Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, 2024
✫ 6/10
Favorite Character: Phoebe Spengler
“I’ll see you in the fabric of the universe”
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, released March 22, 2024, is the most recent installment of the beloved Ghostbusters franchise starring the new generation of Ghostbusters. The film follows the Spengler family on a new mission as they try to juggle the issues that working with family brings while simultaneously trying to figure out how to defeat an ancient enemy that poses a significant threat to the world. With the fate of the world at risk the Spengler family teams up with new and old Ghostbuster friends to save the day.
While this film is the perfect family movie since the villain is underwhelming and the characters are relatable, there isn’t much appeal to it outside of the fact that it is a Ghostbusters movie with big names starring in it.
Despite the film falling under the comedy genre, the jokes in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire fall flat numerous times throughout the movie. With actors like Paul Rudd, Kumail Ali Nanjiani, and Finn Wolfhard (Mr. Gooberson, Nazeem Razmaadi, and Trevor Spengler) who have shown that they can handle comedy just fine, it’s hard to believe that it’s their comedic delivery at fault rather than just poorly timed jokes. Although some of the characters serve a greater purpose in the film making it much better than most franchises' use of nostalgia, the original Ghostbusters team for nostalgia points to draw viewers in is extremely hard to miss. Another glaring issue with the film is the underwhelming main villain. The main villain has so much potential to leave the audience on the edge of their seats in the moments leading up to the third act, but the build-up towards the villain leaves much to be desired. Although the CGI could be better that is not entirely what makes the villain less threatening than he could be, the storytelling is. There’s more than one conflict within the movie which makes it hard for the audience to focus on the main villain and the threats that arise with this ancient being who should be much scarier than this film portrays him as.
However, despite its’ flaws the movie has a few loveable moments. One of the major saving graces of this movie is Phoebe Spengler (McKenna Grace) and her intriguing relationship with Melody (Emily Alyn Lind). Phoebe Spengler is shown as a diverse and relatable character throughout the film which is shown as she struggles internally for most of the second act. Phoebe finally meets another girl her age who understands her in a way she feels her family cannot, leading her to make poor decisions. Complicated female friendships that are almost tragic add so much dimension to the characters involved which the writers understand that in a way other writers in both television and film do not. Despite the use of nostalgia to bring in more viewers, it’s clear that the writers and producers still care about and respect Ghostbusters and its’ older fans. It helps that the writers of this film include the original Ghostbusters cast along with Paul Rudd, Ivan Reitman, and Carrie Coon.
Overall, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire has its’ highs and lows, but it’s the perfect movie to watch with family. It is a good watch when you’re just having fun with it and with a flawed yet relatable group of characters, everyone in the family will be sure to enjoy at least some aspect of the film and even see themselves in some characters. If more time and patience in writing and pre-production had been put into this film, it could’ve had some serious potential.
