ghostbusters: Afterlife is told to take place 32 years after the various conflicts described in the film. Callie Spengler ( Carrie Coon ), who is the daughter of a member of the Ghostbusters group of ghost catchers, Eron Spengler ( Harold Ramis ), is told to bring her two children, Trevor Spengler ( Finn Wolfhard ) and Phoebe Spengler ( Mckenna Grace).), to move into the house his father owned after his father died. Callie Spengler herself does not know that her father died in an attempt to prevent a supernatural catastrophe that could threaten the safety of many people. With his curiosity high, Phoebe Spengler and his new best friend, Podcast ( Logan Kim ), begin to find clues to the various things his grandfather was doing in his lifetime. The two of them immediately racked their brains to continue the Eron Spengler mission that he had not yet had time to complete.
The various references to conflict and characters that come from the storytelling of the two previous Ghostbusters films that Jason Reitman included in Ghostbusters: Afterlife may be able to please loyal fans of this film series. His presentation also does not necessarily alienate or corner those who previously did not know the universe of Ghosbusters storytelling . Many dialogue elements from the film function as a narrative conductor to remind or introduce snippets of conflict or characters that have been told in the storytelling of previous Ghostbusters films .
Unfortunately, there's not much else to offer. With a story duration that reaches 125 minutes, Ghostbusters: Afterlife spends too much of the first half of the story telling to introduce the line of characters and build the foundation of the story that will be developed in the next half of the story. It's not really a big problem, but the line-up of characters that appear in the storyline of Ghostbusters: Afterlife ca n't be described with an interesting characterization. As a result, with bland characters and a lack of conflict that really binds, the first 45 minutes of the film's storytelling feel utterly boring.
Elements of the story about the effort to unravel a supernatural mystery (and catch the ghosts involved) are then slowly presented. At the same time, the story script by Jason Reitman and Kenan focuses more on the mediocre family theme brought about by the dynamics of the characters' relationships rather than focusing on the intensity that can arise from the plot about the hunt for disturbing supernatural figures. Ghostbusters: Afterlife is still able to present a number of fun moments. The emotional touch that was presented in the form of the return of the cast and characters from the previous Ghostbusters film series was also delivered well and was able to become the most memorable part for the audience.Ghostbusters: Afterlife .
The shallow characterization of the line of characters that appears in the storytelling of Ghostbusters: Afterlife does not provide too much room for the cast of characters to present a more impressive acting performance. Even so, the close chemistry between Grace and Kim will clearly make the two characters they play able to steal the attention as a whole. The film acting department, which is also supported by the appearance of Paul Rudd , also provides a quality performance that does not disappoint. It doesn't have too much effect on the overall performance of the film's presentation, but at least it can prevent the quality of this film from falling deeper.