Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021)

Ghostbusters: Afterlife is a great small-town kids’ adventure until it remembers which franchise it belongs to and starts replaying the original, nearly beat for beat. Mckenna Grace is the reason to watch. Her Phoebe is a deadpan science kid who tells terrible jokes with total confidence, and she makes the old gear feel new. Logan Kim’s Podcast is a scene-stealer. Paul Rudd is goofy and sweet as the summer school teacher who’d rather show kids scary movies than teach. Carrie Coon gets a few sharp lines and a lot of worried glances. A pack of tiny marshmallow men wrecking a big-box store is the best gag in it. Then the last act brings back old villains, old lines and old faces, and the movie stops being about these kids. It made $204.4 million worldwide on a reported $75M. A 5.8 because Phoebe is great and the reunion keeps stealing her spotlight. $3,779 says you roast marshmallows this summer and quietly count the bag first, just to make sure none of them wandered off.

What works: Mckenna Grace’s deadpan Phoebe, Paul Rudd’s goofy charm and the gleeful marshmallow mayhem.

What doesn’t: The last act turns into a nostalgia replay that sidelines the new characters it spent an hour building up.

Who it’s for: Families with kids who are new to the franchise, and grown-ups who still know the theme song by heart.