Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021) * *

Directed by:  Jason Reitman

Starring:  Carrie Coon, Mckenna Grace, Finn Wolfhard, Paul Rudd, Logan Kim, Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson

Ghostbusters: Afterlife wants to introduce us to the next generation of Ghostbusters, but it's difficult to pull off.   The original Ghostbusters was a blend of science fiction and comedy which is hard to imitate.  Ghostbusters II (1989) and the gender-swapped 2016 Ghosbusters had more detractors than fans, but I enjoyed them both on their respective levels.   Ghostbusters: Afterlife feels more like a retread even with a younger cast and a change of scenery from New York to rural Oklahoma. 

As Afterlife opens, we meet Callie (Coon), a mother of two who inherits a "dirt farm" and a rickety old farmhouse in the middle of Oklahoma from her recently deceased father who ran off on her when she was a child.   Her father was famed Ghostbuster Egon Spengler (the late Harold Ramis) and Callie hates him for leaving her and her mother, but He Had His Reasons, and we soon find out the evil Gozer and Zuul who were vanquished in the original film are trying to rise again.   Egon set traps for the ghosts, but he died before they could be contained.    His granddaughter Phoebe (Grace), who looks and acts like her late grandfather, discerns what Egon was doing and why.   She enlists help from her summer school teacher Gary Grooberson (Rudd) to thwart Gozer's plan, but it turns out who Phoebe should've called were the original Ghostbusters, who manage to arrive on the scene just in time to aid Phoebe and her friends.  

At 2 hours, 4 minutes, there isn't a lot of ghost busting in Ghostbusters: Afterlife.   Much of it is the youngsters trying to figure out their legacy and how to stop Gozer from being reborn.   There is a teeny bit of nostalgia when we see the old Ghostbuster vehicle, the whirring siren, a slimy ghost, the proton packs, and of course the original remaining Ghostbusters themselves, but when the nostalgia is more inviting than the current Ghostbusters situation, you know Afterlife is in trouble.  Ghostbusters: Afterlife isn't as terrible as it is unnecessary.   Just watch the original to see how busting can make you feel good.