Describe This Movie In One Fake Watchmen Quote:
DR. MANHATTAN: The year is 1989, I am watching Road House and the new Ghostbusters. The year is 2024, I am watching Road House and the new Ghostbusters.Brief Plot Synopsis: Ghooooooooost ice.
Rating Using Random Objects Relevant To The Film: 2.5 Honk If You're Horny marquees out of 5.
Tagline: N/A
Better Tagline: "There are *non-evil* Spin Doctors CDs?"
Not So Brief Plot Synopsis: When last we left the Grooberson/Spenglers (Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard — if that's his real name —, McKenna Grace), they were in Oklahoma. So how they came to occupy Ghostbusters HQ in New York City is an exercise best left to those unconcerned with the appearance of an ancient freeze god. Or that same god's connection to an antiquarian adventurers' society. And if none of that interests you, just hang around and maybe Venkman will show up."Critical" Analysis: Most film franchises operate on a principle of diminishing returns. The original entries are (usually rightfully) fondly remembered, and followed by the inevitable cash grab. Subsequent movies fail to capture that initial magic (though may be perfectly okay in their own regard), while the series limps along until the nostalgia is no longer profitable.
Is Ghostbusters at this stage yet? Probably not, but you can see the end from here. Frozen Empire doesn't wallow in nostalgia the way Afterlife did, and follows a (mostly) more coherent story, while many of the movie's good feelings come from the return of the original Busters.
The weight of the film is largely carried by Grace's Phoebe, who chafes at being excluded from the specter battling shenanigans because of New York's strict paranormal child labor laws, or something. Her relationship with a young ghost (Emily Alyn Lind) looking to reunite with her family grounds the story, but is that a good thing? Haven't all the GB films aside from the original and 2016 been too emotionally heavy?
And what the hell is Podcast (Logan Kim) doing here? Getting past the fact his name is "Podcast," why is he in NYC at all? For that matter, why is Trevor's erstwhile girlfriend Lucky (Celeste O'Connor)? It's understandable that Callie and the kids would want to return to her father Egon's haunted home, but these two feel like child endangerment.
Which is also the angle used by the NYC Mayor (hint: you know him, you loathe him, from such '80s classics as Die Hard and Real Genius) to threaten to shut the Ghostbusters down for good. It's slightly less egregious an offense than making Phoebe your main character and relegating her to fourth banana on the movie poster.
As a direct sequel to Afterlife, Frozen Empire's an improvement. It doesn't wallow in nostalgia as much, and when it does, it's with a respectable amount of irreverence. Yes, the original (surviving) Ghostbusters all return, capably aided by Janine (Annie Potts), but with actual meat on the bones for the roles of Ray (Dan Aykroyd) and Winston (Ernie Hudson).
Bill Murray returns, too. He's introduced in one of the movie's many callbacks (the ESP testing scene) but is otherwise used sparingly. It's definitely the correct approach, as a little Venkman goes a long way.
At least he's having a good time. Frozen Empire suffers from the same problem of just about the rest of the GB sequels: it takes itself so seriously. It's still a comedy, but there's little of the anarchic whimsy that was a highlight of the 1984 original. In addition to Grace, Coon has the best arc, balancing her kids' desire to follow in granddad's footsteps with attempting to be a responsible mother.
And yet it all feels weirdly abbreviated. The original Ghostbusters went out of its way to show the city-wide effects of a trans-dimensional cross-rip, but aside from one establishing shot, we don't get any real feel for the effects of an extra-dimensional god releasing the spectral hounds. There's no rallying the city behind the Ghostbusters (until the end), and no real connection between the rise of our unfriendly god with anyone beyond the movie's inner circle.
But writers Jason Reitman and Gil Kenan (who also directs) have their formula. The core of this group can stick around for multiple flicks, or until Wolfhard gets bored or Grace wises up.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is in theaters today.
