iamshawnieb

In full disclosure I have to say that it is impossible for me to watch a Ghostbusters film with any kind of objectivity. I literally wore out my vhs copy as a kid and it is very special to my family. It's my movie and I'm very possessive and protective of it's legacy. Because the Afterlife sequel hit all the right emotional beats it makes it even harder to be objective.

So! From a nostalgic point of view this movie is amazing. The callbacks to the original film, and a little bit of GB2, never seem forced or shoehorned in for the sake of nostalgia. They are plot points that make sense within the story. It isn't a simple nod and then moves on. Additionally the heart put into the simplest reference shine brightly to those familiar with the source material.

Let's talk about the plot! Their is a ::spoiler:: that just brutally tugs on your heart strings. Even without that the tribute it pays to Harold Ramis and Egon Spengler is considerable. It is essentially the entire storyline. With the undertones of loss and reconciliation it hits deep.

There is an oddity though. That is, the tone of the film is very different than the tone of the original two. How can a group of kids be the heroes in a Ghostbusters film without going into stupidity? Out of context it does seem unwise to do such a thing. And yes it has a Stranger Things mystery vibe but it really works. Why? For the same reason that Stranger Things did. Because the younger audience can fantasize about being them. But the older audience WAS them. We were the kid in the GB suit with the proton pack making up our own mysteries.

For the GB fans this movie is a must watch. For others you'd probably like it. But it wasn't made for them. It was made for us.

The main "issue" people seem to have with this film has very little to do with what's on screen and very much what is behind the scenes. I won't even be touching on those because there was nothing in it that felt out of place or made the movie not work.

What does work is the visuals and the aesthetic. This does not look like a typical Marvel movie and that's all for the better. The fans have been saying that the stand alone films were becoming the same and too formulaic, so here we go. As far as structure goes it does not fit the same 3 act structure that many others follow. The character development is significantly more developed than many other films with far less characters.

Overall, it works. There are some nitpicking things like comedic timing not as flush as some other films. And run time but Marvel doesn't treat it's fans like idiots. Sure they could cut the runtime by 10 minutes but none of the "extra " stuff felt boring or shoehorned in. And cutting for the sake of cutting isn't necessary this far into the MCU.

So, the movie is good. Well shot. Well written. And the story and characters never felt out of place in the current universe. I can see these characters doing a lot more in upcoming projects. And exploring more of them and the possibilities of their powers sounds very good to me.

Seriously one of - if not the worst movie I've watched all the way through. Unlike other "bad" films that are usually thrown into the conversation, there are no redeeming qualities. Troll 2, The Room, anything by Ed Wood has a certain enjoyable aspect to it. Whether it's laughing at it or with it there is something to appreciate in your viewing experience. With House of the Dead it is a blatant cash grab that tries to latch onto the name of the video game to sell some tickets. There is no heart. No creativity. Nothing worth while. It is not one of the bad movies you must see. It is just bad.