Chicken, He Clucked wrote: ↑November 23rd, 2021, 11:44 pm Although he’s in the theatrical release promotion cycle, so may want to play down any alt cut talk… and an extended cut isn’t necessarily a director’s cut… and maybe they’re withholding such a thing until a later date…. But…
Honestly no extended cut really hurts. This movie needs connective tissue. Certain characters need rounding out. Some have plot points which were obviously cut, some aspects needed more of a setup.
Jason obviously cares a lot about the franchise and this project, and he has made some tremendous films, but I don’t know what happened here with Callie, Trevor & Lucky, foreshadowing shots, Sheriff Domingo, the abrupt arrival of the OG’s, mini pufts on the proton pack etc. (Are we genuinely relying on a Lego set to explain a plot point?)
I’ll give it time before a second watch - probably home release - to see if I have the same reaction Zorge did when viewing it without 30 years of expectation, but I’m a little bummed - pleased that everyone else is happy and it’s doing well at the box office but I can’t get past my film critic brain. Like… when Jason talks about feeling the magic in getting the right take.. I don’t get how the Callie & family eviction scene, or the Ray’s Occult phone call passed the magic test.
Again, having said all that. Huge respect and praise for Jason and the team - I’m glad they made the film they and most fans wanted. I’m still buying all the merch. At the least I hope they’re generous with deleted scenes so we can get a decent fan edit like with ATC.
Plus, y’know have a drinking game whenever Callie mentions hating science or her father.
I have to agree with you completely there. Even though I had a blast watching the movie...and watched it twice already, Jason's final cut is far from the standard I had hoped for from a director and storyteller of his class.
His previous films featured well paced, structured, and entertaining storylines, in which characters always got enough breathing space to develope and express their motivation. With Afterlife, I'm especially dissapointed with the actual story and depth he gave his characters. That's something I expected this movie to do well before watching.
I was particularly surprised by all the plot skips and missing character developments, which in some cases took place completely offscreen. This also led to some awkward scenes that pulled me out quite a bit while watching the movie.
You can tell that Jason put a lot of passion and attention to detail into the film, but the overall film doesn't feel cohesive and well rounded. Therefore, I had high hopes for an extended version, which creates a larger and more comprehensible picture.
This is a problem that not limited to "Afterlife" only. There are other films with similar problems, in which cut scenes are much more important to the viewer than the director thought. After all, directors knows their characters inside out and their actions make complete sense to them. Especially if the director was actively involved in the story, as was the case here. Maybe the long delay also played into this - you know, some things start to get worse the longer you spent on them.
The audience doesn't know the characters and the plot yet, so any story gaps and missing character developments are especially noticeable for them. For example, I'm sure it made perfect sense to Jason that there was a bag of marshmallows hidden in Ecto-1 and didn't feel the need to show that earlier in the movie. However, that scene briefly threw me out, as I actively started thinking about why the Mini Pufts suddenly appeared there. Some of you pointed out similar scenes already, like scenes of Phoebe bringing the trap to class, which somehow features a pedal (she didn't find Egon's lab yet at that point), Janine suddenly appearing and disappearing without contributing much, the kids knowing how to use all equipment instantly, the OGs strange appearance, Ray's Starbucks statement or joke, etc.
I hope it really is just marketing that no extended cut is planned, as I think this movie could greatly benefit from it.