Year of Release: 2024
Director: Gil Kenan
Starring: Mckenna Grace, Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Kumail Nanjiani, Patton Oswalt, Celeste O'Connor, Logan Kim, Emily Alyn Lind, James Acaster, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts, William Atherton, Shelley Williams, Chris Tummings
Genre: Adventure, Comedy
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 5
Watch it on Amazon
Synopsis and Review
After successfully bringing back the "Ghostbusters" franchise to life with "Afterlife", writer/producer/director Jason Reitman has passed the baton to Gil Kenan, who also co-wrote that feature, and has made a name for himself in the past with the animated "Monster House". The narrative picks up three years after what occurred in "Afterlife", with the Spengler family now living in New York City, alongside Gary, and their friends Lucky and Podcast. They're operating from the prior Ghostbusters headquarters, and once again run into troubles with the authorities, specifically the mayor of the city, the original Ghostbusters archenemy, Walter Peck. The mayor takes issue with the fact that Phoebe who is still underage, is part of the team, upon which her mother and Gary decide to bench her for the time being. While outing her frustrations in the park Phoebe meets a friendly ghost, one by the name of Melody, who beats her at chess, and who is trying to reconnect with her long gone family. Simultaneously Ray and Podcast come across a strange brass orb, one that seems to be loaded with something supernatural, which discharges a cold wave that travels all the way to the Ghostbusters' firehouse headquarters and damages their containment unit. The orb is taken to Winston's new lab, where the team starts realizing there's more to it than they originally thought. Simultaneously the team realizes that the person who sold them the orb may have ties with whatever is contained in the orb. As they all try to connect the dots, Phoebe is trying to get closer to Melody, only to realize that she also has an agenda or her own, one that may not be as simple as it seems.
One of the biggest issues plaguing "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire" is the fact that it tries very hard to bring many plot threads together, and it eventually never truly satisfyingly solves many of them. What the original Ivan Reitman feature did so well, among many other things, was the simple aspect of this group of idiosyncratic scientists who specialized in studying ghosts, and how they collectively managed to save the city of New York. The key concept was: simplification of plot, married with interesting characters. "Frozen Empire" on the other hand, in a quest to stand its own ground, tries to mix a bit of teenage angst, the "not fitting in a new environment" angle, family dynamics that are still being sorted out, a buddying lesbian romance, all the while bringing the original Ghostbusters and their foes into the mix, a new supernatural entity and a "golden person" of sorts to battle it out, all the while hoping all these ingredients somehow make a coherent and engaging melange. And some indeed do work out, particularly the ones that involve the original team, since their chemistry and camaraderie is undeniable, however some of the family dynamics feel undernourished, particularly the interactions between Paul Rudd's character and the Spengler family. With so many plot points actually taking place, most of the characters feel under-developed, and with scarcely any screen time. Both Callie and Trevor Spengler barely make a mark on the film, whereas Phoebe's teenage angst and buddying lesbian romance both feel reheated and undercooked. While is commendable the creative team tried to tackle so many plot points, this is a film where story editing and focusing on a few threads would have allowed for the characters to have both more interaction and more depth (the relationship between Gary and Callie is also barely existent). The cast tries their best to bring the plot to life, but sadly even with their collective effort, they barely register much simply because their efforts get watered down (or frozen up). The production team is solid, including Dario Marianelli's score, Eric Steelberg's cinematography, and Eve Stewart's production design. It's not a dreadful film, but it's one that could have benefited from more attention to character detail.
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