[ez-toc]Few cinematic franchises have captured the cultural zeitgeist quite like Ghostbusters. What began as a paranormal comedy about a ragtag team battling spectral threats in 1984 quickly cemented itself as a quintessential slice of 1980s pop culture. Yet attempts to revive that supernatural spark over the past four decades have yielded mixed results at best.
The 2021 legacy sequel Ghostbusters: Afterlife strove to pass the proton pack to a new generation, though its sense of childlike wonder felt strained under an oppressive air of fan service nostalgia. Now, its follow-up – Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire – must walk a tightrope, balancing fresh creative energy with requisite callbacks to the original’s beloved iconography.
Does director Gil Kenan and co-writer Jason Reitman’s icy new chapter finally chill the franchise’s erratic spirit? Or does it merely continue a streak of diminishing supernatural returns? Brace yourselves for a frosty critical examination that unmasks whether this Frozen Empire is the rare haunting worth answering the call.
The Spectre of a Global Deep Freeze
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire picks up the thread from Afterlife, with the Spengler family – mom Callie, kids Phoebe and Trevor, plus Callie’s partner Gary Grooberson – now running the ghostbusting operation out of the iconic New York City firehouse headquarters.
The brilliant but brash teenager Phoebe remains the heart and innovative soul of this new generation of Ghostbusters, even as her overprotective mother sidelines her from actual ghost capture missions. Feeling unappreciated, Phoebe finds herself drawn into an unlikely friendship with Melody, a kindly spirit trapped between realms.
Meanwhile, a new threat begins brewing from an ancient metal orb sold to Ray Stantz by the hapless Nadeem. This mystical artifact contains the essence of Garraka, a chilling primordial evil with the power to encapsulate the entire world in ice. As Garraka’s influence begins spreading a deadly Arctic freeze across Manhattan, it falls to the Spenglers, along with the original Ghostbusters crew of Stantz, Venkman, Zeddemore and Janine, to stop this eternal winter before all paranormal beings are released from their interdimensional prison.
The race is on to decode the orb’s secrets with the help of world-class experts like the eccentric librarian Dr. Forsythe. As Phoebe’s bond with Melody deepens, family tensions escalate over whether to trust the otherworldly ally. Ernie Hudson’s newly wealthy Winston bankrolls a state-of-the-art research facility housing experimental gear and captured ghouls. But not even their advanced tech can halt Garraka’s exponentially growing ice age that soon envelops the entire island of Manhattan.
With the world’s spiritual equilibrium hanging in the balance, the Ghostbusters – past, present and potentially future – must pool their resources and unravel an ancient mystery in order to shatter this Frozen Empire of death once and for all.
Haunting Visuals, Lacking Tonal Control
In the director’s chair for Frozen Empire, Gil Kenan demonstrates a deft hand at crafting visuals that seamlessly blend jaw-dropping supernatural spectacle with grounded, recognizable New York locales. From a roller coaster ghost chase careening down Fifth Avenue to the eerie, serenely desolate shots of an ice-encrusted Manhattan, Kenan’s camerawork maintains a strong sense of plausible, lived-in spaces gradually being encroached upon by ominous, inexplicable forces.
The character and creature design work is particularly praiseworthy. Garraka, the towering, emaciated Sumerian specter at the center of the conflict, cuts an imposing and haunting figure with its elongated horns and ability to freeze matter solid with a mere exhale. The billowing ectoplasmic ghosts and ghouls all exhibit delightfully grotesque physicality. Even mundane effects like the proton stream liveliness scintillate on screen.
Where Kenan’s direction falters, however, is in establishing a consistent and controlling tone. For every gleefully silly bit of splatstick – such as the Return of the Puft Marshmallow Horde – there are serious dramatic beats involving existential angst or themes of found family that don’t quite land. The central romance between Phoebe and Melody flirts with unsafe age gap dynamics. And an overarching sense of self-seriousness continually undercuts the freewheeling irreverence that made the original a comedy classic.
Kenan can expertly compose an otherworldly, rip-roaring action set piece when called for, as the climactic supernatural blizzard enveloping New York attests. But too often the lurching tonal shifts cause Frozen Empire’s chilled atmosphere to diffuse, leaving audiences shivery and unsatisfied amidst the whiplash of tones.
Franchise Fanfare Overshadows Fresh Storytelling
The screenplay for Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, co-written by director Gil Kenan and Jason Reitman, can’t quite decide whether it wants to regurgitate nostalgic iconography for longtime fans or blaze new creative trails for the franchise. This indecisiveness severely undermines the film’s core narrative surrounding the Spengler family and their deepening spiritual legacies.
On the fresh storytelling front, Mckenna Grace continues showcasing her immense talents as the precocious Phoebe. Her lonely teen angst and insecurities around being the youngest, yet most capable Ghostbuster ring poignantly true. Grace shares palpable chemistry with Emily Alyn Lind’s ethereal yet impish ghost confidante Melody. Their burgeoning connection hints at LGBTQ+ dimensions rarely explored in the franchise, however the script disappointingly pulls its punches on following through.
Finn Wolfhard’s surly Trevor gets more to do this time, literally working on the side to bust ghostly pests for extra cash. And the interplay between Carrie Coon’s single mom Callie and Paul Rudd’s adorkable father figure Gary remains utterly delightful. Their scenes convey authentic family dynamics amidst the outre supernatural proceedings.
But the Kenan/Reitman script simply cannot resist endlessly retreading past franchise milestones. The returning legacy characters, from Bill Murray’s phoning-it-in Venkman to the exasperated mayor Peck (William Atherton), primarily serve as conduits for nostalgia pandering rather than active agents pursuing coherent narrative arcs of their own. Dan Aykroyd’s unbridled wonderment as Stantz carries his spiritual homeland defense mission plotline, but even that cycles into a perfunctory routine.
On the comedic side, only Kumail Nanjiani as the reliably hysterical everyman and Patton Oswalt in a bravura cameo as a mythology expert provide consistent levity. The banter rarely rises above strained quips and callbacks, with the exception of Murray’s trademark sardonic asides. And while the performances admirably sell heavier emotional beats, the familiar dramatic story beats – parent/child role reversals, sacrifice for the greater good, etc. – feel like reruns.
Overburdened by its dogged adherence to franchise lore and memberships, Frozen Empire rarely allows for its talented cast and clever new characters to come into their own, overshadowed as they are by past paradigms. While providing a few fresh thrills, this tepid reheating is a reminder that sometimes the past is better left frozen in carbonite.
Proton-Packed Nostalgia Overload
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is absolutely haunted by the original 1984 classic – for better and for worse. On the positive side, this sequel leans full-tilt into embracing its connective franchise tissue in ways its predecessor Afterlife coyly avoided. Longtime fans will revel in the sheer density of iconography and nostalgia baked into nearly every frame.
The familiar accoutrements are all accounted for – proton pack throwers, ecto-plasmic streams, that iconic No Ghost logo, even down to the gooey green specter Slimer making a cameo snack appearance. Beyond mere production design fealty, the entire story is literally set within the hallowed halls of the Ghostbusters’ headquarters firehouse from the first two films.
This provides ample opportunity to reunite audiences with beloved characters like Bill Murray’s Peter Venkman, Dan Aykroyd’s true believer Ray Stantz, Ernie Hudson’s stalwart Winston Zeddemore, and Annie Potts’ sardonic secretary Janine Melnitz. While Murray seems to be phoning it in with trademark boredom, the sheer joy radiating off of Aykroyd as he gets to slip back into his ghostbusting guise is palpable and infectious.
Stantz’s renewed passion for paranormal investigations even forms the emotional core of Frozen Empire’s elaborate, overstuffed mythology. Aykroyd channels his real-life proclivity for all things supernatural into Ray’s single-minded pursuit of decoding ancient artifacts containing eldritch entities like the film’s frosty big bad Garraka. It’s fan service of the highest order, and dangerously self-indulgent. But there’s no denying the visceral thrill of seeing the proton streams fire up once more.
Ultimately, however, this fixation on the past inhibits Frozen Empire from establishing its own identity or moving the franchise forward in any substantive way. The crass attempt to replicate the marketing juggernaut of Minions with legions of waddling marshmallow dweebs hampers any attempts at gravitas. And constant in-jokes and references, from reviving cantankerous bureaucrats to the crispy original film score, border on overkill for all but the most devoted Ghostheads.
The ending’s blatant sequel tease only makes one thing startlingly clear – this Frozen Empire has become an icy, impenetrable prison itself, shackled to the specter of what once was rather than daring to forge new supernatural adventures. Some ghosts, perhaps, are better left undisturbed.
Legacy Lapped by Frosty Failures
Stacking Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire up against the original 1984 supernatural comedy classic is admittedly an unfair fight from the outset. That seminal Bill Murray/Dan Aykroyd vehicle possessed a streak of anarchic, irreverent humor completely absent from this dour legacy sequel’s tone. The quotable one-liners and endearingly ramshackle team chemistry feel utterly irreplicable nearly four decades later.
Still, Frozen Empire markedly improves upon the tepid franchise relaunch of 2021’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife in several key areas. Where that film awkwardly kept the returning icons at arm’s length through hamfisted nostalgia baiting, this entry enthusiastically folds Venkman, Stantz, Zeddemore and company into the central ghost-battling antics. Though their appearances veer toward strained fanservice, it’s refreshing to see the original crew bustling about headquarters and exercising their paranormal expertise once more.
Director Gil Kenan, taking over from Jason Reitman, also displays a more assured command of the necessary horror/comedy balance. His intricate production design and haunting creature visualizations conjure an appropriately eerie mood, while seasoned comedic performers like Kumail Nanjiani and surprise MVP Patton Oswalt manage to land some big laughs. Of course, it’s still no iconic Staypuft Marshmallow Man, but the film admirably juggles chills and chuckles.
Ultimately, however, Frozen Empire’s lack of a cohesive, compelling narrative through-line prevents it from surpassing the muddled Afterlife as the superior latter-day Ghostbusters installment. Its insistence on venerating the nostalgic past leaves it feeling like a soulless brand extension, rather than a daring new visionary blueprint for future ghost-addled adventures. With Murray clearly running on fumes and Aykroyd the only original star wholeheartedly invested, perhaps it’s time to let these spectors rest in peace.
For now, Frozen Empire settles for a middle rank in the franchise – sporadically entertaining and visually dazzling, but frostbitten by its reluctance to break new ground. Until that ectoplasmic elephant is confronted head-on, we’re doomed to keep trapping sequels in carbon freeze.
The Last Crusade?
Does Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire represent a franchise futilely trapped in stasis, unable to escape the spectral shadow of its original glory? While an obvious improvement over the anemic Afterlife, this icy new installment still feels frozen in place, encased within layers of gauzy nostalgia and self-referential fan service.
For all its state-of-the-art visual splendor and bursts of irreverent wit, Frozen Empire suffers from a fatal lack of forward narrative momentum. Its overstuffed mythology and insistence on rehashing iconography in place of developing new characters prevents the film from establishing its own unique identity beyond mere brand extension. As the original crew’s energy wanes, one can’t help but wonder if we’re just delaying the inevitable.
That said, for undemanding viewers simply seeking an enjoyable reunion tour with their favorite proton pack-wielding parapsychologists, Frozen Empire musters just enough good-natured haunts and humorous thrills to recommend. Those with little attachment to the franchise canon would do better to let this historical artifact lie, and instead seek out more original and inspired cinematic ventures into the great beyond.
Looking ahead, it’s unclear whether the Ghostbusters still have unfinished business, or if they’ve already become ghosts of their former wisecracking selves. Any further sequels absolutely must exorcise the dogmatic nostalgia worship that’s gradually solidified this once riotous comedy series into a frozen, immovable relic. Perhaps it’s finally time to call off this last crusade into the paranormal, and let these beloved spirits rest eternally in carbonite peace. Who ya gonna call to put these Ghostbusters out of their anachronistic misery?
The Review
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire represents an admirable but flawed attempt to revive the iconic franchise's fading ectoplasmic energies. While a clear improvement over the somnambulant Afterlife, Gil Kenan's follow-up gets bogged down in excessive mythology, strained nostalgia worship, and an overall struggle to recapture the anarchic spirit that made the 1984 original a comedy classic. There are moments of inspired visual grandeur, some delightfully spooky scares, and the occasional burst of laugh-out-loud humor from the talented cast. But these bright spots are overshadowed by the film's dogged adherence to franchise legacy at the expense of boldly branching out in fresh, innovative directions. Frozen Empire is a reasonably entertaining haunted house thrill ride for fans, but otherwise lacks the fundamental substance to resonate as anything more than a brand-burnishing exercise trapped in stasis. Like the proton-blasted ghosts it depicts, this may sadly be a franchise in dire need of the spiritual world's equivalent of eternal rest.
PROS
- Impressive visual effects and creature designs
- Fun performances from the new cast members like Kumail Nanjiani
- Nostalgia hits for longtime fans with returns of original characters
- A few good scares and chuckle-worthy comedic moments
- Ambitious in trying to expand the franchise's mythology
CONS
- Overly beholden to nostalgia and references rather than new ideas
- Messy, convoluted plot that piles on too much mythology
- Uneven blend of horror and comedy tones
- Wastes talented actors like Bill Murray and Carrie Coon
- Relies too heavily on recreating iconic moments from the 1984 original
