When Ghostbusters: Afterlife was released to near-universal audience approval, the question immediately arose as to whether the film was a nostalgic nod to unfinished business or a second attempt to jump start the franchise after the mixed-at-best reaction to the 2016 reboot. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire half answers that question while generating a few of its own.
After the events in Summerville, Oklahoma, Callie Spengler (Carrie Coon) has moved into the Company 8 Firehouse with her children, Trevor (Finn Wolfhard) and Phoebe (McKenna Grace) and her boyfriend, Gary Grooberson (played by America’s favorite quasi-immortal, Paul Rudd). They’ve taken on the role of Ghostbusters and seem to have become fixtures in Manhattan judging by the public reaction their battle with a spectral dragon in Hell’s Kitchen.
It’s revealed that an old enemy has become mayor of New York City and (not entirely without merit) questions why a fifteen-year-old Phoebe is firing particle beams from a moving car while battling supernatural horrors. Original Ghostbuster-turned-international-entrepreneur-and-trademark-holder, Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson), reluctantly agrees and she gets benched… officially at least.
Ray Stantz (Dan Akroyd) gets cajoled out of retirement by Phoebe to investigate an ancient proto-Sumerian artifact brought in by an opportunistic slacker played by Kumail Nanjiani. In a race to discover the origins and dangers of the artifact, Phoebe has to grow up some, Ray and Winston have to come to an understanding, and the Spengler family has to define itself.
Detractors of the 2016 reboot have described it as something akin to half parody and half mediocre SNL skit. Maybe the biggest knock to Frozen Empire is that it sometimes seems like a half send off and half The Real Ghostbusters animation episode, where the villain/threat is almost an afterthought to the gags and the lesson of the week.
This doesn’t mean that it isn’t fun and doesn’t stand on its own merit, however. In addition to the nostalgia of surviving original cast members and returning faces from Afterlife, there is a well-thought-out backstory here—along with worthwhile additions to the Ghostbusters mythos.
Overall, the big twist is that young actress, McKenna Grace, ended up doing the lion’s share of the heavy lifting and pretty much batted a thousand. Frozen Empire is really Phoebe’s story and Grace makes her so very believable despite being a character surrounded by cosmic demons and thermonuclear weapons. When Phoebe gets smart with her mother, you cringe the way you’re supposed to. When she makes a connection with someone quite unexpected, the chemistry is palpable. She’s the main character and she earns it by the end of the film.
Is Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire a laugh riot? No. Is it epic fantasy adventure, a family film, or a Lovecraftian thriller? Nope, nope, and nope. Is it trying to be any of those things, though? I doubt it. It’s fun. Its elements of all those things mentioned and it’s loyal to the existing continuity and the fans who have followed it for forty years. And that’s probably what most of us tuned in for in the first place.
