I’ve made it clear in the past that I’m not the biggest Ghostbusters fan. I remember enjoying the first two films when I was younger, but going back to them I just didn’t enjoy them, I watched some episodes of The Real Ghostbusters but it wasn’t a big show when I was growing up and I had fun with the 2016 film, but it’s not left a lasting impression in my mind. The piece of Ghostbusters media I have the most affection for is the Xbox 360 game. When Afterlife came out in 2021, I remember having some fun with it, mainly with Mckenna Grace’s performance, but I was really put off by the resurrection of Harold Ramis. That said, I had some hope for Frozen Empire. For as mixed as his overall filmography is, I still have a soft spot for Gil Kenan’s adaptation of City of Ember, the new cast members announced for the film are all people I like and it felt right that the series was returning to New York, but this carries over a lot of the same problems as Afterlife and just felt empty to me.
The film follows the new Ghostbusters team, returning characters from Afterlife Callie, Trevor and Phoebe Spengler and Gary Grooberson, who have relocated to New York, operating out of Hook and Ladder 8. After a destructive ghost catch brings the wrath of former EPA agent and now Mayor of New York Walter Peck down on them, Phoebe has to be benched, due to being under 18, and feels resentment towards having to stay out of the game, when she feels it is her legacy. At the same time, slacker Nadeem Razmaadi sells former Ghostbuster Ray Stanz an orb belonging to his grandmother, who was essentially a proto-Ghostbuster with pyrokinetic powers. The orb contains an ancient ghost god, with the power of freezing people to death through fear, weaponising the chills you feel when experiencing fear, with the old and new Ghostbusters having to team up again to fight this new threat. This could have been used to provide a proper passing the torch moment between the old generation and the new, playing off of the ending of Afterlife, but it doesn’t really commit to this. There are some interesting elements at play, mainly with Ray wanting to be a Ghostbuster again and Winston being more active in the long term future of Ghostbusters, but these aren’t given the attention they deserve. In some instances, the story is actively hindered by wanting to introduce new elements later on in the film. There is a new high-tech Ghostbusters base that is introduced in the second act, but there is no reason for this to be hidden up until this point and it’s exclusion ends up making the plot feel weaker as it feels like the characters aren’t as connected as they should be and it is just lazy writing.
There are some interesting ideas raised in the film, but none of them are fully explored. The presence of Melody gives an interesting angle to the depiction of the ghosts, highlighting that not all of them should be considered horrific figures and some should be treated with sympathy. There is also the interplay of the pyrokinetic powers of Nadeem’s family with the proton packs, which could have been an important beat in the ending, but felt half-hearted. There is a weird form of laziness throughout the film that the lack of attention to these elements highlights. There is a focus on getting characters together, but no real attention made to emotional reactions, or having the characters interact naturally. A few of the supporting characters from Afterlife are present again here, but their introductions to the story this time around felt like the script was already written before it was decided to bring the characters back, so they just handwave their reappearance and don’t do anything with the characters, even when there were story beats from Afterlife that could have been continued, but aren’t.
It also feels like there is a focus on referencing iconic Ghostbusters imagery, rather than create a new plot. There’s a section of the film involving Trevor interacting with Slimer that constantly took me out of the film, the references to the Ghostbusters film felt really forced and there’s a point where an action scene stops dead to reference the librarian ghost from the first film. It creates the feeling that the creative team were more interested in reminding people of the original film than in making something that would stand on its own. Even bringing the film back to New York felt like this. There’s a prologue that tries to connect Hook and Ladder 8 to the wider history of ghosts in New York which is a clear attempt to make Ghostbusters feel more deep than it actually is, and having the film’s climax set in Hook and Ladder 8 felt forced, creating the feeling that I was seeing a sound stage, rather than a unique New York firehouse. There’s no life to the New York we see here, it feeling like any other city, and the return of the series to New York felt like it was out of obligation rather than for storytelling potential.
The performances are fairly solid throughout, The highlight of the cast, as in Afterlife, is Mckenna Grace, who has this offbeat charm to her that makes Phoebe the most compelling new character here and the bit of teenage rebellion she has here gives a different dynamic to the character. There is some fun from Carrie Coon and Paul Rudd’s parental roles in the film, although the romantic chemistry didn’t land as well to me. Finn Wolfhard as Trevor is fine, but isn’t given much to do, the same also being true for other returning cast members from Afterlife Celeste O’Connor and Logan Kim. For the original Ghostbusters cast, the highlight is Dan Ackroyd, who gives a strong performance here showing Ray as someone who desperately wants to be a Ghostbuster again, there being a life in his eyes whenever he sees something he doesn’t understand and you can feel his enthusiasm for the franchise in every scene. Ernie Hudson gets some decent moments, but isn’t in the film enough, there are few people who can play punchable characters as well as William Atherton and it’s fun to see him back as Walter Peck, Annie Potts is given absolutely nothing to do and could have been cut out without anything being lost and Bill Murray just looks like he’s there for the paycheck. For the new cast members, Kumail Nanjiani gets some funny moments, his slacker vibes being a decent contrast to the more professional air of the other cast members, but his character arc felt pretty forced. Patton Oswalt is someone who feels like a natural fit for the franchise and he is a lot of fun to watch, but he’s only in one scene and is only there to be an exposition dump, and whilst I am a massive fan of James Acaster and it’s great to see him get a major role here, the character doesn’t quite fit with his comedic sensibilities, the funny moments being more from Acaster’s general demeanor than the actual writing, and he just vanishes from the film near the end, having no real involvement in the climax. The best new member of the cast is Emily Alyn Lind, who gets the most interesting new character and has great chemistry with Mckenna Grace, their scenes being the highlight of the film.
The technical side of the film is fairly strong. The effects used for the ghosts are mostly really well done, the mix of practical and CG effects being the right balance to create immersive ghosts. The designs of the new Ghostbuster facilities are decent enough, although there is more of a James Bond Q-branch feel to them. The music is fine, creating the right atmosphere when it needs to but not really being anything special. I liked the darker feel in the ending when it gets more iced up, having a unique feel compared to the other Ghostbusters films and the action scenes we get, whilst feeling more serious than they should for Ghostbusters, do have a threatening air to them, letting you understand the threat present.
Overall, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire represents the worst aspects of the modern blockbuster scene. This is a film that has no real identity of its own, instead being content to coast by on nostalgia. There are interesting ideas at play here, but no real effort to explore them. It’s not an absolute disaster and is still watchable, in a way that something like Madame Web is not, but this is still the absolute low point in the Ghostbusters series and a sign that this series should end.
My Rating: 2/5
Coogs Reviews 