Nostalgia It is a very powerful weapon with which to try to seduce the public, but many times it encounters an insurmountable obstacle: The fact that a film with the one we loved many years ago is not so much sought after, but rather that it makes us feel the same as then . Rare are those who succeed, many fail and others stay a bit in no man’s land, which is what happens with ‘Ghostbusters: Beyond’.
Another thing that throws a lot in Hollywood are the franchises, hence it barely had to spend five years for the universe of ‘Ghostbusters’ to return to the big screen after the incomprehensible rejection suffered at the time by ‘Ghostbusters’. In fact, the film directed by Jason reitman completely ignore the female reboot to offer a nostalgic pastime more concerned with not causing rejection than offering something really uplifting.
A half done mix
Of course, ‘Ghostbusters: Beyond’ it is not limited to playing the trick of the recuelas, that is to say, it is not a continuation that in the end is the same film that devastated at the time. In fact, it seems that perhaps there was a certain fear when doing something like this, so a narrative shaker has been used to recover many elements of the saga, with its importance growing gradually until it explodes in its third act .
Before, everything was posed more as if it were one of the youthful adventures of Amblin that gave us so many joys in the 80s, perhaps with the idea of also being able to see in her a kind of very distant cousin of ‘Stranger Things’. Zero surprises if the signing of Finn wolfhard, known for playing Mike on the Netflix series, is also motivated by that.
Nevertheless, The approach that ‘Ghostbusters: Beyond’ proposes is a bit indecisive when it comes to betting on a clear idea and taking it to its ultimate consequences. Instead it seems to bet more on being a design gimmick trying to appeal to old fans and seek out a new generation of followers at the same time but without offering anything particularly distinctive.
In other words, ‘Ghostbusters: Beyond’ is something innocuous. It is seen with a certain pleasure, offering different stimuli to the viewer, from the celebration of the different one, the maturing story, the unimaginable adventure, the constant nods to the franchise or the usual presence of comedy.
No more
The point is, none of them have the spark to make the movie special about something. It is true that the first installment was little less than a miracle that they were lucky enough to find on the fly, but before there was a clear intention to enjoy and that it was what it had to be. Here everything tends to neatness, trying to find a difficult balance between what is new and what has to be there.
I am aware that my words may sound more negative than they really are, as ‘Ghostbusters: Beyond’ serves as a nostalgic pastime. It may have too much pre-made product, but you can have a nice time looking at it and only in its final stretch is the nostalgic load exceeded.
The question is to what extent a thing that is correct but with little personality is what one would want from a movie like ‘Ghostbusters: Beyond’. It is true that this way it is much more difficult to generate the waves of hatred that ‘Ghostbusters’ aroused, and that technically here there is also a female protagonism –Mckenna grace it fulfills but it does not shine especially, but I am not sure that it is not enough to conquer the public.
All that applies to ‘Ghostbusters: Beyond’ at all levels, from the visual section, where it is resultona but nothing dazzling, even the interpretive, where the film demands little from its protagonists, making it clear that they are capable of more. There is the question that remains to what extent this is something sought or the consequence of wanting to play it safe.
In short
There is nothing that stands out especially for better or for worse in ‘Ghostbusters: Beyond’, but at least it is appreciated that it is not simply more of the same within the saga. The problem is that it is in general lines and the feeling that remains when you finish seeing it is of having spent time with a proposal so inoffensive that you simply want to turn the page.