Phillips’ Film Review: Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
Directed By: Gil Kenan
Written By: Gil Kenan and Jason Reitman
Starring: Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, McKenna Grace, Kumail Nanjani, Patton Oswalt, Ernie Hudson and Annie Potts
SPOILERS AHEAD
After the commercial success of 2021’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife, it’s not a shock to see the franchise return with a fourth installment. Frozen Empire moves the action forward three years with all of our principal characters from Afterlife making a go of it in New York, with the Spengler family (and Rudd’s Gary Gruberson, who is along for the ride in a relationship with Carrie Coon’s Callie) taking over the mantle of Ghostbusters while high school friends Lucky and Podcast are in the city for the summer for plot reasons.
The main thrust of the story revolves around McKenna Grace’s Phoebe getting sidelined due to an early incident that draws the ire of Mayor Walter Peck (yes, they got William Altherton back from the original Ghostbusters and he’s now the mayor). Phoebe forms a friendship with a ghost named Melody, who hasn’t been able to move on after dying in a fire she started that caused her whole family to be killed, and gets manipulated into releasing an evil god named Garraka from an orb who begins trying to freeze the world.
There is a lot going on in this movie and it definitely feels the weight of trying to find screen time for the main cast of Afterlife, the original Ghostbusters gang, and new characters headlined by Kumail Nanjani’s Nadeem and the aforementioned Melody. While Grace and Dan Aykroyd’s Ray Stantz receive a lot of spotlight, there isn’t a ton to do for Rudd and Coon, who are basically left to discuss how to parent Phoebe, or for Wolfhard’s Trevor, whose entire plot line is essentially trying to catch Slimer.
Another odd decision was to make the tone of this movie much more serious, perhaps building on the heart-warming moments of Afterlife, and there wasn’t nearly enough humor in a franchise known for it. The theater I was in had a good mix of little kids and adults and there weren’t a ton of laughs, with Nanjiani’s one-liners getting the biggest play from the audience.
The final fight looks nice but feels both too long and too short at the same time, which isn’t great. Phoebe does get her moment to shine and Mayor Peck is forced to support the Ghostbusters, opening the door for future adventures since the original ghost containment unit in the firehouse was purged to make room for Garraka, leaving plenty of spirits for the team to catch.
In the end, however, the movie was fine but nothing spectacular. I had a free ticket to use so I took advantage of it here, which makes me feel a bit better that I didn’t actually spend money on it. Frozen Empire is a good background watch when it hits streaming but unless you’re a super fan of the franchise this one can wait.
Grade: C
Just End The Suffering 