Ghostbusters Afterlife (2021)

Well, despite many fears that this would be as big a waste of time as the female remake, this started off very well. One part two fingers to the haters and one part fawning, humble bowing and scraping to the masses, this is still greater than the sum of its parts. The children, who I imagined would be immensely annoying and far too Stranger Things than I would have the patience for, ended up not being at all tiresome, which was a relief.

Before you go any further, I am still a fan of the original and have seen it often. Smiles aplenty then for the nods to the original film pretty much all the way through this and had an ending that had me reaching for the nostalgia hankies.

Not as good as either the first or second outing originating in the mid-eighties, but there is enough here to make even the hardened Ghostbuster fan thankful for nonetheless. Whether you think a film made in the wake of woke was warranted or not, this one, starring children for heaven's sake, should answer that question for you.

I wouldn't go so far as to say it was great, if only for the reason that my glasses are rose- tinted and damn the present for trying to ruin my perfectly happy busting past. Curmudgeonly harrumphing my way through this did no good really, I was smiling too often for my grumpiness to get a grip.

This was immeasurably better than I imagined it would be, but even saying this, it's still not a patch on the brilliance my memory still clings to.