Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, 2024.
Directed by Gil Kenan.
Starring Mckenna Grace, Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Kumail Nanjiani, Patton Oswalt, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts, Celeste O’Connor, Logan Kim, Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, William Atherton, James Acaster, Emily Alyn Lind, and Emily Ng.
SYNOPSIS:
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.
While watching the first encounter with a ghost in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, which consists of a high-speed car chase across heavily populated New York City streets, one begins to wonder if this is child endangerment for the now 15-year-old Phoebe Spengler (Mckenna Grace.) The brain spends quite a bit of time there since the direction from Gil Kenan (who previously wrote Ghostbusters: Afterlife alongside Jason Reitman, with the two of them returning for screenwriting duties here) isn’t necessarily dynamic or visually stimulating.
It is a routine car chase with Phoebe’s passenger seat once again extracted from the side of the Cadillac Ecto-1, which is as dangerous as it was the first time around but much more of a questionable choice considering it is not a spur-of-the-moment situation and her ghostbusting family seems to be allowing it. Alas, it’s also a blockbuster spectacle. Phoebe is a nerdy science-lover passionate about the hunts, and Mckenna Grace plays the character with resolve and heroism, so one lets all of that slide.
That’s until roughly 10 minutes later, when it becomes an integral part of the plot. New York City Mayor Walter Peck (a returning William Atherton) still wants to shut the Ghostbusters down, citing the citywide collateral damage they cause when pursuing and trapping ghosts, now also bringing up Phoebe’s age, the same concerns mentioned above and child labor laws. In a decision that devastates Phoebe, her mom Callie Spengler (Carrie Coon), and science teacher turned father figure guardian Gary Grooberson (Paul Rudd) reluctantly agrees that she should drop ghostbusting for a while and focus on teenage life.
Phoebe is arguably too young to be a Ghostbuster (she did save the world, so there are some things to weigh and balance against her status as a minor), but her brother Trevor (Finn Wolfhard) is now 18) and, more intriguingly, Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd) is up there in age but can’t conceive giving up paranormal investigation. Theoretically, this should provide a strong thematic throughline for Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, but disappointingly, the filmmakers can’t help themselves from getting distracted by nostalgia pandering, some of which is the same from a legacy sequel barely over two years old. At one point, Paul Rudd, who is otherwise once again finally here, finds himself putting on an intentionally cringe performance of the Ghostbusters theme song, which comes across as embarrassing as the Cheetos product placement involving Muncher or the 15 times miniature Stay-Puft marshmallow men are shoved down one’s throat doing something cutesy.
The filmmakers continue to find ways to betray tantalizing elements, such as bringing in a non-troublemaker ghost named Melody (Emily Alyn Lind), grieving her family, and being unable to cross over to the other side. More importantly, the 16-year-old ghost girl quickly becomes the only one Phoebe feels understands her. Meanwhile, Melody appreciates that Phoebe isn’t afraid and is willing to participate in activities like a game of chess. In a series where ghosts are generally fodder for comedy and family-friendly terror, it is a fascinating concept to introduce a bond between a human girl and a ghost. That’s for 15 or 20 minutes before it becomes transparent that the script has a clichéd, generic route to take this and isn’t actually concerned with the character dynamics.
It’s almost a shame that the filmmakers wrote a brother character for Phoebe, and it is assuredly frustrating that there is so much attention to nostalgic elements for a cheap audience pop. Even though the legacy characters are utilized fine here for the most part, without hogging too much time away from the newer generations, it still feels like an unnecessary saddle if the focus isn’t going to prioritize that too young/too old for ghostbusting character juxtaposition.
Instead, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire succumbs to heaps of generic plotting, this time involving the discovery of a brass orb housing an all-powerful ghost looking to unleash all the other entities captured over the decades, using them as an army to take over the world, complete with a lengthy expository dump back at the library. It’s not exactly original, and the powerful entity doesn’t look aesthetically interesting, either; imagine Slenderman as a ghost, all-black, and with 17-inch long fingernails.
This setup does allow for the introduction of a pleasant addition to the ensemble, Kumail Nanjiani’s Nadeem Razmaadi, a burnout selling his grandmother’s junk to pay the bills, stumbling upon that brass orb in a secret room. He is a doofus and hilariously played by Kumail Nanjiani, also receiving quite an amusing character arc as he is also important to stop the threat. It’s mostly a self-deprecating performance with pitch-perfect line delivery consistently eliciting laughter.
Much like Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is a mixture of good and bad, whether it be characters, story ideas, or nostalgia. Mckenna Grace and Kumail Nanjiani are likable and worth investing in for different reasons, and enough to ensure that the experience never becomes boring while providing a proper balance of drama and comedy, but there is also no denying that this is another cluttered sequel that lets down the aspects that are working. It’s a film that consistently freezes itself in its tracks.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
