Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

The Spengler family returns to where it all started – the iconic New York City firehouse – to team up with the original Ghostbusters, who've developed a top-secret research lab to take busting ghosts to the next level. But 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.

  • Released: 2023-12-20
  • Runtime: 115 minutes
  • Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy
  • Stars: Mckenna Grace, Finn Wolfhard, Carrie Coon, Kumail Nanjiani, Patton Oswalt, James Acaster, Emily Alyn Lind, Paul Rudd, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Bill Murray, Celeste O'Connor, Logan Kim, Annie Potts, William Atherton
  • Director: Jason Reitman, Gil Kenan
 Comments
  • laaustin-170-431418 - 30 June 2024
    Why?
    Went in thinking this might be entertaining not to be surprised. No it's just a money grab trying to merge the new with old cast and just didn't work. When you watch GhostBusters it's just not the story but the characters and how they react with each other. That magic is missing. You are left waiting for it to happen and it never delivers. You have so many memories of watching GB many times and you struggle to make it there this in this rehash it makes you wonder who gave it the green light trying to cash in with the Stranger Things audience who are way smarter then this movie trys to get them with.
  • PatrynXX - 21 June 2024
    One of their best. The others.. Missed the TV cartoon show...
    Or watched the wrong TV show. This one shoved Ghostbusters II all the way down to the floor and stepped on it. Clearly still has the heart of the original. Ignore the second movie and the spinoff. This pretty much had it all. Comedy, Okay her parents are really messed up. Smartest one in the room can't go out makes friends with a ghost and everything goes to heck. Half the movie is ripped out of the cartoon show. Got the underground lab and apparently Phoebe can be a ghost for 2 minutes unfortunately for her. Ghostbusters to me is about evolving. The second movie got into trouble for basically doing the exact same movie the first one did. I kinda list them them this way 1 and 3 are interchangeable . (somewhat tied) Not sure which. #4 is at third place and #2 is at last place far below... i just loved it . It was just hilarious. Albeit the ghosts appear to be back for good.. and D*ckless is put to bed. I can't wait till Slimer haunts him.... Sure not as good as #3 and both of them pretty much ignore both #2 and the spinoff. Well a little bit... Think I saw Miss Liberty in there.. Again didn't mind all the fake ghostbusters. I just knew the ones that counted.. now if the step dad figures out he was talking to a room someday whoops.... i'm all in for another.. Sorry I was with the troop who kept pushing for a third movie but sometime after 2000 gave up but I remained true to the first 2... Until Miss Grace shared some music and became the Heroness...

    Entertainment: 11/10 Re-Playable: 10/10 Quality?: Oh just fine 10/10

    Really nothing for me to complain about but that red thing.. well was it killed. And there's gonna be alot of tiny stay pufts running around..
  • inazumaarion - 12 June 2024
    False Advertising creates a Doomed Future
    It shouldn't be hard to make a concept like this fun. But somehow, we were all left with such an underwhelming experience with Frozen Empire. I had high hopes for this film, but by the time I reached the climax, I felt severely unsatisfied. At first the movie showed a lot of promise with all the new characters from Ghostbusters Afterlife interacting with the characters from the original cast from New York. It makes me really happy to see Bill Murray, Dan Akyroyd, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts, and William Atherton to reunite to star in more Ghostbusters films. And it can make the smallest scenes feel all the more heartwarming.

    Their's a scene where Ray is looking out the window with the new characters driving the Ectomobile with just the happiest look on his face. It's just one look, but the way Dan reacted to the sight just filled me joy. Or when Peter takes out some alcohol when the winter storm approaches from the base's secret compartment and says, "Want some courage?" These actors really know how to make people smile. And their presence feels magical.

    Which makes it all the more frustrating, when you realize how weak the story is. There are way too many characters to keep track of. On top of having all the new characters from the last film, we also have to pay attention to all the new major characters in this film. Like the ghost girl and the fire master. And while all these new and returning characters aren't annoying, it makes the plot feel incredibly messy when you realize the none of them are getting satisfying arcs.

    There's so much going on in the story, but at the same time very little is actually happening. When the frigid phantom Garraka, begins to freeze the entire city of New York, I assumed that the bigger cast would have some advantages here. By having all these different characters split up into teams fighting Garraka's ghost army across the city, it would lead to plenty of fun action scenes and great jokes.

    Hunting ghosts with ice physics, fighting an evil version of Frosty the Snowman, dodging undead fish in freezing pools, trying to convince the residents to escape the madness at the beach, it could be fantastic. But no, we have to take the super safe route and fight a total of two ghosts in the climax. I'm dead serious, the entire third act just takes at the firehouse, with only Garraka and the Possesser ghost acting as the only threats to humanity. It's insultingly boring and incredibly frustrating when you realize that this film's title was false advertising.

    There is no empire of ghosts to fight or even a frozen city to explore. Heck, I don't think half of citizens in the city even knew what was going on. But they all end up cheering for the Ghost Busters at the end, because of convenient timing, and it feels like I have been ripped off. There was no Frozen Empire to fight in this film after almost two hours of build up.

    While this isn't the worst entry in the series. I thought Ghostbusters: Answer the Call, was a much more annoying film with its pandering writing, but at the very least that film had some fun action scenes and a ton more ghost to fight. This film is so boring that I can't even think about recommending it. Clips with the old cast members maybe, but the not the entire film. I ain't afraid of no ghost, because their's nothing to fear in this dull sequel.
  • brandythefox - 2 June 2024
    Humorless and Wasted Opportunity
    Why do this at all if you're not focus on the gags? Bill Murray, Dank Ackroyd, Jeanie Potts - all comic legends from the original - end up as on-screen memorabilia. I've never seen a director and scriptwriter so blatantly waste Bill Murray like this. Even Paul Rudd, whose got a decent comic career, feels like the furniture.

    It's got production value, and good special effects, but without the SNL type of one-liners or zingers, this ends up a dry corporate recycling of IP.

    And what is with the directing? Gil Kenan messed this up. It feels like a lifeless powerpoint.

    Afterlife was mildly funny. This barely evokes a chuckle. Did everybody on this film forget that the franchise is a comedy franchise? What a wasted opportunity.