There’s something strange in the neighborhood — specifically, if you ask many fans of the 80s comedy classic “Ghostbusters,” the lack of humor in the new “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” trailer. Some are ripping the reboot’s relatively serious tone as “bizarre” while others are questioning why a film in which “that’s a big twinkie” is uttered is held in such high regard in the first place.
“Ghostbusters: Afterlife” came back to haunt us Tuesday, dropping a new trailer featuring more insight into the movie’s plot, hints at some of its nostalgic cameos and an unexpectedly reverent attitude toward its silly, sarcastic source material. Because, as previously mentioned, the original “Ghostbusters” is generally perceived as a comedy — but the trailers for “Afterlife” have so far made this sequel seem more like a drama.
The film was directed by Jason Reitman, son of Ivan Reitman, who directed the original 1984 flick starring Bill Murray, Dan Akroyd and Harold Ramis. While the decision to keep the franchise in the family may have been Sony’s way of appeasing the fanbase, the latest sneak peek seems to be doing anything but.
The trailer has YouTube film critics Patrick Willems and Jay Bauman wondering whether we’re talking about the same “Ghostbusters” here. But they were not alone.
Now, this new look at “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” did spread its fair share of spooky cheer. It also drudged up the debate raised by the 2016 reboot as to whether the original film deserves such sacred status and therefore, why it would be impervious to creative changes.
Does the original film’s “slapped together charm” justify taking it in a different direction or is it grounds for maintaining said charm as is? Will Paul Rudd bring the humor everyone is missing? Will a real Bill Murray cameo actually materialize? Or did he simply record his trailer line from Wes Anderson’s basement?
Hopefully these questions and more will be answered when “Ghosbusters: Afterlife” hits theaters on Nov. 11.
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