“Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” Review
A new generation of Ghostbusters return to New York to take on a new paranormal threat in “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire”, a sequel to 2021’s “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” which served as a sequel to the original two “Ghostbusters” films.
With the release of “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” in 2021, I was finally thoroughly satisfied with a follow-up to the 1984 classic “Ghostbusters”. I was also nervous when a sequel was announced because the last time a “Ghostbusters” film got a direct sequel we got the tremendously flawed yet somewhat endearing “Ghostbusters II”. In the case of “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire”, this new entry in the series does have a lot of the entertainment value that accompanied its predecessor but not the same fresh feeling.
Two years after the Ghostbusters reformed, the firehouse in Lower Manhattan is back in business with Egon’s daughter Callie Spengler (Carrie Coon), her children Trevor and Phoebe (Finn Wolfhard and McKenna Grace) and Callie’s husband Gary Grooberson (Paul Rudd) running across New York to stop the city’s surging paranormal activity with help from the cast of the original two films. When a relic that Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd) discovers unleashes a demonic god named Garraka who seeks to turn the planet into another Ice Age, both the old and new generations of Ghostbusters must come together to save the city and the world.
One thing that I admired about “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” was how, despite being a sequel to the original “Ghostbusters” movies, the film didn’t really rely on the original cast or many callbacks until the climax. This gave ample opportunity for the new characters to come into their own and develop such likable personas. Now that they have been established, “Frozen Empire” shows both the new cast and the old cast working very closely in investigating the paranormal and these character combinations really worked for me.
McKenna Grace is endlessly entertaining as Phoebe Spengler who is most definitely a descendent of Egon from her attitude to her passion for science. However, she’s not just a clone of my favorite Ghostbuster, she has her own problems that are pretty interesting. As a minor, she often feels left out of the dangerous situations that come with the trade of busting ghosts and wants to do more. In this frustration, she finds herself doing side missions with Ray Stantz, who has also runs a podcast on the paranormal, and Podcast (Logan Kim), her friend from the first film who is Ray’s unpaid intern. With Ray still having the excitement of a child for the supernatural (appropriate given Dan Aykroyd’s passion for aliens, ghosts and other strange occurrences) and Phoebe and Podcast actually being children, their scenes together are so enjoyable.
Other returning cast members like Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts and the great and powerful Bill Murray all bring their natural comedic charm to the film with every one of them feeling well used within the story. However, there are some characters, both new and returning, that feel underutilized. Like in “Afterlife”, Trevor Spengler doesn’t have much to do aside from trying to catch Slimer and, aside from the starpower of Finn Wolfhard, not much is added to the role. The same goes for returning character Lucky (Celeste O’Connor) although I’m pretty sure Celeste O’Connor is thankful that she’s in the film hunting ghosts considering that she also starred in “Madame Web”.
New characters like Nadeem Razmaadi (Kumail Nanjiani), who sells the object that contains Garraka to Ray, also feel tacked on to the story despite the wonderful talents of Nanjiani. “Frozen Empire” has the same problem as “The Rise of Skywalker” where there’s already a sizable cast yet there is this need to bring on even more new characters. Some characters are just going to get lost in the shuffle including Melody (Emily Alyn Lind), a ghost that Phoebe befriends. The idea of a Ghostbuster and a ghost becoming friends is a really cool idea and I do wish that the film took more time to explore this. However, some of the new characters really worked for me like Dr. Wartzki (Patton Oswalt) whose excitement for ghosts and their folklore almost rivals Ray and Phoebe.
Unlike “Ghostbusters II”, which toned down its adult humor and actions for a more light-hearted tone, “Frozen Empire” keeps the funny and edgy tone that permeated the original and “Afterlife”. The one-liners, character interactions and physical humor are all wonderful and this new series of films feels like the “Ghostbuster” sequels I always wanted to see.
While I feel that “Afterlife” has more personality than “Frozen Empire”, partially because of its different setting in Oklahoma and the fact that the original cast was mainly regulated to the film’s climax, there is something really exciting about seeing Ghostbusters in New York again, especially in the film’s opening that sees the new crew chasing down a ghost through the streets of New York with Ecto-1. It’s a fun homecoming that I’m sure New Yorkers are going to enjoy.
With the potential of this series, “Frozen Empire” takes advantage of some opportunities that are presented to the film but others aren’t. I felt that the climax could have been bigger since this film built up that Garraka is going to summon an army of ghosts. How cool would it be if there was a massive fight that had some Ghostbusters driving Ecto-1, others fighting ghosts on the ground and even others using aerial technology. It could be Ghostbusters meets The Avengers. As is, the climax is cool and the action does have life to it but it’s more of what we’ve seen before.
Overall, I think that “Frozen Empire” is a respectable sequel that is a good follow-up to “Afterlife” but nothing new is added. It’s just more of the same. As a fan of the “Ghostbusters” franchise and its unique combination of horror, humor and blockbuster fun, it’s an enjoyable film that I’m sure will command the attention of those who love these movies.
