• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife Reviews (Embargo Lifted a MONTH Before Release)

ManaByte

Member
Normally the closer to a movie's release they embargo the reviews, the worse it looks for the movie.

But Sony has lifted the Ghostbusters: Afterlife review embargo a MONTH before release.

Well, it's taken 36 years and six presidencies, but with "Ghostbusters: Afterlife" fans finally have an unembarrassing sequel to love.
Perhaps the real star here is Jason Reitman who, like Phoebe, rediscovers and reinvents his own family cinematic legacy and in doing so provides a warm, funny, exciting, nostalgic, emotional, and altogether winning return to the pure joy of that 1984 classic by making something that also seems very new in all the right ways.

Afterlife harks back to the age of The Goonies, but with a thoroughly modern twist. As the burgeoning ghost hunters try to save their town and themselves, there are enough Easter eggs to make a grown man cry. But those who’ve never watched a Ghostbusters movie are still in for a very fun ride, filled with cool creature work, awesome action, and more.


[T]he movie is keenly aware of the original’s most important legacy: its genre-blend of action, comedy, and horror. Afterlife takes the 1984 film and cranks up the volume for 2021. The action is more visceral — a midpoint chase with the Ecto-1 could encourage Fast & Furious to take notes — while the series’ unique flavor of horror is more fierce than the originals could dream.


Ghostbusters: Afterlife is everything you want it to be. Several moments legitimately gave me chills. Jason Reitman honors what came before while blazing a new trail forward.


Ghostbusters: Afterlife is the best possible way to approach reviving franchises. It has plenty of reverence for the previous movies, but it's the new stories told with plenty of heart and good characters that really cements it as an excellent movie.
 

Setzer

Member
From the Deadline review:
"Here, the focus isn’t on a team of Ghostbusters like the original and its sequel with Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, and Ernie Hudson. Nor is it trying to be woke, with an all-female team that included, among others, Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, and Kate McKinnon (without even bothering to rename the movie – how about Ghostbusters: MeToo?)"

That's great to hear. Looking forward to seeing it now.
 

poppabk

Cheeks Spread for Digital Only Future
The trailer looked good and the reviews along with the early lifting of review embargoes makes it sound like this is gonna be something special.
 

ManaByte

Member
Holy shit.

JK Simmons is Ivo Shandor

Which means these earlier spoilers are probably true:
- Paul Rudds Character is called Jason Grooberson and he is mysteriously headhunted by Summervilles High School principal to join the faculty
- The Town of Summersville hides a dark secret, they are all in fact members of the cult of Gozer
- In 1984 when the doorway to the Gozer dimension was sealed the energy from the porthole was expelled from New York and latched itself onto the selenium mines in Summersville, where the stone to build Spook Central came from
- There is a temple in the Shandor mines that the cult uses for rituals
- It is revealed that Egon knew that the Cult of Gozer lived on and went to the town to wait for his return
- In the subsequent years he passed away but left instruction to his family to continue his vigil. And should Gozer return he left contacts for the other Ghostbusters too
- Janine and Winston are happily married as are Peter and Dana.
- Gooberson is revealed to be the only living descendent of Ivo Shandor who the cult have lured here to act as the vessel for Shandors Spirit.
- Ray has been living alone in his occult book store keeping watch on the local paranormal activity in New York. It has been quiet for decades but he always holds onto the hope that one day he may be useful again.
- Egons Farmhouse is filled with miniature stay Puft Marshmallow men
- There are 3 Terror dogs in the film, The Gatekeeper, The Keymaster and The Custodian which are made up of two of the cult members plus Ivo Shandor (who is played by JK Simmons)
- Gozers form appears at the Firehouse as a giant Terror dog.
- Phoebe, Trevor, Ray, Peter, Winston and Dana all suit up for the final battle
- Gozer is finally defeated because the ghostbusters have a member on the other side.
- Egon becomes the Guardian of the portal to the gozer dimension

Which means the earlier rumor about the buried containment unit probably isn't true.
 
Last edited:

Ailynn

Faith - Hope - Love
I'm so happy that this is getting great reviews, and that it's a love letter to Harold Ramis' Egon Spengler. I can't wait to see it- I know it's going to bring the tears. 💙

f3CT5yB.jpg
 

Ionian

Member
Really looking forward to this now. Not sure I'll bother with the cinema but even when released online, I'm caustiously curious.
 
Will we see Egon spirit? Will he be computer generated, also using clips from previous instances of harold ramis speaking, much like chef in south park after isaac hayes left?
 

ManaByte

Member
Minor very cool spoiler about who's in the ghost trap that's in the trailer:
Vinz Clortho

Lots of hardcore Ghostbuters fans are seriously getting choked up just remembering what they watched. They say it's THAT good and Jason Reitman completely nailed it and the movie comes off as a completely genuine love letter to the original that respects it and wants to continue its legacy in a proper way.
 
Last edited:

Turnt

Member
He probably didn't even like the original movies. His opinion is moot! Bye Felicia!
Just looked up the review. His issue seems to be that it’s not enough like the originals. That it just uses the costumes, car etc. but with a different tone and can’t match the humour of the originals. The trailer did give that impression. But I guess we’ll see once it’s actually out.
 

ManaByte

Member
Never trust early reviews, especially when its from fanboys at a test screening.

These aren't fanboys at a screening. These are actual critics. It's 82% on RT right now:
 

Stuart360

Member
These aren't fanboys at a screening. These are actual critics. It's 82% on RT right now:
Only 33 reviews though. The majority of the critics havent seen it yet.
I'd wait for the final verdict.

EDIT. In fact 5 of the 6 top critics gave it a negative review so far.
 
Last edited:

TGO

Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
And they loved 2016. What does that tell you?
You can actually hear the bitterness in those top critics reviews.
It's like the film offended them just by existing.
 
Last edited:

TGO

Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
They were hoping their "YAAASS QUEEENS!" movie would get a ton of sequels. Instead they make a sequel to the original two movies WITH the original cast.
But it's still a film mainly about a Girl 😂
 

TGO

Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
Nah, it's a movie mostly about Egon.
Yeah I heard one reviewer say it's like Ghostbusters if Egon was the main character instead of Peter.
Not sure what that means because because all of them was main characters but I understand Peter had more focus but it would still be that same imo.
 

ManaByte

Member
Yeah I heard one reviewer say it's like Ghostbusters if Egon was the main character instead of Peter.
Not sure what that means because because all of them was main characters but I understand Peter had more focus but it would still be that same imo.
Because it’s Egon’s movie.
 
Top Bottom