GHOSTBUSTERS: FROZEN EMPIRE Isn’t Quite On Par with Afterlife But Offers Enough Fun, Nonetheless
"It’s just not as much fun as the previous movie."
Jason Reitman’s 2021 movie, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, was a much-needed reboot/sequel to his father, Ivan Reitman’s 80’s movies that righted a ship that was nearly sunk due to the ill-conceived Paul Feig 2016 comedy that thought it was time to reinvent the wheel with women drivers. (It only partially worked.) What Afterlife did was that it introduced a new generation of younger Ghostbusters, while also giving the long-time fans a more welcome return of old favorites.
The first and most notable thing that Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire does, besides having co-writer, producer Gil Kenan taking over the directorial reigns, is that it moves the Busters back to New York City and their famed firehouse HQ. First, we get a prologue set in 1904 where the firefighters in the original building are investigating an incident that will lead into the key storyline for this sequel. Paul Rudd’s Gary Grooberson is now trying to establish himself as a patriarch for the Spengler family of Ghostbusters, probably one of Frozen Empire’s better aspects, as is moving the action back to New York City, since that allows an exciting opening chase of a ghost dragon through familiar streets. The biggest new addition to the cast is Kumhail Nanjiani as the man responsible for finding the artifact that causes the return of the primary baddie in this, a terrifying creature named Garraka, that causes a “death freeze” and is able to control other ghosts. At the same time, the place where the Ghostbusters store their captured spirits is ready to burst at the sames, leading to a perfect storm for Garraka to run rampant across the city.
One thing Frozen Empire does that I really didn’t care for is that it separated the young cast from the first movie into different side adventures, some more interesting than others. For instance, McKenna Grace’s Phoebe befriends a teen ghost named Melody (Emily Alyn Lind), who gives her character more of a focus, and ultimately, acts as the heart and soul of this sequel.
Finn Wolfhard’s Trevor is more about him trying to capture Slimer, who is living like a rat in the attic of the firehouse, eating any food it can get its hands on. Celeste O’Connor’s Lucky and Logan Kim’s Podcast seem to be in New York City for no particular reason – making it the biggest exodus of Oklahoma natives to New York in history? – as they’re paired with other scientists trying to solve the city’s supernatural problems, including Aykroyd’s Ray Stantz, who probably has the most screen time. Bill Murray appears briefly almost an hour in and then is gone until the very end, but let’s face it, he literally can be funny reading a phone book, and that’s the case here, as well. Patton Oswalt shows up for one scene at the New York Public Library, basically another callback to earlier movies.
I just don’t think Oswalt, Nanjiani, and not even Rudd are very funny in the movie, because they’re all essentially doing the same thing we’ve seen from them many times before. Like many people, I’m still feeling quite burnt by last year’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which if nothing else, Rudd can’t take the blame for co-writing. Kenan’s script, co-written by Reitman, isn’t quite on par with the screenplay for “Afterlife,” not just in the way it rambles its way to the final fight with Garraka, but also the fact that jokes just don’t land as well.
Some might get excited about the return of William Atherton as Walter Peck, who is now the mayor of New York City and still against the very idea of the Ghostbusters, but I just couldn’t care less about seeing the OGs (Original Ghostbusters) as much as most will, and that includes the return of Annie Potts and her character finally putting on a Proton pack. I actually liked how Afterlife passed the torch onto a younger generation, and having the OGs return to help save the day just feels like a cop out.
Technically, the movie is fine, with the visual effects once again standing out from the pack. “Frozen Empire’s” biggest issue is that it’s just not as funny a comedy as previous movies (yes, including the Feig one), and a lot of the storytelling seems to try shoehorning ideas that don’t necessarily work together. For instance, the idea of a Possessor demon that can possess any object it touches could have been used in a far more interesting way, but it seems somewhat wasted.
Overall, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire isn’t terrible, but it’s also just not as much fun as the previous movie, and because of that, it just might not have the same amount of rewatch value either.
Rating: 7/10
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire will open nationwide on Friday, March 22.