MOVIE REVIEW! - 'Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire'

'Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire' (2024)

Try as I might, I do try to avoid spoilers, but sometimes it can't be helped, so just in case: SPOILER WARNING! If you don't want to know ANYTHING about the movie, then simply scroll down and see my rating and then get the heck out of here! If you don't care? Well, carry on then.

I broke a cardinal rule before I went in to see and review “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire”. I looked at the Rotten Tomatoes score for the movie and read some of the reviews. I normally don’t do that until after I’ve written my own review. Admittedly, when I initially saw the score the movie had on the site, I began to get a little worried.

Then, I noticed a familiar trend in the reviews. It was the same criticism that was thrown, I feel unfairly, at “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” in 2021… The trend was to say that this movie is just too darned nostalgic and referential to the films that came before it.

Well, let us go ahead and address the ghostly elephant in the room. The original “Ghostbusters” is a bonafide classic that sits at the top of the mountain for a lot of people. For me personally, it’s my favorite comedy and one of my favorite paranormal sci-fi action films. It’s one of those rare movies where every time I watch it, I almost feel like I’m watching it for the first time all over again.

“Ghostbusters II” is also a fun ride even if it is just a rehash of the original film’s plot. Then came “Afterlife” and I felt that not only did it pay tribute to what came before it, but it also expanded the world a little more and introduced me to new characters that I had a lot of fun following as they discovered their connections to the original Ghostbusters.

'Frozen Empire' deals largely with the continuing story of the Spengler family.

Yes, some felt that there was too much nostalgia, but I didn’t get that argument as it was the third film in the original series and had to reconnect you to the world that came before it. This is especially true since it also came out 32 after the release of “Ghostbusters II” and was also following the…

You know what… we won’t dwell too much on the ill-conceived 2016 reboot other than to say that it exists and has, thankfully, been largely forgotten… moving on.

The one common factor in the past films of this series is simply that there is no way in hell that they were going to live up to the original and the same can be said about “Frozen Empire”. Therefore, I only needed the movie to do two things. 1) Show me Ghostbusters bustin’ ghosts and 2) be a fun time at the movies.

Thankfully, it ultimately delivers on both those fronts. This time, the Spengler family has moved to New York City and has been serving as the city’s new Ghostbusters for the past two years. Gary (Paul Rudd) and Callie (Carrie Coon) are married and Gary is trying to come to terms that he now has stepchildren, especially Phoebe (Mckenna Grace) who he likes being friends with but doesn’t quite know how to parent or what his boundaries are as a stepfather.

We are reminded that Phoebe is a genius, but she is also still a teenager and trying to come to terms with the fact that it may be a little dangerous for a 15-year-old to be out on the streets busting ghosts. In the meantime, original Ghostbuster Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson) is the one funding the new Ghostbusters and this includes funding a new research & development team that is developing new ways to bust and trap ghosts.

The original Ghostbusters are back to support the new team!

Ray Stanz (Dan Aykroyd) is largely retired but does bring the engineering team possessed items for research. Kumail Nanjiani plays Nadeem and an orb that he brings Ray goes off the charts. That’s because it contains an ancient and extremely powerful entity known as Garraka and not only does this ghost have the power to bring about a new Ice Age, it may be able to control other ghosts in the process.

Now, it may seem that I’ve given more than a little bit away about this movie, but the truth is this movie has only one major problem for me. It is a little too bloated, both with some subplots and characters. There are characters in the movie, most of whom I didn’t mention, that could have been cut from this movie so that it could have focused more on our new Big Bad and the storyline of the older and newer Ghostbusters.

Another minor problem is that the movie is a bit slow to really get started. Granted, we do need plenty of time to set up our new story and how the action has moved back to NYC, but it just takes a little more time than it should have for the good stuff to truly kick off.

That said, this movie ultimately works due to what works. First off, Nanjiani is the film’s MVP as Nadeem and he practically steals the show at times when he’s onscreen. His character also goes in a direction that I wouldn’t have guessed but I had a fun time with it ultimately.

Nanjiani's Nadeem is the character that ultimately helps get things going with a mysterious artifact.

The other thing that works is the story of the older Ghostbusters, namely Ray and Winston. It’s cool to see that Winston is funding the current iteration of the Ghostbusters and it is also cool to see that William Atherton is back as Walter Peck, now the mayor of New York and still a major opponent of the team. Ray, on the other hand, is still trying to deal with the fact that he’s retired from the team for the most part aside from bringing in the occasional paranormal item.

Ray loved being a Ghostbuster and, thankfully, the Gorraka threat has given him an excuse to come back. Aykroyd has the most to do of the original Ghostbusters and you can tell that he was having a lot of fun once again playing this character that he created over 40 years ago.

The biggest element of this movie that works is the continuing story of the Spengler family. Namely, Phoebe is still coming-of-age and Grace once again gives a great performance of a teenager that is maybe a little too smart for her own good. She also has great chemistry with Rudd and their budding father/daughter relationship is great to watch.

Now, to address the nostalgia haters out there. Yes, this movie has plenty of nostalgic bits in it, the biggest one of which is when Ray revisits the New York City Public Library from the first movie. If you hated the nostalgia in “Afterlife”, then maybe this film is just not for you.

Personally, when it comes to my thoughts on nostalgia, I don’t mind it so long as it’s not the only thing that the movie has going for it. Thankfully, this film has more going for it than just a trip down memory lane. This movie was a fun ride and it builds upon the world that was started 40 years ago in the original “Ghostbusters”.

The action and the effects are top-notch, the performances are great, I enjoyed the new Big Bad, and I enjoyed spending time with both the old and new Ghostbusters. At the end of the day, it was fun and that’s all I needed it to be because you know what… bustin’ makes me feel good!

The movie may be a little too bloated, but "Frozen Empire" is still a fun ride to take!