GHOSTBUSTERS: FROZEN EMPIRE
Starring: Mckenna Grace, Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Bill Murray, Logan Kim, Celeste O’Connor, Kumail Nanjiani, James Acaster, Patton Oswalt, Annie Potts, Emily Alyn Lind, and William Atherton
Director: Gil Kenan
AMARÚ
Frozen Empire is what I thought Afterlife was going to be: a just-ok, try-hard franchise revival that doesn’t recapture the magic yet isn’t a total disaster either. McKenna Grace continues to excel as the young Phoebe Spengler, with her arc carrying most of the film’s heart, but there’s a clear lack of direction. Multiple disparate storylines and tones never coalesce into a focused film. When it’s centered on Phoebe’s story, or when it chooses to lean into its horror elements, there is plenty to like; however, with so many unfulfilled moving parts, you end up with a diluted jumble of “hmm, I guess that’s alright.”
NICK
I was highly anticipating the Afterlife sequel until I realized Jason Reitman was no longer directing. This led to many reservations, most of which were realized as Frozen Empire is missing the magic of its predecessor. There are movies starring kids, and there are kid’s movies - this is definitely the latter, which leads to very hit-or-miss humour and a story that’s honestly a little hollow. There are good moments and some great (some, not all) effects, but again, it all feels like a children’s film. It’s far more Spy Kids than Ghostbusters, and that’s not what I came for.
QUENTIN
In my Afterlife review, I called it “neutered,” “vanilla,” and more Goosebumps than Ghostbusters. With Frozen Empire, director Gil Kenan seemingly read that review and said, “I’ll show you neutered and vanilla” because this thing is super bland and even more youth-skewing than its predecessor. Just so you’re clear, this is a coming-of-age movie about a young, maybe queer, teenage girl that just so happens to have some light ghostbusting in it; it's not for franchise fans. For reference: I watched it with a Ghostbusters-loving friend and his two kids (16-year-old boy and 11-year-old girl) – only the girl enjoyed it, calling it her ”new favorite movie!!”
ADRIANO
As a lifelong fan of Ghostbusters and lover of Afterlife, I despised Frozen Empire. Aside from a couple chuckles courtesy of Paul Rudd and the baby Stay Puft Marshmallow guys, the movie feels like it was made in a factory, resulting in a film that is way too artificial to elicit much entertainment value. It tries to juggle far too many plots at once too, and despite that, the first hour or so is mostly just set up. By the time the titular “frozen empire” comes into effect, I was too checked out. This is lifeless nostalgia-baiting at its worst.
KATIE
Frozen Empire is pretty much what I expected from a franchise whose existence is strictly perfunctory at this point. I like the child-friendly approach and coming-of-age themes, but there are far too many competing subplots that are underdeveloped and barely make sense. The film throws references, jokes, nostalgia, and the frequent-yet-pointless appearance of Bill Murray at the audience in a desperate attempt to entertain; however, it's convoluted to the extent of being boring. It's not particularly inspired, but it works fine as an average family-friendly film with a few laughs.
