Seeing a film on the day it comes out… no im not back in the odeon, but this will be good. Not heard much about this good or bad yet, so im looking forward to crossing streams & hitting the nostalgia train. Bring on Paul Rudd leading those ghostbusters.

So cinema was pretty packed which is always a good sign, lots of familys with there kids which is always good. Im guessing all of their parents were their age when the original or the second came out years ago.

I am going to tell you a story now. So i was sitting in my seat with my cuppa tea i made at work before i left & this family came & sat next to me. 2 adults & 4 kids, one girl & 3 boys (2 of the boys were twins ill explain that in a second) & the daughter came & sat next to me, id say she was about 12 maybe 13. & she was watching the adverts & going urgh at them & then an advert came up which always makes me laugh & she laughed at it too & i smirked. She obviously caught me smirking at her reaction & tapped me on the shoulder & said excuse me but where are your friends. & i said oh they arent coming ive come straight from work. She then said ahhh are you okay seeing a film on your own & i said yes i do it all the time, its weird going with other people. She then said that she envied me as she always has to go with her family & her brothers especially the twins always try to talk to her through the film. It then go to the trailers which was a mixed bag which we will get to again in a bit. For some of it she was telling her brothers to be quite & stop throwing popcorn. But when it got to the Matrix trailer she went wow & then asked me what is the matrix & i said thats too long to explain, she then said when did the first one come out & i said when i was a bit younger than she is now & she went, oh wow your old then…. brilliant kid make me feel old, but i get a feeling come December when i go to see this she will be in the same screening as me. At the end of my review i will let her have the last word.

right Trailers were the Matrix (which ive only just realised the guy who says the words the Matrix in it, is Christof in Frozen. Im Angry at myself now. West Side Story (yes), Kings Man (yes), House of Gucci (yes) & Spiderman no way home, like the brand new trailer from the day before ahhhhhhhhhhhhh.

& then the film started…. Oh why did i have high hopes for this. Why why why. Fool me once Hollywood fool on you fool me twice fool on me…

DONT SELL THIS AS A PAUL RUDD GHOSTBUSTERS FILM FOR THE LAST 3 YEARS WHEN PAULS RUDD ISNT IN IT MUCH MORE THAT HE IS IN THE TRAILERS!
sorry had to shout that, but the way theyve all talked about this film & Paul Rudds posts, it was selling this like he was the Ghostbuster who happened to find these kids, nah hes a teacher who happens to be nosy about the whole thing. I mean every second hes on the screen are bloody brilliant & make it good, but it wasnt his film. He just happened to be in it. URGH!!!

So this has been advertised as an adult film if im honest, however it is clearly a reboot for kids, about the age of the family next to me, who have all watched the originals during lockdown. I didnt care about the kids in the film at all & about an hour in when it was clear it was all about them & not much else, i was like oh god.

I mean the nostalgia & cameos were nice but there was so many of them, it became at one point like that DiCaprio meme where he points & goes ahhh i know that. I mean the end was nice & sweet & it had to end that way after everything we had sat through before. & it was a nice tribute too.

There wasnt enough of Margot from Gone Girl in the film, she was a good mum & when she yelled at people, it was just like yes girl give it some but she was rocking it & it was too good for the film, maybe thats why the film was saved. Also JK was in a coffin for most of it got one line & then we didnt see him again urgh.

2 credit scenes, one of which is spoiled by the credits before it by saying someone was in it when they havent been in it, stupid film. Stupid STUPID.

why was that kid called podcast? ffs

None of it was in New York. I mean i know there are dodgy & run down town like that all over the world, where theres no opportunities, but does every film with kids who want to escape life, have to be set in this setting. dont kids in citys want to escape too?

So i left the cinema feeling very angry that i had been mis sold a film & thought at the time it can do one, but now looking back a few days later, i did still laugh at it when Paul Rudd was on the screen. I just wish it had been more that trying to mix the nostalgia overflow & a reboot so heavily.

As i said earlier the last word is with the kid who sat next to me. When it finished & i was waiting for the credits her family started getting ready to leave. & she looked at me & she went what did you think, & i said it was fun but could have been better (i didnt want to break this kids heart if she adored it so went for middle ground) & while she was putting her coat on went, nah that was Crap. She then wished me a happy weekend & bounced off with her family. So yea the target audience thought it was crap too.

If ive got anything out of this film, i might have inspired the next generation to go watch films at the cinema on their own, & if thats all Ghostbusters Afterlife’s legacy is thats good enough for me.