The Ghostbusters franchise, brought to its knees by Paul Feig’s witless Answer the Call in 2016, was brought back from the brink by Jason Reitman’s likeable 2021 ‘reboot’ Ghostbusters: Afterlife. The film introduced a new generation of slime-fighters. It paid respectful homage to the crew who made the 1984 original a well-regarded classic, offering cameos from Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson, Dan Aykroyd, Annie Potts, and even Sigourney Weaver. It even had a slightly mawkish (and, some might say, borderline tasteless) tribute to the late Harold Ramis. The film did decent box office and paved the way for this new iteration of the team to carry the torch forward in a more family-friendly 21st-century Ghostbusters (the original being a lot spikier than many may remember). This new sequel, however, now co-written by Reitman and new director Gil Kenan, suggests that this franchise is either not ready or not quite confident enough to let go of its past…
The Spengler family (Carrie Coon as Mom Callie, Finn Wolfhard as Trevor and Mckenna Grace as the intense Phoebe) and Callie’s boyfriend Gary Grooberson (Paul Rudd in Scott Lang/AntMan mode throughout) have moved away from Oklahoma and relocated to New York where they are effectively the ‘new’ Ghostbusters, still operating out of the iconic NYC firehouse. A spectacular and witty ghost chase around the streets of New York sets out the film’s initial conflicts – at 15, Phoebe is still too young to be a ‘proper’ Ghostbuster and Mayor Peck (William Atherton) is determined to close the Ghostbusters down due to the carnage that generally follows in their wake. So far, so reasonable. The film then loses its direction for a while, focusing on family dynamics to the detriment of any actual plot development until Kumail Nanjiani’s Nadeem produces the film’s MacGuffin – an ancient artefact that houses a powerful demon-creature with the power to turn everything it touches to ice – and brings the original Ghostbusters back into action alongside the newbies. There are a couple of side distractions: the introduction of a secret paranormal research laboratory housed in an old aquarium (whose staff include, randomly, British stand-up comedian James Acaster as a not-quite-dotty-enough boffin) and some more coy hints at Phoebe’s sexuality when she seems to forge a friendship with the ghostly Melody (Emily Alyn Lind). It all drifts rather aimlessly until the last act when the Big Bad (admittedly quite formidable-looking for a determinedly child-friendly movie) is released and starts causing the ice-based carnage promised in the trailers.
It’s hardly a spoiler to reveal that the Ghostbusters (both generations) are triumphant, and the stage is set, yet again, for more colourful, spooky hi-jinks in an almost-inevitable second sequel. But it’s time to let go of the past now – there are far too many callbacks to the first film here – and let this new team do its own thing away from the nostalgia fest that’s constantly pulling it back to an era it can’t help but sit uncomfortably alongside. Frozen Empire is a perfectly serviceable slice of bright and breezy low-intensity horror. Busting will indeed make you feel good, if only for the length of the film – but there’s the nagging undercurrent here of a series that, despite its injection of new blood, is a little bit tired and just past its spook-by date.
GHOSTBUSTERS: FROZEN EMPIRE is on general release now
