Ghostbusters : Frozen Empire – A simple but fun trip down memory lane (Review)

Who ya gonna call? The Ghostbusters are back and while still heavily relying on some nostalgia have pushed out a fun, if by all accounts simple and play by the book, film full of trapping ghosts (which isn’t that what we really want anyway).

Following the events of the last film the Spenglers are now living out of the iconic firehouse and working as Ghostbusters. After an incident ends with some major damage to the city though the mayor continues his path to ending the Ghostbusters which results in youngest member Phoebe being taken out of the team due to being underage. From here we get introduced to a slew of new characters, artifacts, and ghosts as an evil ghost is unleashed on NYC with the purpose of ending the world.

Between all this we get introduced to a slew of characters including a ghost girl, a few research lab workers, someone harboring a deep secret holding the orb that unleashes our bad guy, and more. At times it almost becomes overwhelming when everyone is around each other as the film tries to introduce new people and a new story line that could continue the franchise while also trying to include the old Ghostbusters into this as well.

Not everyone here works great though and while none are particularly bad we do get some great stand outs. Kumail Nanjiani, who ends up being a major role in the story, is full of one liners that hit great. Paul Rudd also delivers a handful of one liners here as well as attempting his best, with what the script has, to give the only heartfelt role in this film. Finn Wolfhard gets very little of importance to do in this film, though McKenna Grace is again the shining star of the movie. As expected too seeing Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, and Bill Murray in any capacity together just feels great even if some of them are showing their age a lot more than others.

Thankfully while the main story villian isn’t anything memorable in looks or anything and the sub plot we get here for the most part is terrible, the films action is a lot of fun. We get to see a wide range of ghosts throughout here both old and new. Slimer and our tiny Marshmellow Flush men are a hoot to see and some of the newer ghosts are fun and interesting. The comedy here works a lot as well with the one liners flowing throughout which helps out here.

While the film does nothing new or groundbreaking, similar to the original Ghostbusters 2, it just ends up being fun. If they can work out the kinks here with the next one, which I’d assume is coming, then the franchise has a long life ahead of it. For fans old and new though this is a fun watch without much thought behind it.

Score :

4 / 5