I saw the film on IMAX on Saturday but I'm only just getting the chance to review it now. While is perhaps a little overstuffed as it tried to service all of the characters, both old and new, I really enjoyed the overall adventure and new mythos.
Once again, Mckenna Grace stole the film from the plethora of stars around her. That said, I do wish there had been more focus on Phoebe's story arc, which was easily the most engaging part of the film. I particularly wanted to see more of her relationship with Melody, especially since we've never actually seen such a strong interaction between a human and a ghost in the films (Slimer doesn't count). Plus, the trajectory of that relationship reminded me of the Webby/Lena story arc in the new
DuckTales, with the added layer of Phoebe's sense of rejection and abandonment pushing her into that relationship. I say all of this despite fully predicting that Melody was using Phoebe, would apologize for betraying her, and would ultimately redeem herself. If the film had focused more on that relationship instead of trying to balance
everyone, I think that arc would've felt more fleshed out and less blatant.
That all said and focusing on what film we
did get (instead of harping on what could've been), I still greatly enjoyed the various mini-arcs that played out within the Spengler family and the original Ghostbusters (but I wish Janine had more to do and with that nifty wrist device during the climax!). Unsurprisingly, the biggest highlight was Gary trying to find his place within the family and his relationship with Phoebe. Even if it was a bit cliché, I felt he earned her calling him "Dad" at the end.
I liked the new mythos of Garraka and the ancient history built around him, and I particularly liked how it reminded me of
Raiders of the Lost Ark. I'm certain someone on the internet is either calling it derivative or a straight-up rip-off, but I liked the allusion to the Indiana Jones adventure. While I do think adding supernatural abilities to humans was a bit much, but at least it was limited to one lineage specific to this particular mythos.
In addition to Garraka, I loved all of the new ghosts introduced in this film. I especially loved the Possessor, even if it forced me to look past the obvious plot hole of Winston's engineers failing to resecure the cracked glass of its enclosure, which only happened to ensure its escape and helping Garraka's own escape.
Speaking of whom, I loved the worldbuilding with Winston's engineers, even if all we really got to see were Dr. Lars Pinfield, Lucky the intern, and Janine, all of whom mostly disappear during the third act due to the overstuffed cast and plot. I wish we had gotten more of that worldbuilding instead of some of the more convoluted aspects of releasing Garraka.
Much like
Afterlife, this film is a passing of the torch between generations and I really hope any potential future films focuses strongly on just the Spengler family. As unlikely as it seems considering the lukewarm reviews (but at least the opening weekend box office take is the same as
Afterlife), I would love to see even more of the Ghost Corps beyond the Spengler family in a separate film and/or series. A guy can dream!
I also liked the idea that Winston runs his own sort of secret lab for the next generation of Ghostbusters, although this also has its own plot problems. Someone commented in a review that having the firehouse closed down and all of the main gear confiscated by the NYPD should be more of a handicap, in much the same way that the original film makes the containment unit being shut down into a major plot hurdle. But Winston's group seems to have enough spare equipment to make this less of a problem, for plot convenience.
One of the major issues with the film is, it's not well paced.
As much I as I enjoy this film, I agree that there are certain plot holes. While I'm willing to look past most of them (including the ones you talked about and the one I brought up), I do agree there is a significant pacing issue as direct result of its overstuffed nature. The Phoebe/Melody relationship in particular stood out to me when I realized that it had been sitting on the back burner until it was time for Phoebe to accidentally let Garraka free.
I'm not sure what Phoebe was trying to accomplish by turning into a ghost for 2 minutes. How would that help her ghost friend?
She was trying to relate to Melody's existence. Ray's musings to Podcast earlier in the film connects to that feeling, even if the pacing failed to put those two points directly together.
I feel like ALOT got cut from this movie. Like, half the trailer isn't there. They made all those red jackets for like, 2 minutes of screen time.
Yeah, I got the sense a lot was left on the editing floor, for better or for worse. I was surprised Lucky's near death was cut short when the trailer explicitly teased it.
That said, considering the film's overstuffed nature, I'm not sure how what was cut could've fit in.
I think there was a real missed opportunity for the Ghost Zoo to have Vigo in there. It would make sense he wasn't permanently destroyed, and he's the OG "cursed object" ghost.
True but at least we did get several references to the second film (thus ending silly speculations of it being ignored in
Afterlife).
I do feel like some of the ideas were good overall, just not executed all that well. And I think there are still some of the same issues that Afterlife had, to the point of adding nostalgia points that don't really serve the story and wouldn't make a lot of contextual sense to someone who's never watched the older movies. The library ghost gets a cameo of this type in FE, but it doesn't really add anything to the story.
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