MovieChat Forums > Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021) Discussion > Slow semi-zzz burn until the end... Phoe...

Slow semi-zzz burn until the end... Phoebe Sue!


The nostalgia really hit hard when the trio showed up then right after, the classic put a smile on your face theme during the credits (which I don't know why they never used during the Ecto-1 strobe run). I was surprised to see Sigourney Weaver mid-credit and the duo with Bill Murray was just as hilarious. Why couldn't they just bring the old team back for a movie instead of the damn kids? Sadly I found out I missed the post-credits scene, UGH!

I feel like they could've formed a story around just the 3 originals (like Indiana Jones) along with the kids as side characters who eventually take over. Stantz would go into his technical jargon, Venkman in his slapstick comedy, and Zeddemore into whatever he does (I forgot) while referencing their old age before retiring (definitely not killed off like many other classic film sequels years later). Even their classic old quips are still as sharp and funny unlike the scrawny kids.

Don't get me started with Phoebe Sue, the know it all, snarky, quirky yet sometimes cute kid from broke poor mother Callie that seems to know even more than her grandfather ever could. From being able to fix a Proton Pack, deduce the jail cell type, handle the power of the proton gun with her small stature, etc. etc.

A disappointment that the first ghost released in the movie wasn't Slimer from the first capture for nostalgia effect (https://youtu.be/gzLcqLoKI0w). I thought that light blue metal eating tardigrade lookealike ghost was a 're-imagined' Slimer at first but nope, just a MacGuffin. The Stay Puft on the other hand were cute in their mischievous endeavors to sabotage everything in sight. Could've at least introduced a couple more new ghosts.

Sadly no memorable music like the Higher and Higher (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0nlEcKSjmY) from GB2.

"I am the Destructor. I am the Architect. I will pave over your fields to start anew. I will fill your seas with concrete and stone. I will pierce your world with girders of steel and panes of glass. I will crush your world under the weight of my cities. I will smother your creation under my own!"

What a waste to Ivo Shandor after all this time of getting to listen and read into his lore only to see him getting his neck snapped in the next second after his revival. Guess it's some middle finger to screw the patriarchy shtick.

https://youtu.be/a4TPo8eYEs0

So yes, a kids movie for the most part until the final battle with Gozer. Also, Finn Wolfhard is so damn skinny he looks almost like a skeleton.

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good review. i'm waiting for the backlash on this film. i feel it will be like force awakens that people will suddenly come to their senses and realize it isn't that good of a film. though maybe people will give it a pass because they've waited so long. the ending was nice but their was a whole terrible, almost 2 hour movie right before it. i don't mind a movie about kids taking on the ghostbusters reign but i don't think it was done very well, nothing deep about the story, just a surface version of a kid adventure film. there were too many call backs to the first film and nothing much original to give us. i'm not sure why the stay puft form would return since it was just something ray thought up in the first movie. i don't get why egon couldn't have just told his daughter to meet him somewhere once in a while or call him. most importantly though, why would ray of all people, not believe egon when he speaks of something happening involving ghosts and the end of the world? makes no sense, only there to tell the weak story. i only accept this movie because the ghostbuster game in 2009 did a well enough job giving us a part III we deserved.

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This and TFA are highly rated!

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then i must be right about the film.

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That. Makes. No. Sense.

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When you see the credits pop up, you'll noticed that both:

Dan Aykroyd ... (based on: the 1984 "Ghostbusters", written by) and
Harold Ramis ... (based on: the 1984 "Ghostbusters", written by)

Are credited. Might be a script on the chopping block brought back and refreshed.

I guess the beef here is that Egon had all this time to prove them wrong but never took footage of it to send to his friends before he passed. Heck, even Youtube existed during his lifetime. He just packed up and left the group while taking most of the gear with him. It's also weird how the clothing he had stashed in the basement all fit the kids. You'd think they were all adult sized.

What bothers me is how people would forget the Ghostbusters after those incidents in New York. It'd be like a 9/11 incident and the people just completely forgot about it instead of holding yearly remembrance.

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I liked it a lot better when kids movies were called cartoons.

They keep trying to make the ghostbusters films into a franchise for an audience other than the original demographic.

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THE ORIGINAL DEMOGRAPHIC ARE ALL DEAD OR SENIORS...GET OVER IT.

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The same demographic still exists today and those who were the demographic back in the 80's are not all dead.

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I AM AWARE...I SAID SENIORS...THE GHOSTBUSTERS DEMOGRAPHIC HAS CHANGED...IT STILL INCLUDES THE ORIGINALS...BUT IT HAS GROWN TO INCLUDE PEOPLE FROM EVERY GENERATION...MY DAUGHTER IS 13,SHE AND HER FRIENDS ARE ALL ABOUT THE NEW FLICK.

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Oof. I read the last part as THE NEW FUCK.

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Nope. We're just in our 40s, and a bit fatter. GET OVER IT.

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THAT MAKES YOU A CORE FAN...THE OLDER DEMOGRAPHIC..PEOPLE OF ADULT AGE WHEN THE MOVIE CAME OUT ARE ALL OLD OR DEAD.

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I’m 38. 🤔

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I AM 40...WE WERE KIDS WHEN WE SAW IT...WE ARE BIASED...THE OLDER GENERATIONS WHO WERE ADULTS AT THE TIME ARE ALL OLD OR DEAD.

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How old were you in 1984?

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Overall I liked it. I thought the family story dragged a little bit but it felt like a beautiful tribute to the legacy of the first two movies.

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Same, overall it was alright but not great. What dragged on a bit during the beginning made up for it more or less at the end. As for the 2 movies, I think they retconned the 2nd as in they retconned it out of existence since this was a clear sequel to the first.

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[deleted]

"Don't get me started with Phoebe Sue, the know it all, snarky, quirky yet sometimes cute kid from broke poor mother Callie that seems to know even more than her grandfather ever could. From being able to fix a Proton Pack, deduce the jail cell type, handle the power of the proton gun with her small stature, etc. etc."

I bet if it was Trevor that could do all this stuff, you wouldn't have said a dang thing and accepted stuff.

Heck, I'm guilty of this too.

I bet if Leo's character in Inception was a woman/female, I'd want a back story on how they are the best at their job. But all Leo has to do is say he is the best out there and I accept it and don't need a 5-10 minute recap showing how he became the best at his job.

Same with Rey in The Force Awakens. I wouldn't be sitting there re-watching the movie trying to find explanations for stuff or ways to defend the character when others are calling her a Mary Sue. If Rey was a male character, I'd just easily accept stuff and not question it or analyze the movie. And so would a ton of other people.

There is even Anakin as well. We meet him in Episode 1 as a 9-year-old boy. He can already do all this stuff and is considered a great pilot and the best human podracer. If Anakin was a girl/female, we'd want the movie's narrative to come to a sudden halt so we could get some backstory that explains how female Anakin learned to do everything by the age of 9.

I don't know why we treat female characters so unfairly. I'm trying to get better at it. But I didn't really think Phoebe was some Mary Sue when I was watching the new Ghostbusters. I kind of just rolled with stuff and accepted it. Now if Phoebe didn't need to go to Paul Rudd's character or even Podcast for help, then maybe I would've questioned stuff. She still needed help on things. A Mary Sue wouldn't need help.

But yeah. If Trevor and Phoebe swapped places, no one would say a dang thing about Trevor or question stuff. They'd just roll with it/accept it.

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The Mary Sue argument has lost all credibility. It's just become a war cry for dudes who get bothered by female protagonists. There are certainly times where the terms applies, Anakin and Rey (who I like), both being perfect examples. A fucking 9-year old saves the day multiple times and no one makes a peep. But Rey? Mary Sue!!!

Phobe's dead grandfather not only guided her the entire way, but physically stepped into to literally help her in the finale, and she had the help of multiple other people but sure, a Mary Sue. The argument has no merit here.

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No it's legitimate, you just use that minor occurrence angle to dismiss it.

That being said there is no Mary Sue writing in this film.

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You: No it's legitimate

Also you: That being said there is no Mary Sue writing in this film.

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It's legitimate [in Star Wars]

You lose comprehension points again 😥

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Anakin wins a pod race and blows up the bad guys big ship at 9. Luke uses the Force to guide a missle to blow up the Death Star after talking to Obi Wan for 25 minutes. But sure, "something angry, Rey, something angry, Mary Sue" or whatever.

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No-one is angry at Rey, more like LAUGHING at how stupid and pathetic her character is 🤣

Anakin would have been a Sue if that was his first ever pod race, but it wasn't and him winning came down to fortune.

Agree about blowing up the station, which eas something people pointed out as silly right away.

Luke literally needed to be saved by every other pilot and was SECONDS from death before Han saved him, not to mention he required Obi Wan to guide him FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE to make that shot.

Lol do you even read the tripe you write?

Just because the Rey character is female you think it means there is no grounds for criticism.

What an absolute soy.

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yeah, Phoebe is very autistic so she is far from perfect. I don't understand the mary sue complaint that much either...

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It's become a default complaint whenever someone doesn't like a protagonist. It doesn't matter if it's baseless.

Every single one of the kids, original Ghostbusters, and hell I think even the mom, played a role, but Phoebe delivers the final shot, so ShE's A mArY SUe! It's a lazy argument with no thought behind it whatsoever.

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Mm nah, I'd do it with Trevor too but since Hollywood is 'wokeish' these days, they usually do it with female characters instead. I forgot, did any of the other kids use the proton gun or just her? One was the driver, one was the podcaster & tinkerer and I think that's it. If I recall correctly, only SHE used it besides the old gang trio.

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"I bet if Leo's character in Inception was a woman/female, I'd want a back story on how they are the best at their job. But all Leo has to do is say he is the best out there and I accept it and don't need a 5-10 minute recap showing how he became the best at his job."

"Same with Rey in The Force Awakens. I wouldn't be sitting there re-watching the movie trying to find explanations for stuff or ways to defend the character when others are calling her a Mary Sue. If Rey was a male character, I'd just easily accept stuff and not question it or analyze the movie. And so would a ton of other people."

The main difference between the 2 is not the sex.

It's spelled right there in your presentation: Leo it's the best AT HIS JOB. It means he is the best at doing things he uses to regularly do.

Rey is the best at doing things she never did.

Can you grasp the difference or is it too hard for you?

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She needed the help of 7 or 8 other people, one of which was her dead grandfather guiding her along the way, but sure. A Mary Sue.

"Guess it's some middle finger to screw the patriarchy shtick."

You're a headcase.

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I'm the first to call out Mary Sue writing but this aint it.

Her grandfather guided her on how to fix the proton pack, she even cites this giving him the credit in the movie.

Then she needed him to save her from literally beyond the grave at the end ... Not to mention the OG guys and friends + family too. The podcast kid is even the one to think of how to get the pack put of lockup.

That's a VAST difference from rey who could literally do everything.

Rey would have found and fixed all the problems herself, done ALL the driving, kicked everyone's ass and saved the day on her own - oh and all the other Ghostbusters would have died.

Then at the end she would have called herself "Rey Ghostbuster" and kept the car, house, original station and everything.

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I agree. There's no comparison here. Not only would Rey have fixed everything, done everything, saved everything, but also everyone else would have been in her way and a hinderance to hold her back.

She also wouldn't have needed the help at the end. She would have defeated Gozer in the final showdown as she hears voiceover of the Ghostbusters past.

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Her grandfather guided her to the proton pack, he didn't even say anything else besides shining a light on it. Then she immediately knows what's wrong with it and what piece needed replacing before the grandfather opened a cabinet to the missing part piece.

My memory is fuzzy at the end of the show but didn't he (Egon) just put a hand on her shoulder or was he using his imaginary proton gun as well?

Of course it's a vast difference from Rey hence why I gave the name a twist and not just outright called it Mary.

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Well there was a cut on fixing the pack, plus she acknowledged that he invented it because he is a genius and she says that he helped her later on to the others.

I recall his hand helping her hold the proton gun steady because she wasn't strong enough.

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I admit, I liked this and whether we like it or not the original actors are too old to have been leading roles in it. If they are able to make a sequel in the next few years maybe they'll be able to give some of the remaining Ghostbusters a supporting role in it too with a bit more screentime for them. I do understand your complaints. Bill Murray though is most to blame for there not being a 3rd movie for so long. His break up with Harold Ramis was one of the main reasons a Ghostbusters 3 never happened and he was never satisfied with any script that Dan Aykroyd produced.

I admit I do prefer the Video Game Sequel which I admit was way better and as you pointed out did Shandor more justice. I guess though to be fair, the original movie didn't really hint at Shandor being a huge thing. Just that he was responsible for the events happening in the film. So people who didn't play that video game don't really care about him unfortunately. I did like this and thought it was a good tribute to Harold and the other Ghostbusters.

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They looked pretty vibrant and energetic to me. I still think they have it in them just by the lines given to them alone. I was thinking they could focus around on how old they're getting, reminisce about the old times, compliment the youthful kids, and pass on the mantle sort of speak. Kids would've been in supportive roles for the first half of the movie before becoming leads. If they plan on making another with them, may be too late by then.

Are you kidding? Original talked about him in depth:
https://youtu.be/a4TPo8eYEs0

If he was responsible for the events that would be considered a huge thing, like a guy pulling the strings from the shadows.

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I know the scene well and have seen it several times. But it was just that. Them talking about him making that coult and intentionally making Dana's building to bring back Gozer. We don't even see his picture or anything. I don't mind that the video game expanded on him but most people even those who are fans of the movies weren't exactly expecting him to be a big bad in the movie. Plus maybe it was the film makers not wanting to do the same story as the game. They obviously didn't take his character seriously with the fact they got the funny comedic actor J.K Simmons to play him.

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If you the original cast as the leads you would've had some New Tricks or Space Cowboys thing going on.

So that was the problem right Ramis is no longer around, the other guys are too, a new movie needed young blood and the filmmakers knew it.

The franchise is stuck between a rock and a hard place, fans want the original cast but that was never going to work.

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To continue with the original cast in the leading roles organically you needed a sequel sometime in the 90's, otherwise a new movie wouldn't be a straight sequel.

Watching Afterlife felt like they had to have been more than two films with the original cast in the first place to create a massive franchise.

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