Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Review

Ghostbusters! I feel about them the same way I feel about quit a few other nerd properties. I like it, but I wouldn't call myself a fan. I enjoyed the original two when I saw them as a kid. I didn't watch the 2016 reboot because of all the toxic nonsense around it. (Also I heard it was just okay so didn't want to waste a weekend on it.) And I enjoyed Afterlife. I thought the trailers were fun, but I was very concerned that Podcast didn't appear in any of them. Luckily he is in the movie, so the writers didn't forget about the best character. Hey, it also looks like Finn Wolfhard is actually gonna be doing something in this one!

What's The Movie About?

The crew from Ghostbusters Afterlife moved back to New York City and must face down a new threat in the form of Garraka, an ice ghost who wants to command an army of the undead.

What I Like.

I really like the family dynamic in this movie. Gary's arc of trying to become Phoebe and Trevor's new dad but not knowing where the boundaries lie was really sweet. I really like the entire Spengler family and their dynamic. Phoebe is honestly my favorite character in the whole franchise. I also really like that Walter Peck is back and is now the mayor of New York City, and he's just as correct about everything as he was in the original movie. Good to see that they kept that tradition going. I also like the new characters. Patton Oswald, Jamie Acaster, and Kumail Nanjiani are great additions and I thought they were funny. Speaking of which, the humor is better in this movie than the last one. I also like the worldbuilding. Not only is the villain pretty creepy and the Death Chill a cool power, but I like the expansion of the franchise. Literally, the Ghostbusters are expanding their franchise in the movie to include a new location where the new characters can study ghosts and invent new gadgets. 

What I Didn't Like.

Finn Wolfhard is, once again, completely superfluous in this movie. He tries to catch Slimer a couple times but mostly he's just in the background whining about stuff. Nothing against the actor, but please don't bring him back for a sequel unless you're going to actually give him a plotline. Hey, speaking of things to stop doing for the sequel, stop with the nostalgia bait! It's honestly so frustrating to watch these interesting new characters and ghosts have to split their screentime with references and callbacks that purely exist for people to point and go "I 'member that!" I don't mind having Dan Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson around doing their thing, but with the exception of Walter Peck, every time there was a call back to the first movie I just rolled my eyes. And the cast at this point is pretty huge, give some of the more interesting characters breathing room!

Final Summation.

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is good fun. I enjoyed watching it and I think it'll be a hit for fans as well as those coming back from Afterlife. I continue to enjoy the Phoebe character and would love to keep watching the Spengler family bust ghosts with science.