Ghostbusters: Afterlife (4 Stars)

This is one of the films I missed due to being ill earlier this year. I was waiting to see it on a streaming service, but the Blu-ray was so cheap that I couldn't say No. 

"Ghostbusters: Afterlife" is the official title, but it's been marketed as "Ghostbusters 3", denying the existence of the 2016 Ghostbusters film that the fans love to hate. The best way to judge "Afterlife" is by comparing it with the 2016 film. It's not as over-the-top. It's (slightly) less comical. Instead of women, it features a new team of teenage Ghostbusters. Almost teenage. The youngest team member, Phoebe, is only 12 years old, which makes her a pre-teen.

Phoebe and her 15-year-old brother Trevor have ghostbusting in their genes. Their recently departed grandfather is Egon Spengler, one of the original Ghostbusters. After the events of the second film the Ghostbusters retired and took up normal jobs. That was 30 years ago. Only Egon was a dedicated (read "extremist") Ghostbuster who believed the biggest fight was yet to come. He left New York and settled in Summerville, Oklahoma, which he believed to be the hiding place of a Sumerian God which would bring about the world's end. He thought he could fight by himself – and he didn't have any support from his colleagues – but he died when his equipment failed. His daughter inherits his farmhouse, which she finds full of junk. Only Phoebe recognises that it isn't junk, it's scientific equipment. A boy in her class at school with the interesting name Podcast identifies the equipment, and the battle begins.

So which is better, "Afterlife" or the 2016 film? My instinct is to say the latter, but I need to watch all four Ghostbuster films back to back to make up my mind. I'll let you know what I think.

Success Rate:  + 0.7

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