Ghostbusters: Take Two

Liam Heneghan, Staff Writer

Well, here we are again. It’s been a hot minute, but four years down the line we finally have a trailer for the next Ghostbusters film: Ghostbusters Afterlife. The film is a direct sequel to  the original two Ghostbusters movies (released in 1984 and 1989 respectively), and appears to be ignoring the events of the 2016 reboot. 

The film stars Finn Wolfhard (the kid from stranger things), Paul Rudd (the man who doesn’t age), and Mckenna Grace (notable for playing the young version of Captain Marvel, Sabrina Spellman, and Theo Crain). When this film was first announced, I assumed it was going to feature performances from the OG cast back in their original roles. It’s a bold decision for Sony to stray from their legacy characters, but one that I deeply respect. They know that advertising the presence of the original cast would guarantee plenty of viewers for their film, but are choosing to hold their cards close to the vest, at least in terms of advertising. 

In fact, this scaled back (dare I say classy?) approach is pervasive throughout the whole trailer. It gives off distinctly indie vibes, with a fairly muted color scheme, lingering shots, and a greater focus on character than plot itself. This really comes into focus when you compare this trailer to the one advertising the 2016 Ghostbusters reboot which were loud and bombastic, leaning on the films action scenes as one of its primary draws, and using an amped up version of the original theme song to play into people’s sense of nostalgia for the original films. Both approaches are valid, but I’m excited to see where this new take carries the franchise.

In the end though, this is just one trailer. The film doesn’t release until July 10th, which means we’ll probably get at least one more trailer before it comes out. Until then however, this trailer has gotten my hopes high for the Ghostbuster’s upcoming outing.