The trailer for Ghostbusters: Afterlife has finally dropped, and prepare for a shock:
some fans on the internet aren't happy.
Apparently, the spot's fairly straight-faced, serious tone and mostly youthful cast which
includes Stranger Things star Finn Wolfhard has a vocal minority of viewers convinced
that the new flick will be nothing more than a lowly rip-off of the hit Netflix series.
A handful of said fans took to Twitter to voice their displeasure.
While it's true that the spot is pretty restrained, foregoing goofy humor in favor of some table-setting
for the flick's story, one could be forgiven for thinking that the absolutely insane number
of callbacks to the original, classic Ghostbusters movies contained therein would have been enough
to make any fan grin like Slimer with a mouthful of hot dogs.
One would need to have forgotten the nature of the internet, however, to think that's
true; there will always be a certain subset of fans who won't be happy with any interpretation
of any beloved property no matter what, and the duly elected representatives of this subset
were on Twitter in full force this week.
Most of their missives were short and to the point.
One Twitter user stated bluntly:
"The new Ghostbusters movie is gonna be a Stranger Things ripoff."
Another peeved user, on the other hand, snarked:
"Just watched the new Stranger Things season trailer, and it's called Ghostbusters for
some reason."
Meanwhile, another irked tweeter complained, quote, "Why does the new Ghostbusters look
like a ripoff of Stranger Things?
When they had that shot of the 2 kids walking down the road I laughed out loud."
The same user later tweeted, quote, "Maybe we shouldn't be making any more Ghostbusters
movies, ever."
Geeze - who are these folks?
"Some are people who just want attention.
Others are just nutballs who come in off the street."
We kid, we kid…
Anyway, while some Twitter users were obviously displeased, others advanced the same opinion
- but weren't quite so harsh.
This person wrote:
"Stranger Things + Ghostbusters is probably a smart play but the trailer def didn't feel
like Ghostbusters."
Meanwhile, this guy actually seemed kind of pumped, writing:
"Totally thought this was going to be a 'fan film' when I clicked on it.
I am IN for Stranger Things – Ghostbuster edition."
It's worth noting that, while Stranger Things might have done it best in recent years, the
Netflix phenomenon did not invent the plot hook of children and/or teenagers facing off
with supernatural danger; one could even make the case that Stephen King's novel It, which
heavily inspired Stranger Things, did that.
It's also worth noting that anything be it a film or a show featuring Finn Wolfhard thrust
into a spooky, supernatural situation is going to feel like Stranger Things, if only because
it was the retro sci-fi/horror series that rocketed him into the public eye.
On another note, all of those incredibly fan-service-y small details in the Ghostbusters: Afterlife
trailer can be seen as a firm declaration of intent on the part of director Jason Reitman
and co-writer Gil Kenan: they intend to honor the original story and refer early and often
to its characters and events, but this is their film, and they're going to tell their
own story.
Personally, we find that story which appears to involve the family of the deceased Egon
Spengler uncovering a terrible secret in the small town in which dear old grandpa owned
an old farmhouse to be a stroke of genius, and if we're being honest, we also think it's
a no-brainer to lean on a young cast.
As pointed out by Paul Rudd's character in the spot …
"There hasn't been a ghost sighting in 30 years."
… and the original Ghostbusters, of course, haven't been active during that entire period.
Treating the activities of that crew as half-forgotten legend, which our young heroes must be filled
in on before they can truly appreciate what they're up against, is an inspired plot device
one that sounds a heck of a lot more interesting than simply throwing the original cast of
Ghostbusters, all in their 70s at this point, back into their costumes for one more nostalgic,
beat-for-beat go-round.
Don't get us wrong it's awesome that the original cast is involved, and we hope their involvement
will be significant, and that they won't simply be relegated to glorified cameos.
But come on, guys: did we really want Sony to show us everything in the first trailer
for the movie?
We're actually glad the studio didn't spill all of their narrative beans in this spot,
and frankly, we hope they show similar restraint when they inevitably give us the second and
third trailers that will likely precede the movie's release.
You can bet that we'll be first in line when Ghostbusters: Afterlife drops on July 10,
2020, and also that we'll be here to offer our extra-special blend of expert analysis.
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