‘GHOSTBUSTERS: FROZEN EMPIRE’ Review: A Legacy Suffers From Freezer Burn

Courtney Howard // Film Critic

GHOSTBUSTERS: FROZEN EMPIRE

PG-13, 1 hour and 55 minutes

Directed by: Gil Kenan

Starring: Mckenna Grace, Carrie Coon, Paul Rudd, Ernie Hudson, Dan Aykroyd, Annie Potts, Emily Alyn Lind, Celeste O’Connor, Finn Wolfhard, Logan Kim, Patton Oswalt, William Atherton, James Acaster, Kumail Nanjiani, Bill Murray

After GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE proved to be a ghoulish reboot in more ways than one (not solely in its spectral spectacle featuring ghoulies galore, but also shamelessly reanimating a deceased Harold Ramis for a nostalgic cash grab), the franchise returns to its former New York City haunts in GHOSTBUSTERS: FROZEN EMPIRE. But rather than upping its story stakes, emotional resonance and entertainment value, director/ co-writer Gil Kenan and co-writer Jason Reitman shockingly fail to deliver a cohesive picture. Poorly paced and incredibly ill-conceived, it’s utterly baffling that, in this day and age of creative fan fiction, no one could come up with a more inventive, innovative tale than the one chosen as their follow-up.

The film’s (literal) cold open flashes back to 1904 where NYC firemen investigate suspicious activities at the Manhattan Adventurers Society. A group of its elite members were frozen to death while listening to a creepy gramophone recording and the lone survivor is protecting a brass orb containing a mysterious entity. It’s a shame the filmmakers abandon the past setting and fast-forward to the present, where Gary (Paul Rudd) and the Spengler family – 15-year-old Phoebe (Mckenna Grace), 18-year-old Trevor (Finn Wolfhard) and cool mom Callie (Carrie Coon) – are rescuing citizens from a sewer dragon ghost. And, in classic Ghostbuster fashion, after capturing it, they get yelled at by the Mayor (William Atherton), who wants to see them and their destructive antics permanently curbed.

If government scrutiny isn’t enough, Gary and the Spenglers are facing a mounting litany of challenges. Because Phoebe is a minor, she can no longer join her family on the job, which leaves her lonely, depressed and palling around with a perma-16-year-old apparition, Melody (Emily Alyn Lind). Plus, they’re cash-strapped, the Tribeca firehouse is falling apart (a very loose allusion to their family unit in similar disarray) and the ghost containment unit is chock full and close to erupting. Yet just as their billionaire benefactor Winston (Ernie Hudson) arrives with a new storage solution, havoc ensues when Garraka, the vengeful ghost imprisoned in the brass orb, is let loose to amass a ghost army for an ice-pocalypse that will end the world.

The screenplay suffers from substantial drops in its narrative momentum. Something significant – like an expository speech dump or a spooky set-up to the Big Bad’s impending appearance – will happen every now and then to move the plot along, but then it’s followed by an excruciating 20 minutes spinning its wheels on unfunny comedy bits. Rinse and repeat. Not only does it collapse under the weight of too many characters, their arcs (if even existent) aren’t properly developed either. Though Ray (Dan Aykroyd), Winston and aimless slacker Nadeem (Kumail Nanjiani), delightfully inform the proceedings, Janine (Annie Potts), Venkman (Bill Murray), Lucky (Celeste O’Connor), Podcast (Logan Kim), and engineer technician Lars Pinfield (James Acaster) aren’t given much to do except tag along. They’re barely one dimensional and disappear frequently. Patton Oswalt might as well be playing a character named Dr. Hubert Exposition with the reams of information he’s tasked to dispel. The demonic spirit holds little to no ominous, intimidating presence and, once the story finally congeals, the audience has no patience for its malevolence.

For as many times Phoebe triumphed as a young heroine with intuitive smarts, bravery and gumption in the previous chapter, this second time around she’s saddled with muddled motivations. This is glaringly obvious in the sequence where she sneaks Melody – whose abilities to move and feel objects have already been clearly defined – into the engineering lab. There’s virtually no logical reason for Phoebe to even want to separate her soul and body, temporarily transforming into a ghost, like she proceeds to do. If it was for romantic purposes as the score and performances heavily intone, it still doesn’t make any sense given Melody can feel sensation, on top of the filmmakers embarrassingly fumbling an LGBTQ+ inclusive aspect. Instead, it’s purely a maddening contrivance used to shuttle to the next act while not rocking the boat with conservatives.

While, for the most part, the film is dreadfully dull, it’s not entirely lacking in fun. Practical effects, especially those dealing with the Possessor ghost, a destructive, demented red laser light that bounces inhabiting one inanimate object to the next, earn top marks. The child’s sentient red tricycle that squeakily peddles to headquarters doors sounds and looks eerie. The papers that flutter about, pouring out of cabinets like a geyser, as well as the chair, TV set, vacuum cleaner and trash bag that come to life, capture a sense of whimsy and imagination.

Still, without well-drawn characters, meaningful sentiments and concise conflicts, there’s not much holding this sequel together but scotch tape and the hope that unsuspecting audiences will readily accept mediocrity. Any further sequel ideas should be put on ice for the foreseeable future.

Grade: D+

GHOSTBUSTERS: FROZEN EMPIRE opens in theaters on March 22.