Jay G.

The first trailer had a shot of an abandoned mine with a sign saying "Shandor Mining Company". Ivo Shandor was the architect of the building in the original film. In this new trailer there's a shot of the kids going down the vertical mine shaft and ending up in some sort of temple-like room.

I think Ivo Shandor, or maybe a relative, built another temple to bring forth Gozer and the apocalypse, but this time into a mountain instead of as a building. Egon somehow tracked it down (investigated Shandor's life?), and moved out to where it was to contain it in some way. Now that Egon's gone, his containment methods are breaking down.

Decker

I do wonder about the protagonists though. If they aren't interesting and are just discovering what their grandfather had done - - is that enough of a plot to invest in? The first movie was all about the way the characters interacted with each other and it soared on their charisma. Here I am not at all sure. It looks like a less scary version of It.

Geofferson

Agreed. Good trailer. Hope the movie lives up to it.

milo bloom

Yeah, I don't like this trend of bashing fans for wanting new entries in a franchise to have at least a passing similarity to the past. It's one thing to evolve a story/world/character, but wholesale re-invention can go bad so easily.
I thought this looked great and a true love letter to both the original film and the fans.


Yeah, no doubt.

I was astonished at the number of people on twitter complaining that it either was too different from the 2016 flick or was too similar to Stranger Things.

GuessWho

Yes, the dogs are very, very obvious.... but this looks a lot like Gozer to me.

(I meant Gozer in my original post, not Zuul. Fixed it.)
= ?

Bluelitespecial

I guess Ray is still running “Ray’s Occult” at the end of the trailer.

Bluelitespecial

There is some really good commentary and breakdown of the trailer in this video with Jason Reitman.

Josh-da-man

I think they might be going this way, but I hope not. I'd rather they do something new instead of just revisiting Gozer, Zuul, and the Marshmallow Man. I'd rather they face some kind of new threat. Even Ghostbusters II felt like a big retread of the first movie, with the Statue of Liberty replacing the Marshmallow Man.

This kind of feels like the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy in that regard, where some kinds find some old toys, and then go fight the same enemies that the previous generation did.

Nesbit

Not thrilled with 0 jokes being in a full Ghostbusters trailer. ngl RC ghost trap was pretty cool though...

Mike86

I think the trailer is looking good. I can agree that it would be nice to get some comedy bits, but so far I like the tone this seems to have.

Shannon Nutt

This is speculation by me, so I won't spoil it. I think the whole plot here (and the meaning of the subtitle "Afterlife") will have to do with the kids trying to help Egon pass over into the afterlife. There have been rumors about them using footage of Harold Ramis as a ghost going around for a while.

Mike86

I kinda like that. It would be a good plot to go with for the film and seems fitting. It also allows Egon to be a part of the film in a roundabout way beyond just his relatives.

dex14

Sony Surprises At CinemaCon With ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’ Screening
https://deadline.com/2021/08/ghostbu...mpression=true

Dan

Sounds, umm... exhausting.

dex14

GoldenJCJ

I remember expecting the same from Ready Player One. It turned out to be a clusterfuck of pointless images vomited on the screen. I trust that Afterlife will put a little more care into its Easter eggs.

However, it does make me want to revisit the first two to brush up on my Guostbusters lore. I suppose that’s the point of Reitman’s comments…wait a second, Ivan REITMAN, Jason REITMAN. Guys, I think I found our first Easter egg!!

Dan

RPO is exactly what I was thinking of
But yeah, I do trust that Reitman (or The Reitmans!) to have a little more... class.

milo bloom

RPO's easter eggs (and more recently the new Space Jam's) never felt organic, more like checking off a list.

What works better for me is the stuff that Star Trek: Lower Decks does - there's tons of easter eggs but they're generally more organic where the characters are acknowledging them as part of their history.

I'm really getting hopeful for this, and it's just making more disappointed with ATC - it could have easily been another fun entry into the franchise, but it had to blaze it's own path.

IBJoel

I'm consistently surprised people are excited for this. To me, the appeal of the original was never the concept, it was the cast's chemistry. Not to mention that the city of New York felt kind of like a character in its own right.

While these kids seem great in other stuff, I'm just scratching my head at the whole idea of 'Buster Babies in Po Dunk, Nowhere.

Jay G.

Well, the "cast's chemistry" argument has been thrown at other franchises before, like Star Trek, that have managed to expand far beyond the original cast. Of course, others haven't, see MIB International.

As for NYC, I love the portrayal in the first two films, but I was also a fan of the cartoon series as a kid, which explored outside NYC in several episodes. There's no reason the realm of the supernatural need be confined to NYC. Even the original movie makes mention of this when Venkman suggests "franchise rights." That actually might've been an interesting premise for a sequel: a struggling Ghostbusters franchisee in some other city/town.

It seems very "Stranger Things" or "Super 8" to me, just with the kids in modern day, although they're still interacting with 80s tech. It's a more Spielbergian feel to it from the trailers, and the movie may be tapping into the fantasy many viewers had as kids when first watching the film of being Ghostbusters themselves. So it's tapping into 80s nostalgia, but not necessary nostalgia for 80s wisecracking comedy.

clckworang

All of these positive impressions of the film and none of them mention any jokes? Clearly that means there aren't any and this isn't a comedy at all, which means this can't be a real Ghostbusters movie so boycott!

ddrknghtrtns

I figure any comedy and humor will be very similar to the MCU.

devilshalo

To wash the taste of ATC out of their mouths?

Notice how many of the 'reaction reviews' decidedly omit the name of that 2016 film or throw subtle shade at it saying that Afterlife is the sequel they were waiting for.

IBJoel

[QUOTE=Jay G.;13975066][QUOTE=IBJoel;13975021]I'm consistently surprised people are excited for this. To me, the appeal of the original was never the concept, it was the cast's chemistry. Not to mention that the city of New York felt kind of like a character in its own right.I guess different strokes for different folks. Personally, I don't like TOS Trek or the movies (they're fine, but don't touch the optimism and morality of TNG to me). I just don't get why the people who had such a problem with GB 2016 are hyped for this.

I thought Ghostbusters 2016 was a fine, if unnecessary one-off. No reason to re-watch, but I'd say the same of GB2.

Jay G.

A few possibilities:

• There were some people that just objected to even the concept of an all-female cast, let alone its execution. For them, this reboot may seem less "PC" driven, and thus less offensive.
• There were also people that didn't like the last film because it wasn't the original cast. They maybe got all their anger out on the last film, and are at least resigned to the fact we're never going to get another original-cast-as-leads film in the series again, so are more open to this film than the last one.
• There's also been a big shift in online fandom to interest and focus on the "lore" of a film franchise. GB 2016 was very much a reboot of the story, although it made nods to the previous films. This film, however, is fully steeped in the lore, directly tied to the first two films with literal decedents of the original characters.
• Related, the fact that the writer/director is Ivan Reitman's kid provides another direct link back to the first 2 films, so this feels like a "legacy" project, and people may have more optimism that the film is being done by someone who understands what made the first film so great.

But it's also important to keep in mind that initial internet buzz can quickly sour if the final product doesn't live up to expectations, and the online buzz doesn't necessarily translate to mainstream success.