The self-seriousness of the nostalgia-bait Ghostbusters sequel to open with Robert Frost’s poem Fire and Ice is almost laughable. And yet, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire— the fifth Ghostbusters movie and a direct sequel to 2021’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife— plays its ridiculous premise fairly straight. That fan service would abound in a movie that throws new characters alongside returning cast members from the original paranormal comedy Ghostbusters (which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year) was inevitable and expected. That it is as devoid of humor and fun as a block of ice was not.
Frozen Empire starts to feel stale almost as soon as it opens. Co-writers Jason Reitman and Gil Kenan (who collaborated on Afterlife as well; Kenan takes over directing duties this go around from Reitman, son of late director Ivan Reitman, who helmed the first two Ghostbusters movies and to whose memory this film is dedicated to) move the action from rural Oklahoma— a change of scenery that granted Afterlife a fresh twist— back to the firehouse that serves as the Ghostbusters headquarters in New York City. Callie Spengler (Carrie Coon), the daughter of original Ghostbuster Egon Spengler (played by the late Harold Ramis), her two teenage children Trevor (Finn Wolfhard) and Phoebe (Mckenna Grace), and boyfriend Gary Grooberson (Paul Rudd) are ghost-busting full time, despite the half-hearted attempts of NYC’s mayor Walter Peck (William Atherton) to hold the group accountable for the damage they cause in the act of containing ghosts. The real issue comes down to Phoebe— a minor— both being placed in so much danger and being the one taking charge in situations that ought to be handled by adults, so to appease Peck, a reluctant Phoebe is taken off the team until she is older. In the meantime, the firehouse’s ecto-containment unit is nearly at capacity and acting up, and original Ghostbuster Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd), now the proprietor of an occult shop, purchases an orb from a twitchy seller named Nadeem (Kumail Nanjiani) that may house a powerful and malevolent ancient force.
That’s a lot of characters and a lot of plot for one movie, not even including the side plot going on with Nadeem (who it turns out serves more of a purpose beyond forced comic relief) or the relationship the lonely Phoebe strikes up with a ghost her age (Emily Alyn Lind) who— guess what— also has ulterior motives. Phoebe takes center stage in this sequel, and Grace is more than capable of holding her own, but everything and everyone else feel written off. Take, for instance, the occasional asides to Trevor, who mentions twice that he’s 18 (so technically an adult) indicating a possible growing pains arc for him; yet, his character never grows, and doesn’t do anything of note in the movie besides attempt to get rid Slimer, who is loose and hanging out in the firehouse, devouring everything in sight. That inclusion of the iconic green ghost from the original Ghostbusters films is just one of many Easter eggs that weigh the already-overstuffed Frozen Empire down. There are also some cutesy bits involving mini Stay Puft marshmallow men, and the original Ghostbusters team (including Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson, and Annie Potts) suiting up and occasionally throwing out some corny dialogue. The fan service finale that concluded the otherwise fairly strong Afterlife was nauseating then, but here, it takes over a good portion of the film.
Not that there is a lot here that the absence of so many nostalgic bits would save, however. The tone and the awkward juggling of so much plot and so many characters (truly, some of them, like Afterlife leftovers Celeste O’Connor and Logan Kim, or Patton Oswalt’s library basement guru, could have been cut without impacting the film at all) is wildly uneven, and it’s strange to see a PG-13 film with a truly frightening villain being marketed toward children (my screening was specifically tagged as “kid-friendly”; a small child in the audience dressed as Slimer couldn’t get out of the theater fast enough). The frozen empire of the title is merely a blip in the film’s laborious, clumsily-CGI’ed climax. Coon and Rudd continue to have great chemistry,; there just isn’t enough of them here (someone, please cast them in an original romantic comedy— or literally anything but this). What made the original Ghostbusters such a hit was the easy chemistry of its cast, yes, but also its capable balancing of odd creatures and mild scares with a sense of fun. It never took itself too seriously. That’s something this sequel, in cramming everything else imaginable inside it, seems to have forgotten to include.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is now playing in theaters. Runtime: 115 minutes. Rated PG-13.
Katie at the Movies 