TL;DR – There are some interesting moments here, and the cast is having fun, but the story feels more contrived than anything else.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid for the Amazon Prime service that viewed this film.

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Review –

The Ghostbusters Franchise has taken some turns in the last 40-odd years. In many ways, it has shifted from being at the forefront of the genre to being utterly indicative of their time. The question I have is if this new entry will tread along the same tired lines or try to do something new.

So, to set the scene, back in 1904, firefighters in New York stumbled across a peculiar scene when investigating a fire, where the room was frozen and not burnt. In the present, Gary Grooberson (Paul Rudd), Callie Spengler (Carrie Coon), Trevor Spengler (Finn Wolfhard), and Phoebe Spengler (Mckenna Grace) are trying to hunt down the Hell’s Kitchen Sewer Dragon. But when Nadeem Razmaadi (Kumail Nanjiani) brings an old Mesopotamian ghost trap to Dr. Raymond “Ray” Stantz (Dan Aykroyd), little does he know what he just unleashed on the world.

While there were a lot of frustrating elements here, it is clear that the cast has a good rapport with each other. That is so important when you are trying to get some of the more esoteric parts of the film to land. They are clearly playing with a lot of nostalgia here, much like the last film, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, but it fits a lot better this time around. There were some cool, pun-intended, ideas in parts of the film. I think the hand trying to crank the old record player that has snapped off in the cold was a particularly macabre visual. Also, the big bad was an interesting design that felt absolutely menacing, and the Mini-Pufts still remain adorable yet awful.

However, while there were these elements that I really liked, it felt like, at nearly every turn, they chose to go with contrived conflict to motivate the story. Getting all the main cast from the last film to suddenly be in New York now was a clunky start to everything. Also, nearly all of Phoebe Spengler’s arc gave me flashbacks to My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 with its deep frustration. The whole way they got Garraka released felt like some sort of weird Madlib that they put to film. Also, if you are going to cast comedians like James Acaster, don’t dull them down; let them do what they are good at. Also, the less said about the clear backdoor plot going on here, the better.  

In the end, do we recommend Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire? Look, it is not a bad film, but it is not a great one either. It has good ideas in places, but then it is also weighed down by one contrived choice after another. There was probably a good tight 90-minute film in here somewhere, but alas, this was not what we got. Have you watched Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire?, let us know what you thought in the comments below. If you liked Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, we would recommend to you Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

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Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
Directed by – Gil Kenan
Written by – Gil Kenan & Jason Reitman
Based on – Ghostbusters by Dan Aykroyd & Harold Ramis
Music by – Dario Marianelli
Cinematography by – Eric Steelberg
Edited by – Nathan Orloff & Shane Reid
Production/Distribution Companies – Columbia Pictures, Ghost Corps, Right of Way Films & Sony Pictures
Starring – Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace, Kumail Nanjiani, Patton Oswalt, Celeste O’Connor, Logan Kim, Emily Alyn Lind, James Acaster, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts & William Atherton
Rating – Australia: PG; Canada: PG; Germany: 12; New Zealand: PG; United Kingdom: 12A; United States: PG-13