I'm Terrified Beyond The Capacity For Rational Thought

Welp, this happened this week. The teaser trailer for Ghostbusters: Afterlife (aka Ghostbusters 3) debuted.

After watching, I honestly don't know what to think about it.

Based on the trailer, it looks like it's the story of Egon Spengler's grandchildren, who discover his old Ghostbusting equipment in his abandoned home. They then begin fooling around with the tech, and hijinx ensue.

That's probably the last thing I expected from a Ghostbusters sequel. 

To be honest, I don't really know what I expected. I'm a HUGE fan of the original 1984 movie. I've saw it first run in the theater, have watched it at least a hundred times since and I never get tired of it.

It's a near-perfect comedy film. The script is on point, the actors are all at the top of their game and the humor's actually funny. It's the result of dozens of different variables all converging and lining up to form something truly amazing.

They literally captured lighting in a bottle— and it's impossible to ever do so again. As proof, you need look no further than the subpar Ghostbusters 2. That film tried to recreate the magic of the first one, with dismal results. And the less said about the execrable Ghostbusters 2016, the better.

That's why I think attempting any kind of sequel at this point is a bad idea. It's impossible to recapture the feel of the original. 

And the filmmakers are screwed no matter what they do. If they copy the original story too much, fans will complain it's just another retread. Stray too far from it though, and they'll cry that it doesn't feel like Ghostbusters.

There's literally no way to win. So why even try?

Professional asshole Bill Murray robbed us all of a proper Ghostbusters 3 by hemming and hawing over whether to appear in a sequel for three decades, to the point where it's now too late. I honestly wish they'd just forget about doing another film at this point. We have the original. Let's just enjoy that and be done with it.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife is co-written and directed by Jason Reitman, son Ivan Reitman, who famously directed the original. So the movie has a good pedigree. I'm not getting my hopes up though...