GHOSTBUSTERS: FROZEN EMPIRE (2024)
“Who you gonna call?”. These four words have become synonymous with one of the most cherished film franchises of all time and yet the latest flick in the series may prompt you to answer, “Someone who can give my time back”.
Ghostbusters isn’t just a cherished series, it is a cultural phenomenon, which may be why Hollywood has decided to start pumping them out like the next Fast and the Furious series. For those who remember, the original two films believed in being serious enough to provide a decent plot, scary enough to satisfy ghost movie fans, and slathered in a heavy enough dose of camp and comedy to make they enjoyable for a variety of ages. Sadly, the latter films have stripped almost all of that away and, instead, have decided to focus almost solely on comedy for the sake of comedy.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife, the previous film, provided enough nostalgia to be enjoyable and felt like a decent enough addition to the cannon but what Afterlife had, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire has sucked it up with a proton pack and stored it away in a ghost trap miles below the earth, leaving a mess in it’s tracks.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire picks up shortly after Afterlife. Wherein the Spanglers have moved into the famed fire house and have been doing their best to keep up on ridding New York City of it’s ghost problem. That is until there is some family drama and the city deems that (once again) the Ghostbusters may be a hazard to the city and it’s citizens. When a new threat looms on the horizon, in the form of a brass orb, the Spangler family, a team of old folks (the real reason we watch), and a “fire master” must team up and stop the icy demon within the orb from turning the world into an ice cube.
While Frozen Empire is a mess all around: shoddy script, lack of actual excitement, and a departure from “realism” (as much as there can be in a world of possessed statues and haunted paintings), it does it’s best to provide enjoyment for a couple hours and in the end, that is all that we are looking for. When there is actual action, it is fun but there isn’t enough of it to make the movie engaging.
The biggest failure that the film suffers from is the lack of an engaging final confrontation. It is worth being warned that the titular Frozen Empire lasts for a mere 15 minutes, which is a shame because the demon is hyped up so much throughout the film as being this horrifying presence that will end life itself if it gets loose, just to be brought down so easily.
While the ending is a letdown, the movie delivers some excellent cameos from the characters that we have grown to love over the years and if there is one reason to watch it, they are it.
Although the cameos make up for a lot of the messy story telling, it is safe to say that ff the latest movie in this beloved franchise shows us anything, it is that it may be time to put the Ghostbusters on ice for a while. At least until the studios can find someone who will bring back the heart and camp of the originals and deliver a worthwhile villain for our heroes to take on.
