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Posted in: Ghostbusters, Kaitlyn Booth, Movies, Review, Sony | Tagged: Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Review: Too Many Old Streams Crossed
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire takes a standard children's animated film runtime to get going because it is too busy being proud of the references it could throw in.
Article Summary
- 'Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire' is bogged down by excessive nostalgia.
- New characters and plot sidelined for myriad callbacks to past films.
- Movie could alienate newcomers with its in-depth references to series lore.
- Film's engaging moments are too sparse to justify the high cinema price.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is so focused on making sure that it hits every single bit of nostalgia possible that the new characters and the story get pushed aside until the last twenty minutes.
Director: Gil Kenan
Summary: 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.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife was far from a perfect movie, but what made the movie work was how it decided to handle the property it was based on. There were tons of Easter Eggs and hints about the previous movies, but they were left in the margins and weren't really distracting. Someone who didn't know much about Ghostbusters could watch the film and probably follow along just through cultural osmosis. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is not here for that. In fact, if you haven't done your ghost-busting homework, half of the time, when someone makes a joke or the film zeroes in on a character, you won't know why anyone is supposed to care. This time, however, it's much more apparent because we're back in New York City, which means the firehouse and the returning cast play a much bigger role.
One would think that with two previous films released decades ago and another movie before this, Frozen Empire could hit the ground running and wouldn't have to spend much time explaining everything. That is very much not the case, as explaining everything means that they can cram even more references and callbacks to the previous films and talk about old lore. So instead of skipping most of it, because why would we need to go over this again and in this much detail, we spend nearly the entire length of a feature film running around and doing little side quests before the actual story kicks in, and it's time to bust the big bad. This time, however, the family drama with the Spengler family is much less interesting to watch, and other supporting roles are around to do one thing or explain something else and move along.
And maybe all of those references and callbacks will butter the biscuits of fans of the franchise; it probably will, and we love that for them. There is nothing inherently wrong with making a movie heavily geared toward fans, even if fans rarely know what they want. However, you cannot rely on fandom alone when you have a budget north of $100 million before marketing. The ever-diminishing returns of the Marvel Universe prove that you can pander to fans until you're blue in the face, but if you want to be around long-term, you must bring in new people. Afterlife did a pretty good job of bringing in new people, and it didn't feel like it was trying to gatekeep the Ghostbusters for people who hadn't seen any of the movies before. Frozen Empire has a checklist of things you need to know to understand; you better remember them. And this is one of those movies where it almost feels proud that it is keeping newcomers out.
The cast is doing their best with the material they are given. The various members of the Spengler family continue to be the standouts, with Carrie Coon's Callie being a breath of fresh air when it comes to movie moms. Paul Rudd is there for reasons, and it's okay; the same could be said for Celeste O'Connor and Logan Kim, who are both in New York for different reasons, but here they are. If there is one person that gets on your last nerve very quickly, it's Kumail Nanjiani's character. To explain what he is doing, there is a spoiler, but suffice it to say he's barely tolerable at the best of times. As for the original cast, they are there but feel entirely perfunctory. There is one scene where they genuinely impact the plot, but aside from that, they are window-dressing for fans and nothing more.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire takes an entire standard children's animated film runtime to get going because it is too busy being proud of the references and gags it could throw in. Once it gets going, the plot isn't anything special, and if you aren't here for the references, there isn't anything worth showing up for. Fans will probably enjoy this, but everyone isn't allowed into this clubhouse. It all boils down to a film that is painfully too long, incredibly boring, and mediocre, with rare moments of laughter or an interesting idea here or there. However, considering how expensive it is to go to movies, you can probably wait for this one to hit a streaming service if you were on the fence.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
4.5/10
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is so focused on making sure that it hits every single bit of nostalgia possible that the new characters and the story get pushed aside until the last twenty minutes.
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