I disagree, Ghostbusters: Answer the Call received way more hate than it deserved. I really enjoyed it and I have rewatched it a bunch of times, more than I’ve rewatched Ghostbusters 2. Holtzman is my favorite character and I love the goofy dance she does with Abby. And I love Chris Hemsworth’s character, he does big dumb handsome guy really well.
It was way better than the last 2. I watched Afterlife once and I have no interest in watching Frozen Throne at all.
My only issue with that movie was the timing of a few jokes (they made them longer than they should so they stopped being fun) and that the trailer spoiled half of the jokes. The movie itself is cool.
The newest ones? their only redeeming quality for me is Egon’s granddaughter. The kid is really good. Everything else is just the dumbest nostalgia bait ever (even having the mom’s boyfriend a literal stand in for the kind of fan the movies pander to).
I can see where some of the jokes drag on, but I’m personally ok with that. I’ve rewatched it a bunch of times when I use the elliptical or stationary bike at the gym. I feel like the extra laughs give my abs a workout 🤷♀️ lol. I laugh my ass off at “The power of Patty compels you!!” and “Is it more or less disgusting if I tell you it came out the front?” every single time. I adore Holtzman so much.
For me, the new ones don’t have a redeeming quality, that’s not the kid actors faults though. Afterlife came out when we still weren’t going to theaters because of COVID. I was very excited for it and I bought it at full price the day it came out on iTunes. I watched it that night and the first thing I remember saying after it was over was “what the fuck was that shit?” All that nostalgia baiting cash grabbing was gross. And the CGI Egon at the end made me feel sick to my stomach, it felt disrespectful to Harold Ramis. I can’t even bring myself to be interested in Frozen Empire.
I often see people complain that a franchise “forgot” what they are supposed to be about and IMO, that is exactly what happened with ATC and FE. They completely forgot that GB is a raunchy horror comedy and made a family friendly coming of age “scary” movie. It’s an entirely different genre.