“Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” is reminiscent of Slimer gorging himself on food the film contains too many characters, plotlines, and visuals for a two-hour movie which has a runtime of only two hours.
The current movie does a relatively better job at integrating the classic style with the new style than the previous one which was “Ghostbusters: Afterlife.” There is still an awkwardness when doing it, in terms of skill, that the 2021 mess of a movie continues talking heads and images that suits – but such a position shifts the story to a different space and introduces different characters who are slightly different.
Kenan (Creator of the films Monster House and A Boy Called Christmas) now replaces Jason Reitman as a director of the film- this is a son of Ivan Reitman who produced the original film Ghostbusters in 1984, to whom this is also dedicated. Also there, Kenan and Reitman were co writers of that many scenes that were already heard once. More funny places too, since Paul Rudd and Patton Oswalt were present again and did their best. The voodoo sense and madness that “Ghoulhunters” once exuded, has now passed, as even more sad the feelings of tension created by the famous franchise were misplaced in plots.
The rest of the stars of the 1984 megahit are back in the hopes of reminding us what this film was about when most of us were kids.
Bill Murray enters with a swagger and a few not so funny one liners as Venkman. Dan Aykroyd dispenses a torrent of scientific jargon and is for all practical purposes, Stantz. Ernie Hudson plays Zeddemore as the voice of reason, the man who has set up his own advanced paranormal research facility. Also, it is a delight to see Annie Potts return as the incredibly sarcastic Janine. Those time-honored characters from 40 years ago will have to share screen-space with Spengler’s Offspring namely Carrie Coon’s Callie with a science-dedicated daughter, Phoebe (Mckenna Grace) and a son with annoying Trevor (Finn Wolfhard who barely has anything to do). Fortunately, cliché tearjerking tactics such as resurrecting Hologram Harold Ramis once again for “Frozen Empire” do not occur.
Paul Rudd, met your Oaklahoma Science teacher Gary Grooberson last time, now plays a fellow Ghostbuster/step father to the Spenglers in New York City. They have taken over the historic firehouse and are zooming about the old Ecto-1 pursuing spectral creatures with Phoebe’s newly created gear. The plot does provide some engaging treats at the beginning where the imaginary chase unfolds, providing genuine thrills and rather quick quips in between. Yet, from then on, none of then come to that standard of energy or enjoyment again throughout the rest of the film.
“Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire,” apart from having such entertaining possibilities, overreaches itself with the mythos of an age old demonic beast that gets accidentally released from the metallic orb that it has been sealed in.
(The visual effects in depicting him are substantial, making him a legitimately fearsome figure.) There is the specter of a permanent ice age when decades of ghost captor would break free and mount an assault on Manhattan and a few other areas, such as Queens. But the sense of how it all this destruction can actually happen, and what Kumail Nanjiani’s character can do about it, is overly complex for no good reason. It is also the most mundane aspect of “Frozen Empire” and even more so it enables Oswalt to make a brief but enjoyable appearance as a linguist at the New York library. He’s such a comic relief in this environment which tends to be too serious that one could hope they would make an entire “Ghostbusters” film with him in it. However, Coon one of the most gifted and versatile actresses of our times is yet again poorly exploited as the ‘keep the family together’ mom.
This is, in my opinion, the weaker part of the film for sure, as the rest of the movie takes a much darker path with Phoebe who is 15 years old and cannot bust any ghosts, regardless of her intellect and resourcefulness.
Despondent, she decides to walk in Washington Square Park to play chess alone; it is there that she meets a teenager ghost named Melody (Emily Alyn Lind), who died in a fire, but finds herself in a limbo that does not allow her to be with her family. The two do indeed share a crackling chemistry, if you will allow the pun, and quite a bit more. These characters are clearly flirting with each other, but the film lacks the guts to let a full blown romance develop between the two.
“Frozen Empire” appears slightly more preoccupied with the cartoonish mayhem caused by the mini Stay Puft Marshmallow Men, who have never looked more Minion, in fact, this is also the first time that we see these characters, and with all the hype surrounding the franchise, it is evident that the focus is strictly on “Ghostbusters” rather than any single movie. Yet again, this is a movie which knows all too well that the Ray Parker Jr. theme song was a chart topper 40 years ago, and even goes to the extent of using clips from the original music video to drive its point across. However, we would all sing a very different song now if we could decide on our preferences.
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