Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire – Movie Review

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

Rating: 3 out of 5.

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

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

A storm approaches New York.

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.

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Madame Web – Movie Review

TL;DR – It is a film that shows that you can have a great cast and an exciting scenario, but that will still not lead to a coherent narrative that has an impact.

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

Everyone sees the Spider-Person attacking them for the first time.

Madame Web Review

Some of the best work that is happening in the superhero genre is coming out of Sony’s Spider-Man adjacent Marvel Universe. Unfortunately, that strength is found almost entirely in its animated division, and maybe Venom, if I have had a drink or two. Unfortunately, last year’s Morbius showed us that it is also the source of some of the worst films happening in this space. While we don’t reach those depths this week, we do get a movie that was screaming with potential but ended up being wholly lacklustre.

So to set the scene, in 1973, deep in the forests of Peru, a heavily pregnant Constance Webb (Kerry Bishé) and her security partner Ezekiel Sims (Tahar Rahim) are looking for a spider whose venom is meant to have potent healing properties. Constance finds the spider but is betrayed by Webb and left for dead. A local tribe rescues her, but they can only save the life of her newborn. In the present of 2003, Cassandra ‘Cassie’ Webb (Dakota Johnson) is now a paramedic, but when a near-death experience rocks her world, there might be more than just some trauma unlocked.

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Ghostbusters: Afterlife – Movie Review

TL;DR –  It unravelled a bit at the end, but I enjoyed the ride up till then.   

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid and post-credit scene

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

The family sit on a broken car.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife Review

With our next catch-up film, we get to go back to a movie released on New Year’s Day in 2022. I had meant to watch this well before this, but there was a lot of toxicity around the film building up to release, which put me off a bit, and it never worked into the schedule until now. But what failed at Halloween is now ready at Christmas, and it is time to dive in.  

So to set the scene, on a stormy night at Shandor Mining Co., a man leads an invisible entity back to his farm. He tries to catch it, but the power fails, and the creature attacks before he can recover. With his death, his farm in Summerville, Oklahoma, reverts to his estranged daughter Callie Spengler (Carrie Coon), who is in financial struggle and moves out there with her daughter Phoebe Spengler (Mckenna Grace) and son Trevor Spengler (Finn Wolfhard). They were hoping to be able to sell the place, but nothing is straightforward, and they have to stay for a while. Things are going okay, but for the daily earthquakes with no source. That is until Phoebe finds her grandfather’s old ghost trap, and she, her friend Podcast (Logan Kim), and teacher Gary Grooberson (Paul Rudd) open it up and let out a coming doom.  

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Freaky – Movie Review

TL;DR –  A film that finds that balance between horror and comedy, till maybe the last 10 minutes.  

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene

Awards

Nominated: Stunning Costumes & Most Fun

Freaky. Image Credit: Universal Pictures.

Freaky Review

You have probably watched more than a few films where two people running into each other, or a wish, or just the universe deciding to be a dick, cause the people to swap bodies. It is usually a parent and a child, and by the end of the film, they have both learnt the lesson that both of them have complicated lives and everyone should cut everyone else a lot of slack. I have seen a number of these films, and variations upon, however, I have never seen a horror/comedy version of this … well that is until now.

So to set the scene, Millie Kessler (Kathryn Newton) is your usual high school student that is not one of the popular kids, so thus is fodder for the popular kids that make her life hell. Adding to that, the Blissfield Butcher (Vince Vaughn) a notorious serial killer is still at large with no one being able to catch him. Well, one night as Millie is trying to walk home after her mother forgot her, the Butcher attacks. But instead of killing her, the knife he used swaps their bodies. So now Millie has a day to fix this before it becomes permanent and she takes the fall for all those murders … which are still going on but in a different body. 

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