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Ghostbusters: Afterlife

7/10

Stars: Mckenna Grace, Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Logan Kim, Celeste O'Connor, Annie Potts, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver, Bokeem Woodbine. Voice: Josh Gad

Director: Jason Reitman

Director Reitman has produced, on the whole, a worthy successor to his father Ivan Reitman's original. This one's a slow starter, but sparks (and spirits) soon fly when 12-year-old Phoebe (Grace), nerdy scientific genius granddaughter of original ghostbuster Egon Spengler (the late Harold Ramis, later re-created in hologram form) discovers some of her grandpa's old equipment and gets it working just in time to do battle with a new horde of monster-ghosts about to erupt from a local mountain.

As this is a Reitmen family affair, most of the surviving original cast show their faces, with Aykroyd, Murray and Hudson turning up at the end to help Phoebe, her brother (Wolfhard) and two pals (Kim, O'Connor) take on the all-powerful high priestess spectre at the end.

Despite the range of star wattage on view, this is Grace's film all the way. The pretty 15-year-old blonde (remember her as a kid in Gifted?) dons a black fright wig and rimless spectacles and creates a real character as the daredevil sub-teen with a penchant for bad jokes.

Sample: 'What's the link between a cigarette and a hamster? Answer: they're both harmless until you put them in your mouth and set them on fire'.

The marshmallow men are back, with nasty little teeth, together with the gloopy green monster who's almost endearing. And someone - Woodbine's sheriff - actually does say 'Who you gonna call?' when Pheebs and her mates are locked up for fire-bombing half the town in a monster pursuit.

There are further scenes during and after the credits, one quite funny, and one rather pointless. It's a nostalgic treat, though, for fans of the 1984 monster hit.




David Quinlan

USA 2021. UK Distributor: Sony (Columbia). Colour by Company 3.
123 minutes. Widescreen. UK certificate: 12A.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 0, Violence/Horror 1, Drugs 0, Swearing 0.

Review date: 15 Nov 2021