The 1980s were known by many to be the “New Golden Age” of film. Several classic franchises were born,from the increasingly convoluted but gruesomely entertaining “Nightmare on Elm Street” franchise to the time-hopping “Back to the Future” franchise.
Most of these franchises got time to put satisfying wraps on their stories; however, there was one little indie film made back in 1984 that never got its own “Last Crusade.” Maybe you’ve heard of it: called “Ghostbusters”? Not because it wasn’t popular (they had their own cereal for crying out loud), it’s just because “Ghostbusters II” unraveled all the character development and story beats that were so well built in the first film, making it nearly impossible for any possible threequel to repair.
With the failure of this second installment, the Ghostbusters franchise was banished to the painful purgatory of anniversary re-releases, short-lived (but still memorable) cartoons, and a female-led reboot. Then Jason Reitman, son of original “Ghostbusters” director Ivan Reitman, came out of nowhere to patch the bleeding fanbase with “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” in 2021, a smaller-scale passion project that pays respect to the past at any moment they can, while whimsically fleshing out a new cast of characters destined to live up to what the originals left behind.
To the surprise of absolutely no one of this day and age, “Afterlife” was destined to be the beginning of an all-new trilogy of Ghostbuster films. On March 22, the next part of the trilogy was released, “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire.” With the directing reins being taken byGil Kenan and Jason Reitman now in a producing role, “Frozen Empire” had the expectations that all movie sequels have: to be bigger and better than the original.
Taking place directly after “Afterlife,” our new cast is comprised of the daughter of genius scientist Egon Spengler (originally played in 1984 by the late great Harold Ramis), Callie (Carrie Coon), her two kids Trevor and Phoebe (Finn Wolfhard and Mckenna Grace respectively), and her boyfriend/her kid’s former science teacher, Garry Grooberson (Paul Rudd), as they move from their former home in Summerville, Oklahoma to the Big Apple to restart the Ghostbusters brand. Despite the family’s optimism, problems immediately begin to arise when several incidents attract the attention of the original gang’s longtime enemy, the now Mayor of NYC, Walter Peck (William Atherton).
With Peck threatening to demolish the newly refurbished firehouse, the adults bench the 15-year-old Phoebe in order to protect the business. She doesn’t take this well and begins to rebel by hanging out with a teenage ghost named Melody (Emily Alyn Lind), who died in an apartment fire –Ya know, as moody bookworms do, always spending their time with spirits.
Meanwhile, what’s remaining of the old guard, Ray Stantz (Dan Ackroyd), Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson), and Janine Melnitz (Annie Potts), get involved in a whole other spirit investigation when Ray and his ward, Podcast (Logan Kim), are given an orb with intense psychic energy by local freeloader, Nadeem Razmaadi (Kumail Nanjiani).
Winston’s own subsidiary of the Ghostbusters name further probes this predicament as his two workers, Dr. Lars Pinfield (James Acaster) and Lucky Domingo (Celeste O’Connor starring in something better than “Madame Web”) discover the demonic history of this orb. It is revealed that it has for centuries been the ancient prison of the fear-powered spirit, Garraka, who plans to use the firehouse’s containment unit to free over 32 years worth of ghosts to become a part of his army of the dead, which is prophesied to bring upon the next Ice Age.
If this synopsis seems like a lot to keep up with, then you kind of know how the film feels. While it doesn’t rush anything, and both the old guard and new guard get their equal number of important character moments, it still feels very cluttered for a sequel in a soft reboot threequel. From big bads we only just now hear about to there being a proto-Ghostbusters back in the early 1900s, it gets to a “Scooby Doo: Mystery Incorporated” level of additional lore. There may be fans of the film and cartoon that have a hard time adjusting to or accepting these new additions, but personally, I find it adds much more character to the Ghostbusters world and truly makes it feel lived in.
With this film becoming the tenth highest grossing film of 2024 just from its opening weekend, I think it’s safe to say that the Spengler family isn’t going anywhere, and I don’t mind at all. Rudd, Coon, Wolfhard and Grace have such a realistic family dynamic, and with the cliffhanger the film leaves itself on, that bond, as well as fans’ fresh confidence in the franchise, will only get stronger as they continue to bust some more ghosts.
⅘ Stars
