Review - Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024)

         Hey guys, Chuck here. A bit late to the party, I know, but I finally got a chance to see Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. Directed by Gil Kenan, this movie is the sequel to 2021's Ghostbusters: Afterlife, and sees the returns several actors from earlier films in the Ghostbusters franchise, such as Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, McKenna Grace, Finn Wolfhard, Logan Kim, Celeste O'Connor, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts, and William Atherton, and such newcomers Kumail Nanjiani, Emily Alyn Lynd, James Acaster, and Patton Oswalt. 

        So, it's been a few years since the incident in Summerville, and Callie, Trevor, and Phoebe Spengler, along with Gary Grooberson, have moved out of Oklahoma and into the New York firehouse, where the four of them carry out the daily operations as the Ghostbusters. However, during their effort to catch a ghost, the Sewer Dragon of Hell's Kitchen, Phoebe causes some property damage, and the Ghostbusters are reprimanded by current New York mayor Walter Peck. And it's true. Forty years later, and the man still has no dick. 

       Anyway, Phoebe is benched from duty, and she ends up befriending a ghost named Melody. But, Phoebe may be the key to helping prevent the return of an ancient paranormal being named Garraka, who in ancient times attempted to conquer the world with an undead army, and utilized the power of the Death Chill to freeze his opposition to death with the combined power of fear and ice. 

        Now, it was really nice to see the original Ghostbusters like Ray, Winston, and Venkman all getting more to do this go around, with Phoebe's friend Podcast working with Ray on studying possessed objects, Lucky working at the Paranormal Research center with Winston and Venkman, and the entire Ghostbusters operation, including the firehouse and the Paranormal Research center both being financed by Winston. And, I like how we get equal amounts of character moments with the original Ghostbusters and the Spenglers. Seeing them all working together to prevent, and eventually stop, this dangerous paranormal threat is just tons of fun. 

        The performances were just great overall. The returning Bill Murray as Venkman, Dan Aykroyd as Ray, Ernie Hudson as Winston, and Annie Potts as Janine were all fantastic, and I loved seeing Janine suit up as a Ghostbuster in this movie. And, it was a nice treat getting William Atherton to return as Peck. Having Peck, aka Dickless, in a position of power where he can shut down the Ghostbusters if he chooses is definitely a unique trajectory for this character, who once attempted to shut them down for environmental reasons. 

         But, it's Gary and the Spenglers that easily get the lion's share of screentime in this movie. And, both Paul Rudd and Carrie Coon are fantastic as Gary and Callie. Finn Wolfhard as Trevor is pretty much the same as he was in Afterlife, and McKenna Grace as Phoebe was, again, the highlight of the bunch. Her moments with the ghost girl Melody, played very well by Natalie Alyn Lynd, were genuinely enjoyable, and it went in a direction I wasn't quite expecting. Now, the two characters that I kinda wasn't a big fan of were Kumail Nanjiani as Nadeem and Patton Oswalt as Hubert. But, luckily, they don't get too much screentime, with Patton Oswalt only being in a minor segment of the movie. 

        The visual effects for the ghosts were fantastic. Seeing the likes of Slimer and the Sewer Dragon were really cool, and Garraka was genuinely terrifying. I also liked how we actually got a ghost that is able to appear and speak on a human level with the Melody character. Also, seeing the iconic gear, the Ecto-1, and the Ghostbusters motorcycle was really cool. Now, many fans have noted that the story of the movie very much feels like a feature length live-action episode of the animated series The Real Ghostbusters. And, I have to agree. This does feel like the kind of story that would have been a fun episode of The Real Ghostbusters cartoon, and I kinda like that. Creating a threat that is different from the likes of Gozer and Vigo from earlier movies was definitely smart, and Garraka definitely feels unique as a Ghostbusters enemy. 

         Now, as much as I loved the movie, I do have to admit that Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire definitely will divide audiences based on the level of humor. Longtime Ghostbusters fans will probably enjoy it, but newcomers may be a bit puzzled. But, I love the Ghostbusters series, and I thoroughly loved this movie. I'm giving Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire a rating of 4.85/5. 

        Alright guys, this is Chuck signing off, and I'll see you guys on Monday for my next review.