GHOSTBUSTERS: FROZEN EMPIRE (2024) review
written by: Gil Kenan and Jason Reitman
produced by: Ivan Reitman, Jason Reitman & Jason Blumenfeld
directed by: Gil Kenan
rated: PG-13 (for supernatural action/violence, language, and suggestive references)
runtime: 115 min.
U.S. release date: March 22, 2024
There’s quite a bit going on in “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire”, the latest entry in a franchise that hasn’t had a good sequel since Ivan Reitman’s 1984 comedy classic. Granted, a clever reimagining in 2016 was quite funny, but I guess too many viewers (fans?) got in an uproar over an all-female Ghostbusters quartet. Co-written by Jason Reitman (who wrote and directed the last sequel, 2021’s “Ghostbusters: Afterlife”) and Gil Kenan (“Monster House”), this movie, like the last one, wants us to forget about that arguable flop. It is similar to what every recent legacyquel has been doing: relying on nostalgia, a crop of new characters mixed with the old, and regurgitating familiar plotlines from past entries. Some moments here feel exciting and new, but it’s all inevitably weighed down by the sheer number of characters and an attempt at providing way too much.
The movie has an unexpected poetic opening, meaning we see the first lines of Robert Frost’s Fire and Ice on screen, which differs from any previous movie’s openings. Still, it also means that those two elements will play a predominant factor in the plot. Considering the title, that’s not much of a wild guess, but we also know what combats anything frozen.
There’s another way the opening of Frozen Empire differs from any previous Ghostbusters movie. Kenan and Reitman take us back to Manhattan in the early 1900s, when firefighters were seen leaving the iconic Ghostbusters firehouse in a horse-drawn fire truck, scrambling to answer the call. When they arrive at their destination, they’re shocked to discover a board room full of frozen men instead of a fire. In the room is a mysterious orb that appears to be the source of this subzero nightmare.
Fast-forward to modern-day New York City, when we pick up with the Spengler family, far from Summerville, Oklahoma, where they resided in “Afterlife.” Callie Spengler (Carrie Coon), daughter of deceased original Ghostbuster, Egon Spengler, now resides in the aforementioned firehouse (located somewhere between Lower Manhattan and Tribeca), with her two children, 18-year-old Trevor (Finn Wolfhard) and 15-year-old, Phoebe (Mckenna Grace), as well as Callie’s boyfriend, Gary Grooberson (Paul Rudd), who was also Phoebe’s former science teacher. All four have been active Ghostbusters for two years, with Janine Melnitz (Annie Potts) still answering the 1-800 calls and the whole enterprise being funded by former Ghostbuster and current billionaire Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson).
After accumulating considerable collateral damage while pursuing a subterranean specter dragon, the foursome winds up in hot water with Mayor Walter Peck (Willian Atherton), who’s had it out for the Ghostbusters since the 80s. This time, the Mayor has a legitimate beef considering Phoebe’s age, forcing Callie to bench her eager daughter. This does not go over well with Phoebe, who goes off on her own and befriending Melody (Emily Alyn Lind), a friendly teenage ghost she winds up connecting with. That’s something a little too coincidental. You’d think the ghost community would know who’s a Ghostbuster among the living. However, it’s not the only subplot that feels unexplored and predictable.
Another head-scratcher is how exactly Winston became such a savvy businessman, which was hinted at in “Afterlife,” and here it’s just an unexplained albeit convenient device for both the overall story and the current Ghostbusters. While the Spenglers and Gary have been zooming around the city in the Ecto-1 bustin’ ghosts, Zeddemore has set up a “Paranormal Research Lab” in an abandoned aquarium. This is where he’s employed paranormal researcher, Lars Pinfield (James Acaster) and teenager, Lucky Domingo (Celeste O’Connor), to invent new and improved ways to capture and contain ghosts. The place looks more like the Q department from the James Bond series, yet it’s unclear how/why Lucky was transplanted from Oklahoma. She was in the last movie and a friend (love interest?) of Trevor’s, but where’s her family? Is this a paid gig for her? Since the writers don’t care, why should we?
Another element that’s carried over from “Afterlife” is the local occult shop run by retired Ghostbuster Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd). While that was briefly seen in that movie, it is featured more prominently here. It’s also where he inexplicitly records YouTube videos with Podcast (Logan Kim), another kid who migrated from Oklahoma (and “Afterlife”). This is where Ray continues his enthusiastic quest to acquire curious objects of spiritual, mythical, or supernatural interests. That’s precisely what happens when new customer Nadeem Razmaadi (Kumail Nanjiani) brings a mysterious orb he found in his late grandmother’s belongings. He sees no value in it and hopes to score a nice penny.
Of course, we know that this MacGuffin occupies an evil spirit we come to know as Garraka (Ian Whyte), a tall and thin ugly-looking dude who threatens to freeze all of humanity with his “death chill” and free any contained ghosts. Who knows his plans after that, but it’s probably evil. Ray doesn’t find that out until he visits Dr. Hubert Wartzki (a welcome Patton Oswalt), a specialist in ancient artifacts at the New York Public Library (yep, the same one from the opening of the first movie), with Phoebe and Podcast. C’mon, you can’t find a better name than Podcast? By the way, Podcast is also a carryover from the last movie and apparently lives in Ray’s shop and tells his parents that he’s spending the summer at Space Camp. What the what?
It’s an odd thing when the strangest mystery in a “Ghostbusters” movie is the questionable behaviors and situations of the characters in the film. Yes, almost all the characters in “Frozen Empire” are either thinly laid out or utterly confusing. Some appear because we expect them to, like parapsychology professor Peter Venkman (a seemingly obligated Bill Murray), who offers little more than a few quips and bemused smirks. It’s fun to see the O.G.’s (that’s Original Ghostbusters) back together, but that clogs the movie with almost a dozen characters. At one point, cinematographer Eric Wesley Steelberg (a frequent collaborator of Jason Reitman, who also lensed “Afterlife”) is unable to fit them all in one frame.
During the climatic third act, I counted all the protagonists in the firehouse because I was baffled by the sheer number of them. There appeared to be ten, but I knew I was missing a couple. It tells you something about “Frozen Empire”: I was taken out of the story when I was compelled to count the characters on screen. So many characters are presented by Kenan and Reitman that you wind up compartmentalizing them to keep track of them all. There are the new ones introduced in “Afterlife,” the legacy characters, and the new ones introduced here. But what can be done with all of them in under two hours?
Then there’s the running subplot involving the unspoken status of Rudd’s Gary with the Spengler trio. He and Coon’s Callie are supposedly romantically involved, but they have a “roommate status” of a couple that’s been around each other for almost 30 years. No sparks can be detected between the two of them. If anything, they banter like siblings. Gary is awkwardly involved as a parental unit to Trevor and Phoebe, but since nothing is genuinely established between him and Callie, his presence is more like the “cool uncle.” I had the feeling watching “Afterlife” that maybe these two (both great actors in their own right) were either underwritten or miscast, and now I think it’s just that they’re poorly written. Plus, there’s not enough time to develop them…or anyone else here.
If there are any standout performances in the crowd, it would have to be the ones that are given the most to do, and that’s Grace and Aykroyd. As Phoebe or Pheebs, Grace conveys some understandable frustration and typical teen angst. It’s easy to feel that it is needed alongside her, thanks to Grace’s work here and having Pheebs carry on her grandfather’s science geek legacy since Harold Ramis had always glued together the original quartet. As for Aykroyd, some viewers may not realize the veteran actor offers more than just comedy. After all, he received a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his dramatic role in 1989’s “Driving Miss Daisy,” released the same year “Ghostbusters II” came out. In “Frozen Empire,” we find a septuagenarian Ray with his youthful geekiness still intact, offering Aykroyd a couple of great wistful scenes that show that he’s still excited about his passion. He has a great scene with Hudson’s Winston discussing how they’re spending their “golden years.” It’s an unexpected delight to see Aykroyd show up, not just to phone it in here. Yes, a paycheck is involved, but he’s bringing more to the screen than any of his peers here.
As a frame of reference, Bill Murray shows up in a glorified cameo to play…Bill Murray. But then again, there was never much to Peter Venkman except to showcase Bill Murray as Bill Murray and provide great chemistry with Sigourney Weaver (who doesn’t appear here, thankfully and sadly).
The first two Ghostbusters, directed by the late Ivan Reitman, took place in New York City, which became synonymous with Ghostbusters. Reitman and his cinematographers, László Kovács (“Ghostbusters”) and Michael Chapman (“Ghostbusters II”), showed a bustling, congested city with vibrant life and the acerbic New Yorkers we’ve come to expect. The New York City of “Frozen Empire” lacks its typical Big Apple characteristics. There’s no way the Ecto-1 could careen around Manhattan streets and corners without a problem. I’m surprised Winston’s new geek squad hasn’t been working on a quicker way around the city. It was an odd, albeit nice, change to spend time in the last movie in Oklahoma, but I was expecting to see the same NYC vitality prevalent in the first two movies in “Frozen Empire”. Not quite.
The Ghostbusters movies have never been known for having formidable villains. Most of it is just the oddity of these threats and how the heroes will respond to them. So, it’s not unusual to find this Garraka character coming across as more silly than scary. Still, it doesn’t help to establish this antagonist’s threats when he is barely a character. Then again, it’s hard to believe that character problems plague a Ghostbusters movie, but here we are.
RATING: **
