Despite the advice of the original, Ghostbusters: Afterlife gets caught crossing revenue streams, landing up with a hapless highlight reel designed to sell more merch.

Thirty-two years on from Ghostbusters II, efforts have once again been made to revive the franchise after the 2016’s all-female reboot fell flat.

Say what you will about Ghostbusters: Answer the Call (2016), at least it took some – admittedly uneducated – risks.

Afterlife, helmed by Jason Reitman, son of Ivan who directed the original 2 films, spreads itself paper-thin trying to appeal to a wide range of potential action figure purchasers (ahem… viewers).

Spoilers to follow

Afterlife follows Callie Spengler (Carrie Coon) and kids Trevor (Finn Wolfhard) and Phoebe (Mckenna Grace), who move out to a farm after being evicted from their city home.

The farm was left to them by Callie’s estranged father, Egon (Harold Ramis), who was one of the 4 original Ghostbusters.

The tenuous link is one of many designed as weaponised sentimentality in a continuous effort to appeal to hardcore Ghostbusters fans, and presumably their grandchildren.

Trevor and Phoebe may be kids from the city, but they are both pretty handy, exhibiting perfect skillsets to move the film’s premise along.

In a barn on the farm, Trevor finds the original ectomobile and gets to work fixing it, while Phoebe discovers an old PKE (psycho-kinetic energy) meter under the floorboards.

Naturally, these discoveries set the kids on a path to honour their grandfather and become Gen X’s first ghost busting duo.

A series of facile capers, with cute supernatural beings ideal for this year’s Christmas present list, move the film towards its climax.

Along the way, Callie also finds love with Phoebe’s teacher Gary Grooberson, played by an always charming Paul Rudd.

Together, the unlikely ghost-hunting team face off against Gozer the Gozerian, an interdimensional being who was trapped in the small town’s mine.

The climactic fight calls in the cavalry, bringing back Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson, who reprise their roles as the original Ghostbusters – Ramis passed away in 2014.

The film pitches this reunion as a high point, bringing generations and once broken teams back together.

But ultimately, it is just more fan service, leaving viewers feeling sentimental as they order the newest range of official ghost-busting equipment.

It is this cynical protracted marketing stunt which really irks the viewer, more than any plot shortfalls that the film has.

Casual and hardcore fans are both catered for, with several hundred references included in Afterlife.

Ultimately neither are left feeling satisfied however, as the film bumbles along in an attempt to set up the next cinematic universe.

The performances are good from the well-assembled cast and your children might laugh at the colourful visuals, but the rest of the film is a hollow shell.

Make no mistake, in the eyes of the studio and filmmakers, the film is but a vehicle for merchandising opportunities.

PG 13 – Supernatural action and some suggestive references.
1/5.