MOVIE: Ghostbusters – Frozen Empire (2024)

by benmweilertNo Comments
Ghostbusters: Frozen EmpireYear: 2024Rating: PG-13Length: 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...
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MOVIE: Ghostbusters – Afterlife (2021)

by benmweilert1 Comment
Ghostbusters: Afterlife Year: 2021 Rating: PG-13 Length: 124 minutes / 2.07 hours Hollywood nostalgia is a huge moneymaker for my generation. Movies we grew up loving like Star Wars (1977), Jurassic Park (1993), and Ghostbusters (1984) have all received "requels" in The Force Awakens (2015), Jurassic World (2015), and Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021). These movies act as sequels, reboots, and remakes that take advantage of years of movie-making technology that weren't available when the originals came out (even if the originals created amazing spectacles without excessive CGI). The question is: are these requels still entertaining? For Ghostbusters: Afterlife, I think it certainly did a better job than Ghostbusters (2016) did. While these types of films rely heavily on call-backs and recycled plots from the movies that came before them, that's part of what makes them fun nostalgia-fueled flicks. New characters can give a spark of something different, even if the story beats are still the same as before. Case in point: I absolutely loved Paul Rudd's...
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MOVIE: Ghostbusters (2016)

by benmweilertNo Comments
Ghostbusters Year: 2016 Rating: PG-13 Length: 116 minutes / 1.93 hours Look, I'm all for giving women a shot in traditionally male-focused franchises, but when all it boils down to is an application of "Rule 63," then I don't think we're doing these women justice. In this remake/reboot, the visuals and weapons get an upgrade, and that's about it. If they truly wanted to make a "Ghostbusters with women," then the characters shouldn't have been so interchangeable with the originals. I understand the need to maintain the parallels to the original, but these characters come off more like men in women's bodies than women who have their own, unique challenges and approaches to solving problems. If anything, Ghostbusters (2016) shows how extraordinary the comedy and special effects of the original Ghostbusters (1984) were. While the original usually earned its laughs with a wink, this remake had jokes that mostly relied upon awkward and uncomfortable situations or faux pas. I get that sometimes the improvisational nature of comedy can work for...
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