“Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” Movie Review

"If there’s somethin’ strange. In your neighborhood. Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters!"

The Ghostbuster franchise returned to theaters this past weekend with its newest installment: “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire.”

It’s a sequel to the 2019 film “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” with the Spengler family returning to the Big Apple and residing in the iconic firehouse.

Set two years after the aforementioned 2019 film, “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” features the ghostbusters of the past and present uniting to face off against a god named Garakka, who’s set on freezing the world and unleashing a spectral army.

WARNING: POTENTIAL SPOILERS BELOW.

Starting with the positives.

They nailed a lot of the humor that makes the franchise so loveable.

A crowd favorite was when Phoebe Spengler (Mckenna Grace) showed Melody (Emily Alyn Lind) around the firehouse. Melody just went through the floor, leaving Phoebe standing and looking around before rejoining her downstairs.

The premise was intriguing as well: going in-depth with the ghosts and giving them personalities rather than having them be fodder for the proton packs. However, the concept could have been executed better.

Speaking of the ghosts, the return of Slimer and the library ghost were pleasant surprises, especially since Slimer was a real prop rather than CGI, which made it even better.

Despite its glaring issues, the plot will keep an audience engaged for the entirety of the 115-minute runtime.

Speaking of the plot, now is no better time than to bring up the issues with it.

A big gripe occurred with Phoebe. After becoming friends with Melody, she decides to use the lab's extraction machine to put herself on the astral plane for two minutes.

This leads to her being possessed by Garakka and doing an enchantment to release the god from his frozen orb.

The problem with this is it made no sense for her to go on to the astral plane other than to advance the plot. They could still do everything friends do without being on the same plane, such as playing chess and taking walks.

Also, the possessor ghost left the audience with some questions, like what was in the letter that was flung at Trevor Spengler (Finn Wolfhard), and was there a deeper message it was trying to convey?

Another issue was with Nadeem Razmaadi (Kumail Nanjiani).

Nanjiani performed the role excellently and delivered witty one-liners that added an excellent element of humor.

The problem with Nadeem Razmaadi however is that after beginning the movie, the guy is just trying to make a quick buck off his grandma's relics and learns that he comes from a family of firemasters.

He then learns the art of using fire after just five minutes of practicing with a lighter and helps take down Garakka in the final battle, which feels kinda silly.

Despite these gripes and while it doesn't quite live up to the original installments, “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” was still an enjoyable experience and worth a watch for enjoyers of the franchise.

Rating: 3/5

Ben Palillo is a fourth-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email bgp5079@psu.edu.