Ghostbusters: Busting Sort of Makes Me Feel Good?

With the upcoming Ghostbusters: Getting Cold I Guess coming this summer, I've been thinking about my own history with the franchise. I didn't watch most of it, mainly skipping the cartoons, and did not like about half of what I saw. So with that being said and setting up a nice little list, here are the things I remember about the franchise that meant something to me at some time or another.

Ghostbusters (1984)

The one that started it all and the images that appear in my mind when you say the word "Ghostbusters." A stone cold classic in comedy and horror, the film masterfully mixes the two to create an entertaining and inventive film about a bunch of libertarian assholes who run a supernatural exterminator business. The fundamental flawed premise that "regulation is bad" also gives a pretty good look into the 1980s and how we got to a place where corporations are busting ghosts without any thought to environmental or global impacts. Hell, we even got the walking dead running on both sides for the presidency forty years after this movie's release. I love this flawed film from the chain smoking schlubby heroes to the BDSM sexual tones of the final act.

Real Ghostbusters (1986-1991)

I remember disliking this cartoon when it first came out. None of the characters sounded or looked like the movie, and Slimer was elevated to the position of Scooby-Doo (eating and talking bullshit while being afraid of horrors). But it had one thing that most cartoons did not at the time: existential dread and monsters that posed a genuine threat not only to those that bust them but to the world at large. Even the toys were terrifying transmogrifications of everyday items. The Lovecraftian cosmic horror on display extended not only into the afterlife but to the containment unit the busters used as a ghost jail, making them gods of science and hellish jailers.

Ghostbusters II (1989)

The first of the franchise I got to see in the theater. I was eight years old and have no memory of the actual experience. I remember talking to friends about it, though, and we all reached the consensus that maybe some movies are not as good as others? This was not the first time critical analysis had reached us (Jewel of the Nile was skipped if it played after Romance and the Stone), but all the slime and the baby stuff skipped right over our heads like a pond over rocks. The feel-good ending, while providing a great sing-a-long, fell away from the grimy original's pessimistic working class attitude. Looking back now, as a sequel it tried new things, but in general failed at furthering the story of the characters.

Ghostbusters: The Video Game (2009)

After skipping all the cartoon series and whatever other media I have little awareness of, I was brought back by the notion that this game would do several things: bring back the original cast, forward the story from the original, mix the comedic and horror elements, allow me to wield a proton pack, and wreck shit. The cast was there, the plot updated the story, and proton streams flowed like water. Was the game good? Eh, I have little memories of drunkenly stumbling my way after one buster or another to hear dialog and explore the weird hallways that filled most first person shooters in the late 2000s. I remember this being good and will not play it again to hold that memory.

Ghostbusters: Answer the Call (2016)

Look. Online discourse for this movie sucked, and it got way more hate than it deserved. That being said, I hate this movie. It had a great cast and crew, the bones of a solid story, and decades of special effects progression working for it. All of that turned into an indulgent mess as unfunny (or sometimes very funny but misplaced) scenes went on and on with the cast making themselves laugh without thinking about the story they were telling or the characters they were portraying. It's fine to reboot a series and make it your own, but a fairly grounded but silly premise was turned into a Thursday night improv training exercise. Not one of the characters felt like real people or had anything interesting to do, leaving behind the world weary cynical view of the original to create a Disney attraction level of neon ghosts and wacky hijinks. Everyone here can and should have created a better product (which they did a few years earlier with Bridesmaids). That being said, the final battle where they punch ghosts and lick their weapons and everything is very stupid yet fun to watch.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021)

I want every movie I see to succeed, especially in franchises I love. The trailers for this movie showed no New York City, no original busters, and everything covered in dust. Then it had little marshmallow men, and I hated that. After seeing the movie, I still hate the little marshmallow men, but this stupid movie made me cry. While not great, it does not try to be more than it is. It builds on the original mythology, brings back some horror by adding children, and brings back the weird sexiness by proving that Egon actually had sex (weird) and that the evil green dog things can still possess people and cause weird apocalypse bondage sex. That's not what made me cry, by the way. What did that was the heavy dose of nostalgia near the end, a reminder of things I loved and the near-familial connections that can form between artists and audiences. We mourn when creators are taken from us and rejoice at the memory of them being honored, even if they have to cart out his corpse in CGI on IMAX to do so. Also, please rename "Podcast."

And that is where we are, waiting until summer to see if things can continue without bringing the fee-fees or if Bill Murray will get the death he has wanted since Ghostbusters II (yeah, he died in 2016, but it wasn't Venkman so it doesn't count). The way he seems so chipper and engaged we might actually get to see that happen.