Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024) * *

 

Directed by:  Gil Kenan

Starring:  Paul Rudd, Finn Wolfhard, Carrie Coon, McKenna Grace, Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson, William Atherton, Emily Ann Lind, Kumail Nanjiani, Patton Oswalt, Annie Potts

Ghostbusters is out of gas.  No amount of cameos or callbacks to the initial films will revive it.  Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire strains mightily, but even with the remaining original Ghostbusters (Aykroyd, Murray, and Hudson) lending a hand, it dies on the vine.  This version of the Ghostbusters aren't as funny or interesting as the previous incarnations while the plots are recycling the latest evil spirit that wants to destroy the world. 

I've often contended that villains who want to conquer or destroy the planet will find themselves very bored once they achieve their goal.  They should thank the Ghostbusters for thwarting them, so they will always have a dream to chase.   The malevolent force in this movie is contained in a metal sphere and when unleashed it will freeze everyone in New York.  Will it be today, New York? Tomorrow, the world?  We don't know, nor do we much care.   

Rudd, Coon, Grace, and Wolfhard are appealing actors not given much to do.   Phoebe, the youngest child and the closest to her grandfather Egon Spengler in terms of intelligence, develops a friendship with a ghost (Lind) which crosses over into attraction.   While it is a momentary thrill to see Aykroyd, Hudson, Murray, and Potts return to their original roles, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire feels overcrowded, especially squeezing in the Ghostbusters' enemy from the first film turned mayor Walter Peck (Atherton), who 40 years later is still a douchebag.  Tack on new characters in the form of a conduit (Nanjiani) and a parapsychology professor who understands the history of the sphere (Oswalt) and we're looking for a traffic cop to keep everything straight. 

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire even features the green slimer ghost from the first film, who is now a fan favorite, but the movie itself is a series of allusions and references to the first two films with a threadbare plot to hang them on.  The all-female Ghostbusters (2016) is left out.  I recall enjoying that one when it was released (I was definitely in the minority), although I haven't seen it since.   I figure you may as well invite Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, and company to the next Ghostbusters sequel.  Why not?