For the second time in recent years, Sony Studios is trying to revive one of their more beloved cinematic franchises, “Demon Mowers,” with a different but familiar sequel. The previous time was in 2016, when the remake movie came out “Mowers of the Devils” Who re-imagined the series with female characters. Whether they liked the film or not, it was clear to fans that there was not much connection between it and the original version and its purpose was to open a new series in the spirit of the classic comedy.
Now, director Jason Reitman (“Juno,” “Hanging in the Air”) has decided to take the reins and give us the “Demon Mowers: The Life After” (Ghostbusters: Afterlife) – A new film in the series that corresponds more directly with the original, directed by his father, Ivan Reitman. The new film is not an innovation but an official sequel, but it is still a product quite different from the style we are used to from the films of the Ghostbusters.
The Demon Mowers: The Life After – The Plot
After the death of her lone farmer father, heiress Kali (Carrie Conn, “The rest”) his dilapidated house in a small town which is stuck in the 50s. Kali moves there for the summer with her children Trevor (Finn Wolfhard, “Strange Things”) and Phoebe (Gives Grace“Who lives in Hill House”).
As the town begins to suffer from unexplained earthquakes, Phoebe with the natural talent for science begins to explore the matter together with her new friend Podcast (Logan Kim) And her teacher Gary (Paul Rudd, “Antman”). It quickly becomes clear that this is a resurgence of the winds that attacked New York in the 1980s, which were then defeated by the four members of the original Demon Mowers. Phoebe learns that her deceased grandfather is none other than Egon Spangler and now she must continue on his path and start a new generation of mowers.
The film is well constructed and seems to have been written entirely to satisfy the fans of the series who did not like the female version of 2016, but at the same time does not become just a flightless remake. We still get a new twist here, a main protagonist, and a team of mowers that is the farthest thing from the original imaginable – a bunch of kids of different ages. This is a fun movie that respects the original, but at the same time recognizes that it is not a movie that can be re-created in our time that is built on expensive blockbusters and full of action that must follow a very specific formula.
A safe and risk-free bet
From the first moment it is clear that “Life After” is a great studio film that draws more from the style of Marvel films and the obsession with the eighties of “strange things” (Stranger Things) than from the original “Ghostbusters”. The film even bothered to bring in Finn Wolfhardt, who has already built an entire career on nostalgia for the eighties with “Strange Things” and“It” (It). Still, this is a high-budget film that can not afford to take any unnecessary risk.
Therefore, the film is run according to the book, with an exact dose of action, comedy, nostalgia, scary moments, but not too many, and some cute creatures that can be sold as toys in McDonald’s children’s dose. The cast consists of lovable children who can not be immediately disliked regardless of the characters they play, and it all wraps up in a safe casting of Paul Rudd as the romantic and funny partner, just in the month he also won the title of “The Sexiest Man of 2021” by People magazine.
All of this makes the film feel like a winning formula grammatically constructed in Egon Spangler’s lab, and as such it certainly works, but does not bother to bring much more than expected. If there was an attempt here to build a new franchise that would go on to more films, the film did not invest enough in the characters we would like to see again. The new Demon Mowers will not be remembered in the same way as the original ones, and the film focused less and less on the narrative plot constructed as a tribute to the original film.
A family story
And here we come to the part where we talk about the middle ground. The stitched plot fits like a glove to what the audience wants to see from a new story in the world of demon mowers. More than 30 years have passed since “Demon Mowers 2” and fans are thirsty to know what happened to the team he loved.
Reitman wrote here with great love a complex and beautiful story about life after New York of the 1980s. The world has changed and with it the heroic stories of the quartet that saved the world. The death of the actor Harold Ramis Playing Egon opened up for Reitman the possibility of creating a film that is all about the father and his role – a golden opportunity for the person who directed the original film who was apparently asked for years to continue his father’s work and refused until he found the right story.
Watching definitely gives the feeling that this is a family movie. The young Reitman no doubt grew up all his life with his father’s classics hovering over his head, and his reference to the franchise is particularly sentimental. In making a film about an absent father it seems that Reitman tried not only to take a dedicated hand in the beloved series but also to solve some personal family problems and make the father proud.
Bottom line – what we thought of the demon mowers: the life after
“Demon Mowers: The Life After” came into the world from a studio that was probably quite startled by the lukewarm reactions to the remake of 2016. In the studio, they decided to recruit Reitman Jr. and create a film that could not experience the same criticism again. As such, it feels like it sucked a little too much into nostalgia and filled itself to the brim with countless mentions and tributes to the original film. And yet, choosing a young cast and launching a new generation of mowers informs us well that as much as Wrightman is connected and loves his father’s work – he has no intention of recreating it. He’s here to open a new page in his own style.
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On the one hand, the film gets a bigger and more impressive garnet reminiscent of the war of the younger generation in the old generation that accompanied my films “Star Wars” The new ones. But on the other hand, he may be losing what made “Demon Mowers” a classic – the van liners, the rhythm and the oddity that was less dictated from above by a big studio with a lot to lose. What is certain is that the audience is still thirsty for demonic adventure, and this world has much more to tell. When the familiar theme song begins to play, there is no escape from being sucked in.
“Demon Mowers: The Life After” is available in theaters starting on Thursday, November 25, 2121.
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