Ever since its debut back in 1984, “Ghostbusters” has served itself as a pop-culture icon of a film. The movie was met with critical acclaim for its blend of comedy and horror and managed to spawn a few sequels. One of which is today’s subject: “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire”.
Released March 22, “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” serves as a sequel to “Ghostbusters: Afterlife”. Set two years after the last film, the Spengler family returns to New York as the new Ghostbusters, and they must save the world from a ghost who wishes to bring a second ice age, freezing the entire earth and killing every living being.
While “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” was a good movie to step back into the world of Ghostbusters and introduce new characters, it was ultimately a film that relied too heavily on nostalgia. “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire”, however, was a film many fans wanted. A classic adventure once again in New York City, with new ghosts, and doesn’t end up relying on nostalgia.
Another great thing about the movie is the use of effects, which adds an authentic feel to supernatural occurrences. The special effects team on this movie did a fantastic job when it came to combining old and modern Computer-generated imagery (CGI), for the ghosts. The effects aren’t just great for the ghosts though; the gadgets which the new Ghostbusters use in the film also have great effects. The gadgets are not only functional, but visually stunning. These effects don’t just enhance the functionality of the gadgets, but they also add excitement to the film.
Despite the areas where it shines, there are many negatives about the movie, like there are too many characters. The film tries to give every character some sort of spotlight, but it eventually becomes overwhelming and overcomplicates things. All of the actors do a good job of bringing their characters to life and have good comedic timing. The spotlights are Paul Rudd, and the original faces from the very first movie, Ernie Hudson and Dan Aykroyd, though these additions don’t save the movie from the amount of characters it has to work with.
Another issue with having so many characters is the film constantly jumps from one person to another. Because of this issue, some characters aren’t given the arc they deserve. Paul Rudd and Mackena Grace’s characters, Mr. Grooberson and Phoebe are given solid arcs, while Finn Wolfhard’s character, Trevor, doesn’t really have one, and it feels like his character fades into the background in most scenes. While Ernie Hudson and Dan Aykroyd have a good amount of screen time, returning faces from the first movie like Bill Murray and Annie Potts aren’t given as much screen time, and disappear from the movie for twenty minutes, before coming back at random moments.
Despite these problems with the main characters, are there any issues with the main villain?
While the villain of the movie is unique, cool and has a good build-up, the build-up of him takes a very long time in this movie. Once the villain of this movie does show up and has his fight with the Ghostbusters, it feels very disappointing and anti-climatic.
Overall, “Ghostbuster: Frozen Empire” is just an ‘ok’ movie. Fans of the franchise will enjoy this one, but many will not enjoy it as much.
