Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
Year: 2024
Rating: PG-13
Length: 115 minutes / 1.92 hours
After the delightful reboot that was Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021), I was excited to see that they would make a sequel with Ghosbusters: Frozen Empire (2024). Since Afterlife had taken the content more seriously than previous iterations of the franchise, I wanted to see if they’d continue that path in a meaningful way. Not that relying on comedy was a bad thing, but it felt like there was more to explore with these new characters. Unfortunately, there seemed to be a compromise of the old and the new in Frozen Empire.
80s nostalgia is huge in Hollywood right now, but I’d rather it stay as cameo appearances like in Afterlife than in bigger sub-plots like it was in this movie. There were almost too many character arcs in this film, most of which moved at a glacial pace for its almost 2-hour runtime. The ones that were interesting (and focused on the newer characters)—like the ghost girlfriend—weren’t ever tied into the major action, which itself felt like it took forever to get started. Leaning so heavily on the previous cast of the original movies felt like a crutch that shouldn’t have been used.
I’m all for franchises rebooting themselves with a new set of characters, but at least commit to it. This lukewarm coddling to older generations will never get new younger audiences engaged because they’ll see it for the cash grab that it is. Sure, visual effects have made movies like this look great. However, the heart of the movie is missing. That’s what I think Jason Reitman got right in Afterlife and was ultimately missing in this half-microwaved trip down memory lane.
A reboot sequel that doesn’t know who it’s trying to appeal to, I give Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire 2.5 stars out of 5.
1/2
