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Tripwire Reviews Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

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2 years ago

March 24, 2024

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A Ghost Of Its Former Self

Tripwire’s editor-in-chief Joel Meadows reviews Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire in cinemas now…

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
Directed By:Gil Kenan
Written By:Gil Kenan & Jason Reitman
Stars: Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace, Kumail Nanjiani, Patton Oswalt, Celeste O’Connor, Logan Kim, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson and Annie Potts

The fifth entry in the rather chequered history of Hollywood’s Ghostbusters franchise, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire comes three years after Afterlife. Afterlife set up a new status quo with the daughter and grandchildren of original Ghostbuster Egon Spengler (played by the late Harold Ramis) introduced living out in the sticks. Frozen Empire follows up on this with Callie Spengler (Carrie Coon) and her boyfriend Gary Grooberson (Rudd) who have relocated back to New York, living in the fire station from the original films with her bookish daughter Phoebe (Grace) and son the gawky Trevor (Wolfhard). When an ancient god with the power to destroy the world is unleashed , the Ghostbusters with the assistance of returning members Peter Venkman (Murray), Ray Stantz (Aykroyd), Winston Zeddemore (Hudson) and the Busters’ former secretary Jennine Melnitz ( Potts) are forced to once more grab their photon blasters in order to save Manhattan and the planet.

Afterlife did a decent job of remaking and updating the concepts of 1984’s original film for a more modern audience while still offering enough to appeal to the older fans of the first two films. Casting Wolfhard, with his huge fanbase thanks to Stranger Things, was a canny move too as was bringing back Murray and Aykroyd. Here the latter pair play a more prominent role with Stantz now running a slightly tawdry podcast where he investigates the supernatural. Original Buster Zeddemore is now the man behind the scenes who bankrolls the Ghostbusters’ activities. We are introduced to new cast member Nadeem Razmaadi (played by Pakistani actor Kumail Nanjiani) who inadvertently frees the ancient evil here but has the power to save the day.

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is a sometimes entertaining but very slight film with a halfway decent plot which doesn’t sustain its entire running time. The family dynamic between Callie, her kids and her partner Grooberson is decent enough and Rudd’s naturally likeable onscreen persona helps to keep the audience connected. Aykroyd is one of the best things here as he looks as if he is genuinely enjoying being part of it but Murray looks a little bit bored to be honest. New cast addition Patton Oswalt as occult expert Dr Hubert Wartzki adds a little to proceedings. Other new character Razmaadi becomes rather grating after a while too. The effects here are fairly solid but the script is very hit and miss.

Overall Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is a fairly lazy sequel which forces the viewer to ask the question: just what is the point of it? It feels like such a long time since the first film and what does this film bring to the Ghostbusters mythos?

Director Gil Kenan is competent enough here but Frozen Empire feels flat at times, like a poor retread of what we have seen before. The initial chemistry of the three original cast members has gone, obviously because one is no longer with us and Spengler’s relatives don’t quite gel to take their place.

The cinemas are full of remakes and reboots so maybe it’s time for the Ghostbusters to take a rest now.

JOEL MEADOWS

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is in cinemas now