Does Ghostbusters Afterlife work without leaning on sentimentality for the original? I don’t know.
But as someone who has loved Ghostbusters since I was a little girl, that movie was made for me, just as much as Ghostbusters 2016 was.
Somehow in all the backlash against Ghostbusters 2016 and noise about the boy from Stranger Things in the trailer, I never would’ve guessed that the proton packs were being handed down from women in their 40s to a 12-year-old girl…
But Ghostbusters Afterlife is Phoebe’s story.
I want so many sequels about Phoebe growing up as a nerdy, weird, scientist girl who busts ghosts.
Phoebe Spengler could be busting ghosts for a long time.
And yes, I still want a sequel to Ghostbusters 2016 with all those awesome comedians.
I want all the Ghostbusters.
In fact, I would LOVE LOVE LOVE a crossover where Phoebe Spengler meets Abby Yates, Erin Gilbert, Patty Tolan, and Jillian Holzmann.
And they sweep her under their wings and all bust ghosts together. This is my dream.
Anyway, if you’ve been holding off on Ghostbusters Afterlife because you loved the 2016 one and thought this was the backlash movie for people who don’t think girls can bust ghosts, GO WATCH IT.
Safety lights are for dudes. Ghostbusters are for girls.
Though, one word of warning — Ghostbusters 2016 is the spiritual successor of the original’s comedic side. Whereas Afterlife is much more serious.
Tonally, Afterlife is far and away the most serious Ghostbusters.
But it’s still really good. And Phoebe is AWESOME.
It does make me kind of sad that Ghostbusters Afterlife clearly went out of its way to avoid revealing through advertising that it’s really the story of a 12-year-old girl.
I mean… after what happened to Ghostbusters ‘16, I UNDERSTAND. But it’s still sad.
It’s nonsense like this that led to me missing out on Jupiter Ascending until years after the fact.
Spec fic movies centering women have to hide that they center women out of fear of the whiny troll boy backlash. And that makes them harder for nerd girls to find.