Forty years ago, yes FORTY years ago, a movie premiered that changed the way we looked at ghost stories. Ghostbusters had a great cast made up of sharp-witted comedians, a wonderful director, a snappy script, an eye-catching logo, and a hit song that has endured for four decades. The successful movie spawned a sequel in 1989, a much less successful reboot in 2016, and a direct sequel in 2021 that introduced the offspring of one of the original ghostbusters, Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis; Knocked Up) called Ghostbusters: Afterlife. The fourth film in the franchise, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, will be released this week.
Three years after Callie (Carrie Coon; The Gilded Age), Trevor (Finn Wolfhard; Stranger Things), Phoebe (McKenna Grace; Gifted), and Gary Grooberson (Paul Rudd; Ant-Man) saved the world at Callie's Father's farm in Summerville, Oklahoma, they are all living in the original Ghostbusters headquarters at the old firehouse in New York City. There they revitalize the Ghostbusters company but get shut down by Mayor Walter Peck (William Atherton; Real Genius).
Meanwhile, Nadeem (Kumail Nanjiani; Stuber) sells his grandmother's artifacts to Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd; The Blues Brothers), one of whom holds an evil god that can freeze everyone and everything around it. Calling upon the original Ghostbusters - Stantz, Peter Venkman (Billy Murray; Lost in Translation), and Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson; The Family Business) - for assistance, the group does their best to trap the deity once again. However, things are never as easy as they seem.
The new cast of the franchise - Rudd, Grace, Coon, and Wolfhard - work well together and seem to enjoy their roles genuinely. They argue like any real family I know but show love and respect for one another, well at least for each other's characters. As with Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Grace is once again on center stage and manages to command every scene she is a part of, which is most of the movie in this case. Rudd is humorous as usual and it is fun to see the original cast, including Annie Potts (Designing Women), together once again.
While Aykroyd's and Ramis' script from 1984 was sharp, witty, and interesting, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, isn't nearly as strong. Writers Gil Kenan (A Boy Called Christmas), Ivan Reitman (Legal Eagles), and Jason Reitman (Up In The Air) take a much more serious tone with this story but leave some of the plot feeling incomplete. Melody's story keeps the audience wondering exactly what happened and even the deity's tale isn't fully explained, leaving the story feeling incomplete.
The special effects are top-notch but the main ghost reminded me a little bit of Vecna from Stranger Things. With its long, thin fingers and its bony body complete with big horns on its head, it was truly ugly and scary. Of course, no Ghostbusters movie would be complete without Slimer and he doesn't disappoint, even 40 years later.
With so much to work with one might think Ghostbusters: Frozen Kingdom would be gangbusters, but sadly it is not. At a two-hour run time, the film has plenty of time to ramp up to the third act. However, ramping up for an hour and 45 minutes is a bit long only to add the final conflict in the last 15 minutes, making the movie drag on excessively. The story also has a sprinkling here and there of Viggo from the original sequel.
The movie is long and somewhat disappointing but it does pay homage where it can and those moments are not only heartwarming, but are woven nicely into the script. With ups and downs and unfinished stories to tell, this sequel falls far from the tree. If you go in with lower expectations and enjoy the nostalgia factor, you will walk out with a slight smile on your face.
Grade: C
