In 2016 we saw Ghostbusters rebooted, which did not go down well with a goodly portion of the fans or at the box office. In 2021 we saw the original continuity resurrected with Ghostbusters: Afterlife, showing what happened to our most beloved paranormal investigators in the decades since having a smackdown with a guy in a painting.
Now in 2024 we get the sequel to Afterlife, the 4th movie of the original timeline and the 5th movie overall – so lets take a look at Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire.
Before continuing a reminder: this is a movie review so that means SPOILERS AHEAD.
We catch up with the Spengler family two years after the events of Afterlife. Gone from hating her father, Callie Spengler has, for reasons unspecified, moved her family and her boyfriend into the old Firehouse in New York and taken over the Ghostbusters franchise. Unlike Afterlife which was required to spend a great chunk of the movie setting up the story and characters, we are treated to busting right from the get-go as they chase a ghostly dragon through the streets, causing a great deal of collateral damage along the way. This results in the Ghostbusters old nemesis Walter Peck, gone from an Environmental Assessor to Mayor, telling the family to bench daughter Pheobe or be put out of business.
Thus starts a series of events that see’s Pheobe make friends with a ghost-gal Lind, the old Containment Unit about to burst and the return of the old cast as Winston introduces the Spengler’s to a new generation of Ghostbusting research and equipment.
The story arcs for most characters follow a logical and interesting progression, spliced equally with ghostbusting sci-fi and humour. Trevor is busy trying to trap Slimer, who evidently has been living in the attic of the Firehouse since the events of GB2, Grooberson is trying to be less a friend and more a father, Winston is attempting to bring Ghostbusting into the 21st century, Pheobe is chafing at not being allowed to bust ghosts while simultaneously making friends with one and Ray and Podcast are on the trail of the new big bad – Garraka.
All of these arcs run simultaneously and intertwine, leading up to the final confrontation with the new bad guy, a cold fellow who can turn fear into ice and make other ghosts do his bidding. Whilst I loved Afterlife for what it was, a love letter to the original movies and Harold Ramis, I had felt that bringing back Gozer had been a mistake. Thus it was nice to see the team have a new enemy to fight with new powers and abilities, perhaps making him/it the most chilling enemy in the franchise to date.
Another thing Afterlife was missing was humour. Oh there was some here and there, but whilst Answer the Call pushed the needle too far in one direction, with cringeworthy forced jokes and slapstick comedy, Afterlife went a tad to far in the other direction, perhaps in direct reaction to the negativity surrounding ATC. Afterlife was by far the most serious of the GB movies and seemed to forget that at their core the originals were comedies. Frozen Empire returns the GB franchise to its roots with lots of humour interspersed throughout the movie, without taking it to a zany place that nobody wants to see.
Both the original and new casts do a great job in Frozen Empire, with well-rounded and relatable characters. Admittedly Venkman and Janine add little to the overall story and similarly Lucky and Podcast seem more along for the ride. That said, it’s a big cast of characters – there is only so much you can fit into a 2-hour flick and the absence of the aforementioned characters would have been something negatively commented upon had they been left out. One is left wondering how many more Ghostubusters movies Bill Murray will show up for before, like Rick Moranis, he decides he’s had enough of the franchise, as Venkman puts in far less of a showing than the other original cast members.
We are introduced to some new characters; Lars Pinfield who is the head researcher for Winston and Nadeem Razmaadi who apparently took his cues from watching the Avatar cartoon and can bend fire. Both these characters work well with Lars adding some much needed scientific paranormal examination which was previously Egon’s domain, and Nadeem being a weird guy played solely for laughs, taking the place of Luis Tully.
Is this the perfect Ghostbusters movie? No. Some of the story plots feel contrived, such as it never being spelled out why the family decided to take up Ghostbusting and Pheobe deciding it would be a grand idea to turn into a ghost for a few minutes. Walter Peck is a far less interesting foe as the Mayor – he’s more mellow and thus more boring. His shutting down of the Ghostbusters is a total non-event – they simply pick the lock and a van full of new Proton Packs shows up almost immediately. Peter and Janine felt shoehorned in, as did Slimer though it was wonderful to see him back and he arguably did more than he did in GB2. The new big bad being able to freeze the proton streams rendered the Ghostbusters too impotent far too easily, thereby leaving the gang with their throwers in their hands and too obviously setting Pheobe up to save the day. And really, that ghost-girl hung about for decades just so she could light a match – that was her arc? Don’t get me wrong, the frienship/budding romance was sweet, but still.
That said, these are minor quibbles. Overall this is a really fun and entertaining movie with a great cast – the old and new cohorts having blended together nicely. It’s funnier than Afterlife and has a more involved storyline than Ghostbusters 2. And perhaps the main takeaway from this movie is that it is and is meant to be fun – it’s fantasy about catching ghosts, something your more serious critics and fans sometimes forget. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire walks the tightrope of treating the existing lore with respect and delving into new territory and walks it well. If you are a spectre-head who doesn’t mind a chuckle then it is highly recommended you get to your nearest theatre, as watching all the busting will make you feel good!