Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

I really enjoyed Ghostbusters: Afterlife. But I think I am more of a fan of the newest film in the series, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. For one thing, there is way more presence of the original Ghostbusters in this 2024 film. Sure, the ghost of Egon was a major character in Afterlife. But his spectral form was executed by body doubles, special effects tricks and CGI. In Afterlife, when it came to the still living cast of Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray and Ernie Hudson, you saw them on screen 4 to 5 minutes tops. With much expanded roles in this film, it really felt like a Ghostbuster movie. I just hope it's not the last one in the series.

Egon's daughter and grandchildren have been given the reins on the Ghostbuster empire by their benefactor, Winston Zeddmore. Along with Oklahoman science teacher Gary Grooberson, the Spenglers live in the old firehouse, chasing ghosts in the Ecto-1 with the same old aging equipment. Facing major backlash from former EPA inspector Walter Peck who is now the mayor of New York, young Phoebe Spengler must stop busting spirits until she turns 18 or the whole endeavor will be shut down.

Meanwhile, a young man clearing out his grandmother's apartment brings what he thinks is some old junk from her home country of India over to Ray's Occult Books. Hoping to make a few dollars, the man, played by Kumail Nanjiani, sells to Ray Stantz an orb made of brass that secretly imprisons a demigod from ancient times long before the birth of Christ.

For centuries, the orb had been housed safely away from the sounds of human voices. Now out in the open, the vibrations of the outside world are awakening the powerful god, who grows stronger with every sound the orb encounters. As this monster arises, the ghosts of the Big Apple are stirring, which causes the Ghostbusters original containment unit to start malfunctioning. The last time the unit shut down was in 1984 and it almost destroyed in entire city what with Gozer, people turning into demonic dogs and a giant Stay Puft Marshmallow Man terrorizing Manhattan. Only now, add to it a kingdom of ice that threatens to chill every last man, woman and child down to their very souls!

The weakest character in the movie was the precocious Phoebe played by McKenna Grace. Grace shined in the last movie. However, by putting her on the sidelines from active Ghostbusting, we get this typical teen angst trope that makes just about everything she does predictable. 

I was pleasantly surprised by Nanjiani. I usually can't stand him because every time I see him, he's got this disgusted look on his face like he just smelt a fart. However, he's got this loopiness that has been missing from the franchise since Rick Moranis' retirement from acting as the lovable loser Louis. Sigourney Weaver is also absent from this movie. But we get a big dose of Annie Potts' Jeanine this time around. Sadly, even though she finally dressed up as a Ghostbuster and even wears a modified blaster gauntlet, we never get to see her use the down thing. 

The last scene kinda sets up a 6th film. Fans have been talking about a proposed 'Ghostbusters International' film or cartoon series for a very long time. If what Winston hints at at the end of Frozen Empire is any hint, we might finally get to see what it's like taking down ghosts in places like Japan, England and maybe even Antarctica! Even if we don't get that premise, you can at least delight in a film that is probably about as close to a live-action version of Extreme Ghostbusters as we'll ever get. Only instead of Egon as the leader of the next gen of busters, it's Winston. And yet, it feels right. 

One More Movie! One More Movie! One More Movie!

Worth Consuming! 

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.