Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

Ever since the lightning-in-a-bottle success of the 1984 original, Sony has been trying to recapture that magic.  But they never understood just what made that movie work so well.  So will the newest installment in this franchise leave you smiling or slimed?  Gil Kenan (Monster House) replaces Jason Reitman—who helmed the predecessor—as director.  Both men also share writing credits, with old and new characters appearing here.

This time, the action shifts back to New York: a wise choice on the filmmakers’ part.  After all, it’s where the ghostbusting activity has been happening in most of the past films in the franchise.  But where the Spengler quasi-family, with surrogate father Gary (Paul Rudd), mom Callie (Carrie Coon), Phoebe (Mckenna Grace) and her brother Trevor (Finn Wolfhard) brought a bit of heart to the sequel/reboot Afterlife, they are mostly sidelined here.  Grace is relegated to a subplot that, while eventually relevant to the overarching narrative, does not put her in the spotlight—a missed opportunity considering how much life she brought to the predecessor.  Wolfhard, who is hunting a familiar spectre in their attic, hardly gets enough screentime to even justify his existence this time, and it seems that (as with several others) he is just here to collect a paycheck.

After the family’s latest ghostly adventure causes severe property damage and endangers many civilians, Walter Peck (William Atherton) wants to shut down the Ghostbusters, who just relocated to a familiar firehouse in the city.  The kids point out that last time he did that, he nearly caused the end of the world.  Suffice to say that, like so many other characters and plot threads here, Atherton doesn’t amount to much.  Our plucky Ghostbusters both young and old soon become aware that a second Ice Age is on the way.  It wouldn’t be a Ghostbusters movie without some kind of demon bringing about the apocalypse, and ghosts flooding the streets, would it?

It’s time to strap on the proton packs again and save mankind.  But first, we need Patton Oswalt to deliver exposition dumps, and newcomer Kumail Nanjiani to help the team in a way that is never clearly explained.  Both actors are competent enough when it comes to comedic relief, especially the latter, but this is a perfect example of a syndrome that I also alluded to earlier.  There are simply too many characters, and out of all the original Ghostbusters cast, only Dan Aykroyd’s presence feels justified.  Sure, Murray and Hudson eventually show up to play, but while you might enjoy Murray’s natural charm, both cameos feel excessive.  Additionally, Celeste O’Connor and Logan Kim both reprise their roles from Afterlife, but it’s hard to imagine why they are even here.

Fan service extends beyond seeing the old team assemble again.  Those Mini Stay-Puft Marshmallow Men are running rampant again, but it’s like watching the Minions, as their only purpose is to look cute and sell toys.  If you thought that callbacks or cameos from the original film were cringeworthy last time, Kenan and Reitman have prepared a loaded arsenal, including a reference to the Ray Parker Jr. song.  What is most frustrating is that the formula was stale after Ghostbusters II tried to recycle it beat-for-beat, and here we get exactly what you expect. There is nothing new, and so it’s another predictable adventure.

At least the special effects, particularly on the Big Bad, are good.  Not every performance is bad, either.  For example, Rudd and Grace are still good in their roles, and there are a few jokes that land.  This is definitely one of the creepier entries, with some good scares in store. The film is dedicated to the late Ivan Reitman, which is nice. But Sony clearly has no intention of putting this ghost to rest anytime soon.

Rated PG-13

1 hour, 55 minutes