The franchise continues, is the latest chapter more than the just nostalgic ghosts?
Cast and Crew
Director: Gil Kenan
Writers: Gil Kenan, Jason Reitman, Ivan Reitman
Staring:
Paul Rudd as Gary Grooberson
Carrie Coon as Callie Spengler
Finn Wolfhard as Trevor Spengler
Mckenna Grace as Phoebe Spengler
Kumail Nanjiani as Nadeem
Patton Oswalt as Dr. Hubert Wartzki
Celeste O’Connor as Lucky
Logan Kim as Podcast
Emily Alyn Lind as Melody
James Acaster as Lars
Bill Murray as Peter Venkman
Dan Aykroyd as Ray Stantz
Ernie Hudson as Winston Zeddemore
Annie Potts as Janine Melnitz
William Atherton as Mayor Walter Peck
Premise
When the discovery of an ancient artifact unleashes an evil force, Ghostbusters new and old must join forces to protect their home and save the world from a second ice age. (From IMDB)
High Point
Phoebe meeting Melody and the two hitting it off is very cute.
Low Point
Phoebe makes some stupid decisions when trying to impress Melody, decisions that are only made for the sake of the plot.1
The Scores:
Originality: 2/6 This is a new chapter and a new story for the updated Ghostbuster’s franchise. We’ve seen them get back together already. We’ve seen them being arguing with city hall. The stakes get raised, as they do in every sequel. They do try to expand the world of the Ghosbusters with more characters, so they have new places to go with it, but there isn’t a lot of that exposed here.
Effects: 6/6 The movie lives up to the big budget, though the detail may have been too detailed. Slimer may not have needed to have a butt.
Acting: 4/6 The acting is believable, though but even their previous movie offered better acting.
Emotional Response: 3/6 The characters struggles don’t pull you in the way we’ve seen as we’ve seen before in the franchise, which isn’t really known for its emotional resonance.2
Story: 3/6 The movie hold attention but with a cast of so many nobody really gets time to shine. Melody is given an arc that is entirely predictable, as does Nadeem. Trevor has nothing to do, so they borrow Slimer just to add some extra nostalgia.
Production: 5/6 The committee that worked on the movie met each of their requirements.
Overall: 4/6 It may be ‘just another chapter’ for the Ghostbusters franchise, but it’s still Ghostbusters.
In total, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024) receive 27/42
1Before the comments about how young kids make stupid decisions like that, I was watching with my 15 and 11 year old daughters, both of whom felt that was unbelievably dumb.
2Full Disclosure, I watched this immediately after Godzilla Minus One.