You know that sinking feeling when a promising thing slowly just keeps sinking and sinking into mediocrity? That’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife… a movie that so desperately wants to reboot a franchise but somehow doesn’t get what the franchise was and, at the same time, adores it to too much. I was so disappointed and even more disappointed when I realized I wasn’t so much disappointed as I was bored.

Ghostbusters; Afterlife takes place in the continuity of the original two films. The world seems to have more-or-less (once again) forgotten the ghost attack on New York. The film stars a mom who moves to her father’s farm after his death, dragging her two unwilling kids with her. They are all the family of Egon Spengler… and he’s got a farm-full of Ghostbusters memorabilia. But why did he move to this farm and what do these mysterious earthquakes have to do with anything?

The main character is played by Mckenna Grace as a nerdy, science loving twelve year old. I liked her character and she’s good in the part. Unfortunately, she’s victim to the film’s inconsistent writing, especially regarding its connection to the original film. It’s unclear how much people remember and she (being a sciency-type) says she doesn’t believe in ghosts and then seems to accept a ghost playing chess with her a scene or two later.

Finn Wolfhard from Stranger Things wanders in and out of the movie and might as well not even be present. A young actor named Logan Kim is pretty good as, strangely, the only person who seems to realize he’s in a comedy.

Wait? Was Ghostbusters a comedy? I think this movie forgot that… I’m pretty sure this is meant to be a family drama with supernatural elements. It’s directed by Jason Reitman who is more known for somber dramadies. Maybe he was the wrong voice for the film’s chasing of nostalgia. Maybe everyone involved wanted to go a different direction. I’m not sure… but if it was meant to be a comedy, it wasn’t a very successful one.

I did like this movie’s story, actually. It’s a neat tie-back to the strange backstory of the building in the first Ghostbusters. It’s a legitimate callback that threatens to tell its own story and advance the continuity… until they just chuck that shit out and remake the original film. So disappointing – I thought they were going somewhere unique while borrowing from the original… and then they just dredge up all the old gimmicks.

Which includes a few of the original Ghostbusters in a tired over-extended cameo that basically sucks the agency out of the new cast. They just seem tired and a little bored… they are back for more cameos in yet another attempt to reboot the old franchise. Where’s my paycheck?

The end of the film is just over-the-top lightshow… just noise and spectacle without being original to itself or being particularly coherent. By this point, I was so actively bored. I just wanted the movie to end so I could figure out if I thought the movie was bad or just below average. I came down on bad. Which is so very disappointing.

Score: 64