When there is something strange in the neighborhood, who are you going to call? Ghostbusters is back and the next installment in the franchise is picking up where we left off in Afterlife but with a completely stand-alone and new villain. So how does it hold up? Our review is after the video, but don’t be afraid of no ghosts our review is spoiler-free (mostly).
The Spengler family returns to the iconic New York City firehouse where the original Ghostbusters have taken ghost-busting to the next level. When the discovery of an ancient artifact unleashes an evil force, Ghostbusters new and old must unite to protect their home and save the world from a second ice age.
Review
Ghostbusters Frozen Empire picks up with the new generation of the Spangler family taking over the old firehouse and keeping the business of ghost busting alive and well. “Well” might be a bit misleading considering they are still causing havoc across the city as they always did in the past. The film’s story centers around a new villain, which can scare you to death with its ice-cold presence. The back story to this new enemy leads us into a short flashback at the start of the film and later on with Ray leading the charge into digging into the occult ties and historical elements of the story.
Casting wise there were so many familiar faces that were brought into the story, but they were not done in a way that felt overstuffed or unimportant to the story as a whole. Whether it was the current Mayor, played by a former EPA agent, or the return of one of the faces in the original first ghost sighting they handled. It felt like life continued, and everyone existed as you would expect. The film is of course playing into the nostalgia elements but even a new generation of fans can still enjoy the film without caring too much about any past iterations of the franchise. In fact, they may want to go back and watch them afterward.
The story itself was very straightforward and campy if not a little corny at times. However, that is what I expect from Ghostbusters, especially if we look back to the original two stories that were told. Whether it’s the little Stay Puff’s or the goofy banter from the characters and the ghosts, it was just enjoyable entertainment at its best. If I had to fault the film at all it would be that it was a tad long in the middle. They spent too much time trying to rebuild the world and catch everyone up on the state of things versus peppering in the building doom of the villain. Again minor cause they did start that build up about 1/3 into the film but they could have cut back a little.
At the heart of this story is young Phoebe and how she comes to grips with being a Spangler, a teenager, and in most cases the smartest one in the room. But it is also about how Callie and Mr. Grooberson are attempting to build a new life and be a family. This is while the original Ghostbusters guide them in the ghostbusting legacy and future. It felt like a bit of a handoff by the original Ghostbusters officially to Callie and her family.
From start to finish the story is clean and comes to a nice and expected conclusion and I have hopes that there could be more with the new cast moving forward, and letting the original cast take a backseat into the future of the franchise or appear only where it makes sense. This feels like a film that would have been ideal for a summer release, but still it was a solid and fun addition to the franchise.
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