RichardLess wrote: ↑December 16th, 2022, 10:11 am
Personally, a theory I have is that some of the drama of the movie is going to come about from the Junior Ghostbusters feeling pushed aside and unwanted when Winston gets a new proper team going. It could be like the Peck V Venkman dynamic except it’s now Ghostbusters V Ghostbusters Junior until they all come together at the end. Or something.
I’ve never liked the idea of Junior or teenage Ghostbusters. What I like about Ghostbusters is the idea that it’s a 24/7 job like firefighters/plumbers. Day or night. Being a Ghostbusters is like being Spider-Man or an Avenger. Yeah Spider-Man is a teenager but he’s also not charging for his services. If the idea going forward is these kids are the new GBs I think that’s a serious mistake. I think they should be characters in the film and be involved in the plot but they shouldn’t be going out on calls.
Think about it this way. A great moment from the first film is the “See You on the other side Ray” it’s a rare sweet moment of Venkman recognizing the seriousness of the situation and accepting the stakes. They are most likely going to die here. That scene with kid Ghostbusters suddenly becomes a whole other thing. They are children. Sacrificing their lives. The drama becomes too big, too serious. But you need those moments. That’s why adult Ghostbusters works and GB Jr doesn’t. It’s fine for a off shoot movie like Afterlife. When if it becomes a business again? No. Please. It would be a huge mistake.
I’ve also never wanted the idea of multiple GB franchises either. I know that’s a common want for some fans but I feel like as soon as you open that box and make Ghostbusters a common thing around the world, all of a sudden they become less special as heroes. Ghostbusters works, imo, because those 4 guys are the only guys with proton packs in the world. No one else anywhere could solve the problem. Introducing franchises and corporate Ghostbusters all over the world/country it makes things too big. You’d lose something. It’d be like if every country or city had an Avengers team or if every city had a Batman. Suddenly what makes Batman so special becomes less so.
Just one man’s opinion anyways,
I agree with literally every point you made in this post.
I have to be careful because over the years I’ve learned that this franchise means (vastly) different things to different people, and we have to be careful not to devalue something others value in it. I have a huge soft spot for GBTVG Realistic version (canonicity aside) and Ryan French because it was the final (long) chapter where all the original guys were in a direct Ghostbusters sequel.
It may be that people have reverence for what introduced them to the franchise. Some people love GB2 immensely because it’s the first thing they saw. Or how RGB introduced them to it. All very valid points.
From where I’m standing it was GB1. As a young child seeing these official looking guys with official looking equipment do battle with the supernatural was influential. I wanted to learn more about that world. I learned to appreciate the comedy much later. I never understood why they had different colored uniforms in RGB, and felt let down when GB2 appeared as a less serious movie. But that’s my own personal opinion. Your point that GB should always be Venkman, Stantz, Spengler and Zeddemore and definitely for adults rings very true. Those names are eternal. In this world or the next.
Afterlife walked a thin line (in my view) of having a young child firing a proton pack, capturing ghosts and standing up to Gozer (with Egon’s help) but managed it, simply because of the emotional connection. But that it was on the egde for me. It’s a tough sell for Sony. Do they make this a kid’s franchise? How do they not alienate kids? How do they make it a cool adult franchise? If these new adult hires rumors are true then Sony sees this too.
I think they have to go back to what made GB1 great. Adults acting (somewhat) like kids. Using beserk equipment in absurd, comical situations with a serious undertone. That would leverage both. Adults would feel like kids again and kids would have an example of the kind of adults they would want to become with all their youthful curiosity and mischief without any of the bore of adult life.
Never have children as ghostbusters, that devalues the whole principle.
“It’s so simple a child could do it” devalues the premise.