Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

Starring: Carrie Coon, Paul Rudd, Mckenna Grace, Finn Wolfhard, Kumail Nanjiani, Patton Oswalt, Logan Kim, Celeste O'Connor, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts, James Acaster, William Atherton
Directed by: Gil Kenan
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Comedy, Action
2024

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: An ancient artifact threatens to unleash a global disaster unless the new (and old) Ghostbusters can stop it.

Review:

Tim: I was really looking forward to Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. After the surprisingly good (and emotional) Afterlife, I was excited about this reinvigorated franchise. Unfortunately, director Gil Kenan is no Jason Reitman. In his hands (and a rough script), this film is a clear decline from the previous movie. Oh sure, it's decent- it has some worthwhile moments. But, as a whole, it's hard not to be disappointed by how quickly this movie decreased in quality.

The biggest issue I had with the film is the script. Kenan and I believe Reitman worked on the script and it's a mess. There's way, way, way too much crammed into this film. When you look at the sheer number of characters- the new Ghostbusters, all the returning ones, and then a bunch of random other characters (many who are pointless and a bit of a distraction) are thrown into the mix. Even at 1 hour, 55 minutes, this ruins the movie. There's far too many characters, too many distractions. It's a total mess. There was a good story here, but it's buried underneath far too much noise. That is really frustrating to me. You saw a bit of that in the previous film, but it's totally unchecked here. The movie is sunk by excess. Why is it so far to tell a more focused story? We need to narrow the focus to fewer characters and go more in depth. That's what truly sinks this film.

The cast is good, but again, far too many people. Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, and Mckenna Grace need to be the focus. Grace really takes center stage here, which is a great decision. Wolfhard felt like he was pushed too much to the sidelines. Rudd and Coon didn't get nearly enough to do. We spend way too much time with Kumail Nanjiani. I like him as an actor and he brings great energy to the film. His role didn't need to be as involved as it was, though. I also like Patton Oswalt, but it was yet another new character we needed to spend time with. Logan Kim should have been excised from the film completely, and the same can be said for Celeste O'Connor. She's solid, but the movie didn't need her presence. I like Emily Alyn Lind, but it felt like we spent a ton of time with her character- it's just too much, given all the other unnecessary characters. Remember, we also need time for the original team- Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, and Annie Potts. It was great seeing William Atherton once again, and he's kept to a few scenes only- but again, it's just too much.

The story itself felt fine. I didn't love it, but I get why certain decisions were made. They were working toward creating strife within the Spengler family. Grace's character (Phoebe) is perhaps the standout from these reboot movies and it was right for her to take center stage. She's alienated from her family for much of the film. That rarely works in movies- the character interactions are what we love to see. However, I did feel like seeing her learn and mature was a good narrative decision. What doesn't help are about a dozen ridiculous things that are completely illogical. I rolled my eyes at numerous decisions in the script. As a whole, the movie plays it fairly safe- the broader villain feels like it fits right in with the larger franchise context. This aspect of the movie was fine, but never great.

The technical side of the film worked well. The visual effects are strong and I liked how the ghosts were displayed. There's some cool visuals throughout the film. The sound effects were excellent- I'll never tire of hearing the Ecto-1 siren as it weaves through traffic. The movie is definitely stronger technically than from a narrative and character standpoint.

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is decent, but it's a definite disappointment. I'd say it's slightly better than the failed 2016 film, but otherwise is the worst of the "main" franchise films. It had potential to be better, but Kenan was probably not the right choice to direct it. The script is where the problems really start (and Kenan is guilty there, too). I had an okay time watching this, but it's a shame that this is the film we ended up with.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Ghostbusters, Ghostbusters II, Ghostbusters (2016), Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Poltergeist (2015)