Ghostbusters Afterlife review roundup: Shameless nostalgia bait or a touching tribute?

Rotten Tomatoes’ critical consensus reads, “Ghostbusters: Afterlife crosses the streams between franchise revival and exercise in nostalgia — and this time around, the bustin’ mostly feels good.”

Jason Reitman, the son of Ivan Reitman who directed the original two, has helmed this one. Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace, and Paul Rudd join the franchise with this film, while Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver, and Annie Potts reprise their roles.

Here are some of the reviews:

Comicbookmovie.com’s Mark Cassidy wrote, “If you check your cynicism at the door, you might find yourself being swept along by the film [Reitman] clearly set out to deliver: a love letter to the ’80s classic, and a powerful tribute to lost friends.”

Washington Post’s Michael O’Sullivan came down hard on the movie. He wrote, “Shamelessly catering to fans of the original film, while giving them nothing new, its story and humor are also inexplicably calibrated for a much younger demographic than those old enough to have seen the first film when it came out.”

Bloody Disgusting’s Meagan Navarro said that the director “crafts a salute to the past, more successful as a touching tribute than an original path forward.”

ScreenCrush’s Matt Singer dismissed the film by saying, “The whole movie is basically the Leonardo DiCaprio pointing at the TV meme for 125 straight minutes.”

Slant Magazine’s Jake Cole wrote, “Though flattering through and through, the film film is ironically removed from the charms of the worshipped original.”

Ghostbusters Afterlife releases on November 19.