Ghostbusters: Afterlife (Seriously) Continues the Original Series
The first trailer for Ghostbusters: Afterlife is here, and while it is a sequel set in the original Ghostbusters universe rather than a continuation of the all-women reboot from 2016, it appears to be missing something essential from the ‘80s classic: Any comedy.
Granted, one trailer doesn’t totally convey the overall tone of the full movie, but Ghostbusters: Afterlife’s initial trailer makes the movie seem pretty serious—and there’s not a note of the iconic Ghostbusters theme to be heard. The film, which is directed by Jason Reitman (son of the 1984 movie’s director Ivan Reitman, who is a producer on the new film) stars Stranger Things Finn Wolfhard. He’ll be swapping a Ghostbusters Halloween costume for the real deal when his mother (Carrie Coon) moves his family to a small town to live in a house once owned by their grandfather—O.G. Ghostbuster Egon Spengler (first played by Harold Ramis, who died in 2014).
It’s a good thing that all Spengler’s gear is here, and that Wolfhard’s character, Trevor is ready to take up the mantle, because the town is haunted. His summer school teacher Mr. Grooberson (Paul Rudd) is on hand to teach Trevor all about the town’s supernatural quakes, and about the history of the Ghostbusters. (“New York in the ‘80s? It was like The Walking Dead,” he explains as archival footage of the original squad plays.)
With the exception of Ramis, most of the original Ghostbusters actors are signed on to appear in the new movie in some capacity, although it’s unclear exactly how big their roles will be. We do hear a voiceover from Bill Murray’s Peter Venkman in the trailer, and there are lots of Easter eggs referencing the original film.
It all seems pretty self-reverential and unironic, which feels somewhat at odds with the core spirit of the first two films—and the unfortunately controversial 2016 reboot, which starred Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones. Honestly, the trailer seems more similar to a less-scary It—or, less-charitably, to this summer’s Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. A family-friendly, soft PG-13 action romp that’s more coming-of-age than it is horror or comedy... well, looks can be deceiving, and by the time Ghostbusters: Afterlife hits theaters on July 10, 2020, we’ll know if this revived corpse came back wrong or not.
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Originally Appeared on GQ
