I’ve got a soft spot for the first Ghostbusters (1984). My movie addiction was reawakened in the late 70s and early 80s. The first two Star Wars movies, Alien, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Blade Runner … the parade of adventure and science fiction hits just seemed to keep coming. Though some evoked a few smirks, Ghostbusters was the first straight-up comedy. The fresh (for then) plot, bouncy theme music … I was enjoying it all, right up to finale when the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man saunters into view. But after four decades I’ve forgiven even that.
The franchise’s reboot and sequels have struggled. But I was glad to give Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire a try. It’s a follow-up to Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021), which I haven’t seen yet, and you don’t need to see it either in order to appreciate Frozen Empire. Afterlife was a critical disappointment but enough of a financial success (take that, eggheads) to make Frozen Empire possible.
Returning from their Afterlife adventure in Oklahoma, the new ghostbusting crew has set up shop in the original New York City headquarters. Callie Spengler (Carrie Coon), daughter of original ghostbuster Egon Spengler, and boyfriend Gary Grooberson (Paul Rudd) are doing their best to keep the tradition going with Carrie’s kids Trevor (Finn Wolfhard) and Phoebe (Mckenna Grace).
This “tradition” includes the familiar plot device: One of the crew (Phoebe) has to destroy a beloved statue in front of the city library that a gruesome ghost was bringing to life. Mayor Peck, using the fact Phoebe is under age to work legally as leverage, warns them that any further mishaps will be grounds to shut them down and seize their shop. Phoebe’s taken out of action, which any ghostbusting teen would find unforgivably unfair.
It’s futile to try summarizing all the plot threads that eventually converge. We can mention a few. Phoebe befriends teenaged ghost Melody, who of course is interested in being more than just a gal pal. Then there’s Nadeem Razmaadi (Kumail Nanjiani), a huckster who sells original ghostbuster Dr. Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd) a Mesopotamian brass orb that’s entrapping a bad spirit called Garraka (as described by Dr. Hubert Wartzki (Patton Oswalt). We saw what that demon’s capable of during the introductory scene, when, in 1904, he/it freezes to death a roomful of gents in smoking jackets. And Callie and Gary are racing against time to find a solution for their chief problem: their ghost disposal device is getting full and is in danger of disgorging many years’ worth of spirits.
Frozen Empire might well have also been subtitled “family reunion.” All the other surviving ghostbusters zoom in for the final conflict: Dr. Peter Venkman (Bill Murray), Dr. Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson), and even office manager Janine Melnitz (Annie Potts).
That doesn’t begin to cover everything that goes on. Still …
See It
Frozen Empire doesn’t set out to do anything but entertain. No pretensions, no underlying subtext. Just good fun. And especially good, clean fun. No gore, no violence, no nudes. Not that we object to any of that when justified, but sometimes you just want to watch something amusing and enjoy your ice cream.
In the acting department? Ackroyd, Murray, Hudson, Potts … all are just fine doing their old-timer routines. Coons and Rudd … honestly, they don’t really read as a romantic couple to me. The enormously talented Coons sadly has very little to do, and the equally talented Rudd comes off rather milquetoast-ish as the dad stand-in the kids acquired in Oklahoma during Afterlife. Finn Wolfhard … also just fine playing the son/brother in this ensemble cast in which it’s hard to stand out.
But there are standouts. Kumail Nanjiani as Nadeem was required to be annoying, but funny in his annoying-ness. He’s got to be the huckster who’s obsessed with making a few bucks while trying to make it seem like he’s not. He’s the initially reluctant hero who embraces his role. Nanjiani hits the right marks; he makes Nadeem just silly enough to be entertaining without crossing the line into off-putting.
The real standout is Mckenna Grace. She’s the tossled-haired, super-smart, and super-nerdy teen who feels overlooked and especially misunderstood. Grace gives us a Phoebe who never feels like an irritating teenager but simply a brave, and occasionally naïve and vulnerable, young woman who is the real hero and emotional core of the family.
Don’t expect any twist endings. It all comes together in the way you know that it must, with the ghostbusters emerging as the only guardians capable of saving the city from becoming a New Antarctica, and, in so doing, humiliating the mayor.
Hang on for the obligatory mid-credits teaser. I didn’t care for 1984’s Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, but the mini marshmallows are kinda cute (if a tad gross).