In the Mouth of Madness (1994) - Carpenter in a Lovecraftian house of mirrors

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A fantastic tagline ('Lived any good books lately?') and a well-made, chilling composited effect image of horrific elements springing from a book's pages make up this poster for John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness

 

Our protagonist is an insurance company investigator, who gets locked up in a padded cell, seemingly insane. What made him so? He was on a mission to locate the world's best-selling horror author, but said author's disturbing fiction led to a town that doesn't exist ...

 

In the Mouth of Madness is written by Michael De Luca (Dark Justice (1991-93)) and directed by New-Yorker master filmmaker John Carpenter (Dark Star (1974)), whose 13th feature it is. 

Winding, dark and strange, In the Mouth of Madness has good monster effects but also becomes involuntarily funny along the way. Julie Carmen (Killer Snake (2004, short)) is really bad as the character Linda Styles, and Sam Neill (Rams (2020)) fails to carry this post-modernist-enthused deconstructionist invention.

 

Related posts:

 

John Carpenter: Cigarette Burns (2005, TV movie) - Carpenter burns out in weird, tiresome TV movie

Dario Argento: An Eye For Horror (2000, TV documentary) - Great bio-doc of master filmmaker Dario Argento (interview subject)

Escape from L.A./John Carpenter's Escape from L.A./Escape from Los Angeles (1996) or, Snake Plissken in Crazy-World! 
Christine (1983) or, Bad Plymouth!

Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982) - Evil masks ravage in Wallace's under-appreciated horror (uncredited writing)

Top 10: Best future-set movies
Escape from New York (1981) - Carpenter introduces Kurt Russell as action star in dystopic dream

Top 10: Best first-of-franchise movies 

Halloween (1978) - Carpenter's haunting slasher classic 
Top 10: The best action movies and TV-series reviewed by Film Excess to date
Assault on Precinct 13 (1976) - Solid action guerilla film-making 

 

 

Watch a trailer for the movie here

 

Cost: 8 mil. $

Box office: In excess of 8.9 mil. $ (North America alone)

= Uncertain but likely a big flop (projected return of 1.87 times its cost)

[In the Mouth of Madness premiered 10 August (Fantasy FilmFest, Germany) and runs 95 minutes. De Luca wrote the script in the late 1980s. Carpenter has himself stated that it was given a 7 mil. $ budget, but as it is listed as 8 in several places, it must have gone over budget by a million. Shooting took place from August - October 1993 in Ontario, including in Toronto. The film opened #4, behind holdover hit Legends of the Fall and fellow new releases Boys on the Side and Jerky Boys, to a 3.4 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it left the top 5 in its 2nd weekend and grossed 8.9 mil. $. The film's international gross numbers are regrettably not reported. If it had a subdued reception internationally, a 15 mil. $ final gross is likely, which would rank the film a big flop. Roger Ebert gave it a 2/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. Carpenter returned with Village of the Damned (1995). Neill returned in Country Life (1994). In the Mouth of Madness is fresh at 60 % with a 5.80/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of In the Mouth of Madness? 

Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008) - Very comics-nerdy Del Toro sequel

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Ron Perlman's titular hero brandishes a grotesquely oversized weapon on this poster for Guillermo del Toro's Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Hellboy is not the most discreet of superheros, but he is the best, now that fearful monsters are on the loose.

 

Hellboy II: The Golden Army is written and directed by great Mexican-born American filmmaker Guillermo del Toro (Cronos (1992)), with Mike Mignola contributing story elements and based on his Dark Horse Comics character. It is a sequel to Del Toro's Hellboy (2004).

The story here completely escapes me and seems really weak, but this is also said in light of the fact that I simply cannot engage myself in this universe's baroque 'characters'.

There's humor, production design and special effects in excess in just about all scenes of the film, and Del Toro's unique nerd's mind and enthusiasm is definitely present: His monsters are incredible to look at, and they are the main reason to watch the overlong Hellboy II: The Golden Army for my money.  

 

Related posts:

Hellboy character: Hellboy (2019) - Grisly reboot a mixed bag
Guillermo del Toro: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019) - Øvredal's ascent to big budget moviemaking gets by on weird horror sequences (co-writer)

The day after the day after ... the 2018 Oscars 

The Shape of Water (2017) - Toro's strange monster romance is mostly an amusing fantasy 
Pacific Rim (2013) or, The Monster Resistance
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) - Jackson's megalomania gives birth to the first third of an enormous fantasy whopper (co-writer) 
Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (2010) or, What Creeps in the Dark (co-writer) 
Julia's Eyes/Los Ojos de Julia (2010) - Decent Spanish horror with good craftsmanship, little else (co-producer) 

Pan's Labyrinth/El Laberinto del Fauno (2006) - Horrors of Franco era in Del Toro fantasy ride 

Hellboy (2004) - Del Toro's super-antihero is a tiring blast 
Blade II (2002) or, The Vampire Ass-Kicker 2 

Top 10: Best ghost horror movies 

2001 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 
Top 10: The best big flop movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
The Devil's Backbone/El Espinoza del Diablo (2001) - The excellent Gothic genre-mix that is Del Toro's best film so far 

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 82.5-85 mil. $ (different reports)

Box office: 168.3 mil. $

= Flop (returned 2.00 times its cost)

[Hellboy II: The Golden Army premiered 28 June (Los Angeles Film Festival) and runs 120 minutes. Shooting took place from June - November 2007 in England, including in London, Northern Ireland and in Hungary, including in Budapest. The film opened #1 to a 34.5 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent one more weekend in the top 5 (#5), grossing 75.9 mil. $ (45.1 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 13.9 mil. $ (8.3 %) and Russia with 8.5 mil. $ (5.1 %). The film was nominated for the Best Makeup Oscar, lost to The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Roger Ebert gave it a 3.5/4 star review, translating to 3 notches over this one. The film additionally grossed an estimated excess of 53.9 mil. $ on the North-American home video market. The film's flop killed the opportunity for a third despite the wishes of the filmmakers. The character was instead rebooted in Hellboy (2019), also a flop. Del Toro returned with Pacific Rim (2013). Ron Perlman (Nightmare Alley (2021)) returned in Outlander (2008). Hellboy II: The Golden Army is fresh at 86 % with a 7.20/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Hellboy II: The Golden Army? 

Hellboy (2019) - Grisly reboot a mixed bag

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Near-pornographic red poster for Neil Marshall's Hellboy with a youth shorthand tagline, presumably attempting to engage the young male demographic

Hellboy is tasked with stopping giants in England, - and the blood queen Nimue.

 

Hellboy is written by Andrew Cosby (Haunted (2002, TV-series)) and directed by Neil Marshall (Dog Soldiers (2002)), based on the Dark Horse Comics character. It reboots the character on film after Guillermo del Toro's two Hellboy films (2004; 2008).

A shift in style from Del Toro's colorful universe, Marshall delivers a darker, dirtier and more adult - or more accurately; less child-friendly - vision in a film that will appeal to a smaller audience of mainly nerdy young males.

David Harbour (Black Widow (2021)) is good but hard to recognize in the title role under the heavy makeup and prosthetics, and Milla Jovovich (Zoolander 2 (2016)) and others are well cast in a strong ensemble that sees Stephen Graham (Help (2021, TV movie)) as a pig monster! 

Hellboy is weighed down by a so-so plot and an overload of CGI effects with especial attention given to very grim beasts and deaths. It is a wild gamble that doesn't fully pay off.

 

Related posts:
 

Hellboy character: Hellboy (2004) - Del Toro's super-antihero is a tiring blast

Neil Marshall: 2005 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

The Descent (2005) - Marshall's intensely claustrophobic cave horror  

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 50 mil. $

Box office: 55 mil. $

=  Big flop (returned 1.1 times its cost)

[Hellboy premiered 9 April (Israel; New York) and runs 121 minutes. Despite Del Toro being interested in making a 3rd film, the studio took the project in another direction. 11 companies and support bodies were involved with the financing and production of the film. Shooting took place from September - December 2017 in Bulgaria and the UK. The film opened #3, behind holdover hit Shazam! and fellow new release Little, to a 12 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it left the top 5 in its 2nd weekend and grossed 21.9 mil. $ (39.8 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were China with 10.4 mil. $ (18.9 %) and Russia with 3.8 mil. $ (6.9 %). Numerous stories of on-set conflicts, mostly between Marshall and the film's producers, has come to light, and Marshall later distanced himself from the film entirely, calling it "the worst professional experience of my light", the script "terrible" and further offered the eloquent insight, "You can't polish a turd." The film additionally made in excess of 11.9 mil. $ on the North-American home video market. Marshall returned with The Reckoning (2020). Harbour returned in 4 TV and short credits prior to his feature return in Extraction (2020, VoD). Hellboy is rotten at 17 % with a 3.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Hellboy? 

Meg 2: The Trench (2023) - More ridiculous fun in Wheatley's game monster adventure

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Reliable star Jason Statham escapes the primordial mega-shark on this eye-popping poster for Ben Wheatley's Meg 2: The Trench

 

Passionate ocean protector Jonas Taylor ventures deep beneath the surface with his associates, where they find a secret mining operation in the trench. Here megalodons and other primordial monsters live.

 

Meg 2: The Trench is written by Jon Hoeber, Erich Hoeber and Dean Georgaris (The Meg (2018), all), adapting The Trench (1999) by Steve Alten (Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror (1997)), and directed by great British filmmaker Ben Wheatley (Down Terrace (2009)). It is the sequel to The Meg (2018).

After a smashing dino-age opening that establishes the hilariously ridiculous tone of this action adventure effectively, the film spends a long time in the dark, way underwater trench, and down there it gets a bit long in the tooth, (pun intended, sorry!) It's mostly CGI down there, and sometimes hard to make out what is going on, but things brighten up in more ways than one after this section, which also outlines the film's human villains:

Sienna Guillory (Remember Me (2019)) is fun as the wealthy evil minx behind the costly operations, and Sergio Peris-Mencheta (Rambo: Last Blood (2019)) has got a blessed mug that recalls legendary villain actor Robert Davi: Similarly, Peris-Mencheta delights in the villainry, screaming and fighting to my unspoiled delight. The film also has Jing Wu (The Climbers/Pan deng zhe (2019)) in the big part as a very smiling, risk-taking general manager of the meg-holding facility, and Wu wins over audiences with a highly energetic and likable performance here. The fun continues with returning Cliff Curtis (Training Day (1999)) and Page Kennedy (Same Difference (2019)), game as can be. SPOILER All of them clown around without end as megalodons, a giant octopus and some vicious gator-like dinosaurs attack on Fun Island, a resort vacation spot so shallow and ridiculous that all can recoil in its violent unraveling. Part of the fun of Meg is observing the idiocy of modern man come undone by beastly nature, a savage revenge from the deep. In this film a shot of two obese tourists in a 'biking boat' with obscene drinks getting swallowed up by the monster shark is an especially spectacular highlight.

Jason Statham (Spy (2015)) is back in the no-nonsense lead, a likable guy without much varnish or nooks to him - but he sure is good against a meg! There are more colors and kinetic energy to this sequel, a film that beats the original in ridiculousness and simple-minded, gleeful fun. 

 
Related posts:

 
The Meg (2018) - Moments of cruel fun enliven Turteltaub's monster shark feast
Ben Wheatley: 2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

A Field in England (2013) or, Shit and Thistles 

Top 10: Best drama-thrillers reviewed by Film Excess to date 
Kill List (2011) - Wheatley's jaw-breaking, great genre-mixer 

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 129-139 mil. $ (different reports)

Box office: 256.9 mil. $ and counting 

= Too early to say

[Meg 2: The Trench premiered 9 June (Shanghai International Film Festival) and runs 116 minutes. Shooting took place in Los Angeles, California, Hong Kong and in Thailand. The film opened #2, behind Barbie, to a 30 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it has just spent its 2nd weekend at #4. The film is making as much in China at the moment, (it is officially a US/Chinese co-production.) The first film made impressive 530.4 mil. $, a target that the sequel likely won't reach. It has yet to open in South Korea (August 15) and Japan (August 25). The film should cross 350 mil. $ to be considered successful but is likely to get a sequel nonetheless. Wheatley is slated to return with Freak Shift (pre-production). Statham returns in Expend4bles (2023). Meg 2: The Trench is rotten at 28 % with a 4.50/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Meg 2: The Trench?

Hotel Transylvania (2012) - Latest comedian as super villain animation comedy

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Humorous character takes on classic horror villains fill up this cheerful poster for Genndy Tartakovsky's Hotel Transylvania

A human male gets into Count Dracula's Hotel Transylvania by accident, a hotel exclusively for super villains, where humans are feared, and the guy Johnny falls for Dracula's daughter Mavis.

 

Hotel Transylvania is written by Peter Baynham (Arthur Christmas (2011)) and Robert Smigel (Jack and Jill (2011)), with Todd Durham (Tales of the Third Dimension (1984)), Dan Hageman and Kevin Hageman (The Lego Movie (2014), both)) contributing story elements, and directed by debuting Genndy Tartakovsky (Dexter's Laboratory: Ego Trip, TV movie  (1999)).

Adam Sandler (Blended (2014)) here follows in the footsteps of his peer funny-men Steve Carell and Will Ferrell with an animated role as a super villain, although in a film that might score under the similar roles from his two colleagues, (the superior Despicable Me (2010) and sequels and Megamind (2010), the latter of which is arguably as good as Hotel Transylvania.)

The animation is good-looking, and some of the jokes and gags amuse, (many, - though they are kept tasteful, - are only meant for the film's adult audiences.) The story places weight on some nice values. It is colorful, silly fun and rumpus; light, musical escapism and feel-good fun, mostly based on Universal Pictures catalog of monsters, which have been rendered without their frightening sides. Sometimes the characters fly around in order to give the audiences something for their 3D bucks, - but one must look far for a story-related reason behind these sequences. Still Hotel Transylvania is fairly good entertainment, which is sure to excite especially children.

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 85-104 mil. $ (different reports)

Box office: 358.3 mil. $

= Big hit (returned 3.79 times its cost)

[Hotel Transylvania premiered 8 September (Toronto International Film Festival) and runs 91 minutes. Production took place in California. The film opened #1 to a 42.5 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 4 weekends in the Top 5 (#2-#4-#4-#3), grossing 148.3 mil. $ (41.4 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Brazil with 15.4 mil. $ (4.3 %) and Spain with 15.1 mil. $ (4.2 %). The film was nominated for a Golden Globe. The film spun 2 more theatrical releases and a 4th film as VoD. Tartakovsky returned with Goodnight Mr. Foot (2012, short) and theatrically with Hotel Transylvania 2 (2015). Sandler returned in Jessie (2013, TV-series) and theatrically in Grown Ups 2 (2013), prior to his Hotel Transylvania return, along with almost all of the other voice actor stars. Hotel Transylvania is rotten at 44 % with a 5.40/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Hotel Transylvania?

Overlord (2018) - Contemporary preferences jammed into tedious WWII horror action

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Paratroopers dropping from a plane mirror blood splatters on this otherwise starkly white poster for Julius Avery's Overlord

American paratroopers are dropped across a French countryside in a jumble of death and fire on the eve of D-Day (6th June 1944, WWII), and once safely on the ground they are tasked with blowing up a tower, - but a grim Nazi secret is awaiting them...

 

Overlord is written by Billy Ray (Volcano (1997)) and Mark L. Smith (Martyrs (2015)) and directed by Julius Avery (Son of a Gun (2014)).

It presents a graphic novel and video game reminiscent version of WWII with 'attitude'-prone soldiers, (anachronistically for the period their behavior curiously resemble 2010s age teenagers), who feel no visible consequences of any of the insane intimate experiences with death that they go through here.

Aside from these dubious character issues, the film is polished stylishly and bloody, with Nazi experiment monsters and a (politically correct for today) black hero. Overlord is a very basic, 'what-are-you-gonna-do-with-it' type of tiresome ultra-violence product.

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 38 mil. $

Box office: 41.6 mil. $

= Huge flop (returned 1.09 times its cost)

[Overlord premiered 22 September (Fantastic Fest, USA) and runs 110 minutes. Shooting took place around May 2017 in England. The film opened #3, behind fellow new release The Grinch and holdover hit Bohemian Rhapsody, to a 10.2 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it fell out of the top 5 in its 2nd weekend and grossed 21.7 mil. $ (52.2 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Russia with 2 mil. $ (4.8 %) and the UK with 1.6 mil. $ (3.8 %). Avery returned with Samaritan (2022). Jovan Adepo (Fences (2016)) returned in 6 TV and voice performances prior to his theatrical return in The Violent Heart (2020). Overlord is certified fresh at 82 % with a 6.70/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Overlord? 

Hercules and the Captive Women/Ercole alla conquista di Atlantide/Hercules and the Conquest of Atlantis/Hercules Conquers Atlantis (1961) - Reg Park debuts in rotten peplum pic

[ZERO]

 

Almost pornographic sexploitation-style poster for Vittorio Cottafavi's Hercules and the Captive Women

A woman is saved from some 'monsters', and Hercules almost goes to war in the city Atlantis, (which hasn't sunk yet.)

 

Hercules and the Captive Women is written by Sandro Continenza (The Inglorious Bastards/Quel Maledetto treno Blindato (1978)), Duccio Tessari (Marco Polo (1962)), Nicolò Ferrari (Laura Nuda (1961)) and co-writer/director Vittorio Cottafavi (I Nostri Sogni (1943)).

What exactly this film is about may be difficult to say. It is bad to the point of being demented, and especially the infernally noisy 'score' (by Gino Marinuzzi Jr. (Appointment for Murder/Amo un Assassino (1951)) and Armando Trovajoli (Gangsters (1992))) rests as a curse over Hercules and the Captive Women. 

The work done here is dreadful behind the camera, script, acting and special effects. There's also an enormous waste of resources (sets, costumes etc.) in this utter trash.

 

Related posts:

 

Other Hercules movies: Hercules (2014) - Ratner and Johnson's forgettable noisemaker 

Hercules in New York (1970) - Arnie's big, bulging debut 

Hercules Unchained/Ercole e la Regina di Lidia (1959) - Spaghetti decadence never fades

In this short 1951 video clip, Reg Park is named Mr. Universe

 

Cost: Unknown

Box office: Unknown

= Uncertain

[Hercules and the Captive Women was released 19 August (Italy) and runs 101 minutes. Shooting took place in Rome, Italy. It was released re-edited, rescored, retitled and with a new title sequence in North America in 1963. Cottafavi returned with 13 TV movies prior to his theatrical return with 100 Horsemen (1964). Reg Park (Hercules the Avenger/La Sfida dei Giganti (1965)) returned in Hercules in the Haunted World/Ercole al Centro della Terra (1961); Fay Spain (Gunslinger (1961, TV-series)) in 4 TV-series prior to her theatrical return in Black Gold (1962). 1.4k+ IMDb users have given Hercules and the Captive Women a 4.1/10 average rating.]

What do you think of Hercules and the Captive Women?

Hellboy (2004) - Del Toro's super-antihero is a tiring blast

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Several eye-catching characters stand out on this throw-back painted style poster for Guillermo del Toro's Hellboy

Though he is a demon from hell, Hellboy grows up to become a protector of good in the world, and an enemy of monsters and evil.

 

Hellboy is written by great Mexican filmmaker, co-writer/director Guillermo del Toro (Cronos (1993)), with Peter Briggs (Thunderbirds Are Go (2015, TV-series)) contributing story elements, adapting comic series Hellboy: Seed of Destruction (1994) by Mike Mignola (Joe Golem: Occult Detective 2015-18)).

It is very hard to give a real summary of the story of the movie, which is certainly occult, colorful, edited with rapidity - and forgotten again with rapidity. There is nothing sensational to Hellboy; everything here has been seen before, and notably better also.

Though the title character is marketed as an 'evil' hero, he is really naturally not the least bit evil. His bizarre look is another barrier for me against which the atypical movie finds itself on the wrong side of. Sweet Selma Blair (In Their Skin (2012)) seems miscast as a super-woman here. There are slimy monsters and hyper-stylized images in almost every scene. Hellboy is a tiring companion. 

 

Related posts:

Guillermo del Toro: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019) - Øvredal's ascent to big budget moviemaking gets by on weird horror sequences (co-writer)

The day after the day after ... the 2018 Oscars 

The Shape of Water (2017) - Toro's strange monster romance is mostly an amusing fantasy 
Pacific Rim (2013) or, The Monster Resistance
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) - Jackson's megalomania gives birth to the first third of an enormous fantasy whopper (co-writer) 
Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (2010) or, What Creeps in the Dark (co-writer) 
Julia's Eyes/Los Ojos de Julia (2010) - Decent Spanish horror with good craftsmanship, little else (co-producer)
Blade II (2002) or, The Vampire Ass-Kicker 2 

2001 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 
Top 10: The best big flop movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
The Devil's Backbone/El Espinoza del Diablo (2001) - The excellent Gothic genre-mix that is Del Toro's best film so far 

 

 

Watch a short trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 66 mil. $

Box office: 99.3 mil. $

= Big flop (returned 1.50 times its cost)

[Hellboy premiered 30 March (Los Angeles) and runs 122 minutes. Del Toro was inspired by the classic effects work of Ray Harryhausen for the film, but Harryhausen refused to participate with the making of Hellboy, thinking modern films too violent. Shooting took 130 days from March - August 2003 in the Czech Republic, including in Prague. The film opened #1 to a 23.1 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 3 weekends in the top 5 (#2-#2-#4), grossing 59.6 % of the total gross (60 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 5.6 mil. $ (5.6 %) and Spain with 4.7 mil. $ (4.7 %). The video release of the film went #1, selling more than 500k units in its first week. Del Toro returned with Pan's Labyrinth (2006). Ron Perlman (Run with the Hunted (2019)) returned in Quiet Kill (2004). Hellboy is certified fresh at 81 % with a 6.80/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Hellboy? 

Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021) - Bust out some popcorn

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A strangely menacing sky catches the eye above a new batch of 'busters on this poster for Jason Reitman's Ghostbusters: Afterlife

The Spenglers, financially exhausted single-mom Callie and her teenage offspring Phoebe and Trevor, travel to the decrepit dirt farm that her late father has left for them, - and a hidden legacy, - of ghostbusting!

Ghostbusters: Afterlife is written by Gil Kenan (Monster House (2006)) and great Quebecois filmmaker, co-writer/director by Jason Reitman (Thank You for Smoking (2005)). It is produced by his father Ivan Reitman, the producer/director of the original Ghostbusters films, Ghostbusters (1984) and Ghostbusters II (1989). The film ignores the events of Paul Feig's female reboot Ghostbusters (2016), a much-trolled flop.

Afterlife makes it its mission to bring a cinema package that is as close as possible to a ride back in time to the era of the original films' success, the 1980s, as can be imagined, both in tone, sounds, colors, designs, pace, plot elements and Rob Simonsen's (Burnt (2015)) Danny Elfmanesque score. Plot-wise it's a Goonies (1985) spin on the 'busters. It builds up for a long time and tries to establish wonder and interest in science.

Paul Rudd (The Fundamentals of Caring (2016)) and Carrie Coon (Strange Weather (2016)) are a great fit for the adult leads, but it is Mckenna Grace (Fuller House (2016-20)) as Phoebe, a girl with a comedic killer delivery and possibly a great future ahead of her, and Logan Kim as her friend and comedic sidekick Podcast (his name another throwback reference to Short Round of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) I feel sure), who steal the movie. Their fun is the best part of Afterlife, which has good eye candy VFX but no tangible reasoning behind the invasion of ghosts and ghouls except for the film being, of course, a Ghostbusters franchise entry. 

The original 'busters are brought back, which wasn't strictly speaking necessary in my humble opinion, but Reitman and Co. (plus, don't forget, the studio) have elected to push the respectfulness and nostalgia that Feig's movie lacked in 2016, and it is okay. The problem with trying to evoke real wonder and characters with dramatic tangents (poverty, fitting in in a new environment and coming-of-age) is here that every line and situation is infused with an irony so thick that the former ambitions are tripped against ever hitting anything real. But there are also gems among the ironic cleverness, as Coon's motherly advice to her 12 year-old daughter towards success in the new school: "Just don't be yourself."

It's all a joke and a fantasy with Ghostbusters: Afterlife, and overlong and nonsensical as it is, it is still a good fun time at the pictures.

 

Related posts:

 

Ghostbusters franchise: Ghostbusters (2016) - Feig's reboot is the summer's light-heartedly funny, slimy major release 

Ghostbusters II (1989) - Reitman's unjustifiably maligned sequel

Ghostbusters (1984) - Reitman and Co. conjure up the gleeful pomp and circumstance of the 1980s 

Jason Reitman: 2018 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2018 in films - according to Film Excess 

Tully (2018) - Theron delivers in Reitman/Cody's candid motherhood dramedy  

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 75 mil. $

Box office: 60 mil. $ and counting

= Too early to say

[Ghostbusters: Afterlife premiered 8 October (New York) and runs 125 minutes. Development of the third Ghostbusters was ongoing from the early 1990s into the 2000s and onwards, especially restrained by Bill Murray's unwillingness to participate, and from 2014 also from Harold Ramis' death, another of the four original busters. Shooting took place from July - October 2019 in New York and Alberta, Canada. The release was pushed back almost 1½ years due to the China Virus pandemic. The film opened #1 to a 44 mil. $ first weekend in North America, and is in good shape to become a theatrical success within the coming months. It still has 14 markets slated to open in November, December and January, including France, South Korea, Russia, Spain and Australia. Reitman does not have his next directing gig announced yet. Coon returns in Boston Strangler (pre-production); Rudd in The Shrink Next Door (2021, TV-series) and theatrically possibly not before Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023). Ghostbusters: Afterlife is fresh at 62 % with a 6.00/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Ghostbusters: Afterlife?