Ghostbusters Frozen Empire – Movie Review
Director: Gil Kenan (City of Ember)
Writer: Gil Kenan, Jason Reitman (Screenplay)
Cast
- Mckenna Grace (Gifted)
- Finn Wolfhard (It)
- Celeste O’Connor (Madame Web)
- Logan Kim (The Walking Dead: Dead City)
- Paul Rudd (Ant-Man)
- Carrie Coon (Gone Girl)
- Bill Murray (Zombieland)
- Dan Aykroyd (The Blues Brothers)
- Ernie Hudson (The Crow)
Plot: When the discovery of an ancient artifact unleashes an evil force, Ghostbusters new and old must join forces to protect their home and save the world from a second ice age.
Runtime: 2 Hours 5 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Ghostbusters Frozen Empire starts as the Spengler’s Callie (Coon), Trevor (Wolfhard) and Phoebe (Grace) have moved into the legendary firehouse in New York City. Along with Gary (Rudd) they fight ghosts in the big city upsetting the mayor.
Phoebe struggles to find herself (Again) after being told she is too young to be part of the team. Meanwhile, the team struggles to understand new events surrounding the ghost storage, and a new threat that has targeted anyone involved in stopping the ghosts.
Verdict on Ghostbusters Frozen Empire
Ghostbusters Frozen Empire is the latest sequel in the franchise. It follows the latest team dealing with a fresh threat attacking New York City. Unlike anything they have dealt with before, they must prepare for a new fight against a new threat.
At the core, the story is similar to what we have seen every time. A bigger threat potential looking to end the world that isn’t easy to hunt. It is fine, we know the idea works well.
However, the characters seem to get lost in the shuffle here. There is a major focus on Phoebe again, dealing with the same problems of feeling lonely and unable to connect to anyone. I understand is it difficult growing up, but it felt like the last film addressed most of this.
Elsewhere, Trevor and Lucky are basic backup characters who feel forgotten. Podcast gets a couple of laughs, but also takes a backseat. It felt like ‘Afterlife’ was meant to build these four as the next team and here they felt more distant than ever. Sadly, nostalgia tries to take control again, putting a much larger focus on the returning Dan Aykroyd trying to get laughs, which the film suffers with the most, the lack of comedy.
In the end, the movie feels more like a pilot for a spin off television series. It never feels like an event. The villain never feels like a threat, despite having a major evil side about them. It fails to make us care about the characters and feels largely forgettable.
Final Thoughts – Ghostbusters Frozen Empire is a disappointing sequel that lacks any stakes.