Oddly shaped, leisurely paced, and perhaps resembling an episode of the non-existent “Ghostbusters” TV show had there been one, “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” is a curious film, out of time with modern editing rhythms. It’s atypical and unusual by today’s standards until you realize, ‘Oh, right, it’s a ‘Ghostbusters’ movie,’ already fitting into the oddball and unlikely genre of paranormal comedy. And, instead of trying to supercharge it in the way J.J. Abrams attacked the “Star Wars” films, and even more so than Jason Reitman’s “Ghostbusters: Afterlife,” this latest breezier iteration of the ‘Ghostbusters’ franchise leans into the series’ peculiar weird and quirky corners with unhurried patience.
It’s a slightly strange experience, watching a modern movie move to the beat of a film that feels like it was plucked out of 1991, as if it were the “Ghostbusters 3” fans wanted all along back in the day. But for better or worse, ‘Frozen Empire’ is the easygoing film it wants to be, arguably needs to be, and isn’t in a hurry to rush itself—an admirable quality even if it may not pay off at the box office.
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Directed this time by Gil Keenan, Reitman’s co-writer on ‘Afterlife,’ ‘Frozen Empire’ begins with a yesteryear throwback to the 1930s, an intriguing prologue that will tie into the plot much later. The film then smash cuts to the present day where the Spengler family, Callie (Carrie Coon), Phoebe (Mckenna Grace), Trevor (Finn Wolfhard), and sort-of step-father Gary Grooberson (Paul Rudd), are in New York riding around in the antiquated Ecto-1 chasing ghosts causing trouble in the Big Apple.
Familiar territory is trodden here: thrilling chase sequences, new gadgets on display (ghost traps retrofitted for a drone), firing proton streams into the skies, imperiling New Yorkers and angering the city’s Mayor Walter Peck (William Atherton, naturally). Scolded for their antics, the damage they caused the city, and endangering a minor, 15-year-old Phoebe, among other infractions that nearly put them on ice, ‘Frozen Empire’ splinters into two films from here.
One is the plot-based narrative about an ancient artifact that inadvertently unleashes an evil force inside it—tied to a possible new ice age and ancestry of one major disappointing failure, Nadeem Razmaadi (Kumail Nanjiani), and his recently deceased grandmother. The second is the story of family, where we all fit and don’t, and the confused teenage angst about identity that usually accompanies it. The latter isn’t entirely successful, or at least not as poignant as it should be, and arguably as awkwardly fitted to the plot as a gawky teenage haircut, but it’s the thought that counts, and it would probably be a lesser film without that attempt at some heartfelt feeling.
In ‘Frozen Empire,’ Phoebe is grounded, literally and figuratively. Excluded from the team because of her age—despite the technological expertise she wields that they desperately need— she stews in resentment and frustration, eventually befriending a female ghost (Emily Alyn Lind) with her own troubled past regarding family. While straining to be affecting, this subplot about loneliness and connection—which also has vague queer romantic implications but also never goes quite there— has its moments and features an ominous twist.
Another thread featuring some of the original team is the development of a top-secret Ghostbusters research lab, funded by Dr. Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson), now a millionaire philanthropist. ‘Busters old and new commingle here: Dr. Raymond “Ray” Stantz (Dan Aykroyd), Janine Melnitz (Annie Potts), Lars Pinfield (James Acaster), and Lucky Domingo (Celeste O’Connor). Much of these scenes play out like genuine imaginative Ghostbusters wish-fulfillment— as if Kenan and Reitman are actively constructing the Ghostbusters franchise-building mythology they always wanted to see in the movies in their youth.
So, speaking of family, between the old and the new, and Nanjiani’s character as a kind of secret weapon no one really knows about (no spoilers, but he’s special), the team amasses to a seemingly unwieldy 12-member squad. But vast and numerous as they are, ‘Frozen Empire’ can provide them all enough time and space not to feel shortchanged. A shaggy and baggy run time of nearly two hours allows for this, but brevity is not the movie’s forte (it’s actually 10 minutes shorter than ‘Afterlife,’ but it feels longer).
That said, while ‘Frozen Empire’ feels as though it could be just an excuse to nostalgically mash the new and the old together in a bigger “Ghostbusters assemble!” New York adventure, that’s not really the case. Both Aykroyd and Hudson are supporting players, and Bill Murray, sparingly used, only really turns up for one scene and the third-act climax, but his charms do add some spark and levity (he’s still the king of delivering a droll one-liner).
If ‘Frozen Empire’ has seemingly more significant issues, it’s not terribly laugh-out-loud funny or particularly super exciting. But it is amiable, lighthearted, charming, and mostly watchable. Sometimes, its pacing is funny; it does feel like a big-screen TV series at times. That might sound backhanded, but it’s not the worst quality of an eccentric little movie, pleasant enough to be fairly winning even if it never feels quite exceptional.
Cinema, culture, and nostalgia are in a weird place at the moment, and arguably, studios are leaning too hard on the past while not investing enough in the future and newer generations that probably don’t care who the old guy Bill Murray is. In this regard, ‘Frozen Empire’ strikes the right balance. Ultimately, this more casual and laidback “Ghostbusters” affair might be for die-hards only, if such a thing exists. However, it might just be the movie they’ve been waiting for their entire lives for, so that’s a plus. And for everyone else, well, it’s a diverting little effort, not remarkable to any major degree, but still often enjoyable enough. [B]