Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024)

Starring: Mckenna Grace, Carrie Coon, Paul Rudd, Finn Wolfhard, Celeste O’Connor, Kumail Nanjiani, Patton Oswalt, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, and Annie Potts
Grade: B

Is it just me or is there some sexual tension between Phoebe and Melody? Something about their conversations felt different.

Summary

The film opens with a quote from Robert Frost:

“Some say the world will end in fire. Some say in ice. From what I’ve tasted of desire, I hold with those who favor fire, but if it had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate. To say that of destruction ice is also great and would suffice”.

In New York in 1904, a group of firemen enter the Manhattan Adventurers Society building to stop a fire. They get to the upstairs, and the lead man presses his hand up against the door. Weirdly enough, the door is freezing cold, and it starts to freeze his hand until he pulls it away, just before it’s fused with the door. The firemen bust down the door with an axe and find that the entire room has been frozen, including all the people in it. In the corner of the room, they find an unfrozen person wearing some sort of ancient armor holding an orb. One fireman tries to grab the metal orb from the soldier, but the soldier wakes up. As soon as he does, the frozen people start shattering into pieces left and right. The designs on the orb itself start coming together like puzzle pieces too. Inside of the orb is an unknown ghost of mythic proportions.

In present day New York, the current Ghostbusters are on a job. Gary Grooberson (Rudd) is driving with Callie Spengler (Coon) in the passenger seat, as they are now well entrenched in a relationship. In the backseat is Carrie’s daughter Phoebe (Grace) and son Trevor (Wolfhard). Gary rushes them to their next ghost-busting mission while the Ecto-1 malfunctions and loses the air conditioning and the power. The windows even get stuck. Since they can’t open the window, Phoebe considers using the gunner seat, but Gary refuses this since they are in the middle of rush hour. A lizard-like ghost pops out of the sewer, and Phoebe notes that it’s the Hell’s Kitchen Sewer Dragon. Phoebe is about to use the gunner seat, but Callie again refuses. Phoebe calls her “Callie” instead of “Mom” and says she has a ghost to bust before pushing down the latch for the gunner seat. Gary thought the catchphrase was cool, but Callie is angry about the disrespect. Phoebe shoots the nuclear accelerator stream at it and latches onto the Sewer Dragon, but it gets out of range of the trap Trevor lays out for it on the remote-control car. As two cops see the Ghostbusters in pursuit and deduce that they have it covered, Callie puts on some goggles and operates a drone with a trap instead. Just in time, they are able to trap the ghost in the air. Unfortunately, as they celebrate, Gary crashes the car into a bunch of bikes on a sidewalk. Soon after, the high-speed ghost chase is all over the news because of how much destruction it caused in lower Manhattan. The news anchor straight-up says they haven’t seen the Ghostbusters cause this much damage “since the Statue of Liberty debacle of 1989”, calling back to the climax of Ghostbusters II. Moving on, the anchor talks about how last year, the descendants of original Ghostbusters founder Egon Spengler “were handed the keys to the derelict firehouse bankrolled by philanthropist and former Ghostbuster Winston Zeddemore (Hudson)”. Unfortunately, the Ghostbusters are now in trouble again because the focus is now on who is going to pay for the mess they have caused.

Gary, Callie, Phoebe, and Trevor are now in the Mayor’s office. Unfortunately for them, the Mayor is Walter Peck (William Atherton), the EPA official that shut down the firehouse and subsequently caused the ghosts to terrorize New York in the original Ghostbusters film. He goes on about the damage they have caused and how they had someone hanging out the side of a moving vehicle “firing a laser gun indiscriminately”. Trevor corrects him by saying it’s a proton pack. Gary argues that it’s safe, but Phoebe can’t help but disagree with Gary at the worst time, admitting it’s not because it’s still a portable proton accelerator. This prompts Peck to ask how old Phoebe is. Trevor pipes in to say he’s 18, but Peck wants to hear Phoebe’s age. Once she reveals she’s only 15, Peck is even more incensed that she’s a minor. They don’t let kids become cops or firefighters, so Peck is adamant that they don’t let them become Ghostbusters. Gary tries to plead her case for her by saying she is much more capable than most adults, but Peck questions what his relationship to Phoebe is. He’s not sure but settles on “step-teacher”, so Peck retorts that he’s not her father and more her employer. Gary brings up how they don’t pay her, but this only makes things worse because Peck adds child labor as another one of their violations. With this, Callie just tells Gary to back off. After Peck suggests she become a junior Ghostbuster and she can hand out stickers or something, he tells the others he is holding them personally responsible for what happened and won’t stop “until that firehouse you call a home is a pile of bricks”. At the firehouse station, Callie collects Phoebe’s flight suit as Trevor attempts to fix a leak in the ceiling. Phoebe is not taking the news lightly and is still very angry over her privileges as a Ghostbuster being taken away. They argue down the firepole and into the kitchen where Gary is making tacos for everyone. He also picked out a movie for their movie night, Ivan Reitman’s Cannibal Girls. Still, Phoebe threatens to take Peck’s decision to the labor board because she saved the world, which is fair. Keeping things light, Gary points out that they all saved the world, but Phoebe has to remind him how he was a possessed canine.

Phoebe continues their discussion by following Callie and Gary downstairs, as they are fully okay with letting Phoebe wait until she’s 18. Phoebe argues this is her calling and Callie just decided to be a Ghostbuster, and Gary confirms this was the case with him. He likes how he was just studying earthquakes in Oklahoma until he met Callie, and they almost brought about the end of the world together. Phoebe sees why Gary came to his conclusion because he’s at least a scientist. Callie is essentially nothing and Phoebe knows it. Privately, Callie tells Gary she knows he’s acting like the kids’ buddy, but she wants him to be an asshole on occasion. He explains that he doesn’t know what’s allowed since he’s not sure how cool Callie is with him stepping on boundaries. Hearing this, she gives him permission to yell at the kids when he needs to. Following this, he puts the ghost trap in the containment unit, but there seems to be a malfunction, and it doesn’t release the ghost into it fully. The switch can’t be pulled down completely until Gary and Callie both work together to get it down. The trap is officially cleaned (as the light is green), but the two hear roars coming from the inside and the green light does flicker. In the back of Ray’s Occult bookstore, Podcast (Logan Kim) and Dr. Ray Stantz (Aykroyd) host the online show Repossessed, a show in which they measure the spiritual energy of everyday objects. Well, Ray is more the host while Podcast is the producer/intern/camera operator. Podcast has to remind Ray to tell the viewers to press “like” and “subscribe”. Next, the first guest is brought on. It’s some old woman who has a watch from her late husband Harold. She explains that anytime she walks into the room, it beeps. Ray tells her how “any object that’s been exposed to a deep emotional experience can bind a spirit”. It’s basically an organic ghost trap. The stronger the experience, or even trauma, the more powerful the trap. Ray pulls out the PKE Meter to see if there’s any presence, but there isn’t. With this, Podcast smashes the watch with a hammer, as it’s a trademark of the show. Up next are a long line of fans with items waiting to be analyzed by Ray.

Following this, Phoebe shows up at Ray’s Occult bookstore. She brings Ray the sample of mood slime he requested. He tells Podcast to take it downstairs, so he walks Phoebe down there. Currently, Podcast is sleeping in the basement of the store. Normally, Ray rents the place to Norwegian ghost hunting clubs on Booking.com, but Podcast was lucky enough to snatch it up instead of spending the summer in Oklahoma. After she tells the excited Podcast she’s been “benched”, he takes a call from his parents who he told he was at space camp. To fool his parents, he plays a recording on a tape recorder of a space launch. At the same time, Phoebe looks over at Podcast’s table and finds a mini Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man. She reaches out to it until Podcast hangs up and smashes the little creature until it’s flattened. Other mini Marshmallow Men pop up and drag the other one to safety. Apparently, Ray smuggled them from Summerville, and Podcast is sure they’re mating. The two watch on as all the little marshmallows accidentally kill themselves, wrestle, and do stupid things on the desk. Suddenly, they all hide. Upstairs, sketchy customer Nadeem Razmaadi (Nanjiani) enters the store and puts a box on Ray’s desk. It consists of items from his grandmother that were passed to him, and he’s sure it’s demented type of stuff. Ray examines some of the items and is intrigued, but what catches his eye is the last one, the orb from the beginning of the film. He notes the “glyphs” on it, and Nadeem has no idea what he’s talking about but acts like he does to get more money out of Ray. Ray questions if they are in Mezzo-Arabic, so Nadeem just goes with it. Ray explains how these kinds of brass objects were used to trap evil spirits, meaning there could be something trapped inside of it. If there is, it’s in there for good reason. He takes a PKE reading and there’s an instant reaction. It actually busts the PKE Meter, and a noticeable roaring and thunder starts to happen that cannot be ignored. Certain items in the store start to freeze and a freezing path goes all the way to the firehouse station and to the containment unit. Back in the store, the orb freezes Ray’s desk and breaks through the glass. The telekinetic energy is off the charts! Ray sees that there is “full-bore convective spatter” too.

He hands Nadeem the cash in his pocket, and Nadeem runs out, saying he doesn’t have change. Back at the firehouse station, Gary has Janine Melnitz (Potts) look at the containment unit, as there is now a giant crack in the wall next to it. He asks if anyone has ever emptied the containment unit, but since 1984, no one has. Janine tells him she will let Winston’s engineers know about it. Gary wonders who his engineers are and if they are working on secret, underground Ghostbusting stuff, but Janine walks around it. In his room, Trevor is still investigating his ceiling leak and feels green slime coming from the hole leading to the attic. He tells Carrie about it, but she’s uninterested and goads him into fixing the problem himself since he’s an adult. Falling for it, Trevor grabs some equipment and goes to the attic. He finds a mound of garbage from eaten snacks and uncovers it to find Slimer. Slimer jumps at him and through him to escape the firehouse. Of course, Trevor has been slimed completely. After this, the Ghostbusters get a call and head into the Ecto-1. Phoebe is dressed and ready to go, but Callie and Gary refuse her efforts and leave without her. After Ray smiles while seeing the Ecto-1 drive past his store, Phoebe goes to a park and sets up a chess game. She plays her first piece, and an unseen ghost plays against her. For a moment, she seems to be excited because it might be Egon like how it happened in Ghostbusters: Afterlife. This time around however, it’s a new ghost in Melody (Emily Alyn Lind). She’s surprised by Phoebe’s lack of a reaction when she reveals herself, not shrieking in terror or anything but rather that of indifference. Phoebe even compliments the flames around her ghostly aura, so Melody explains she died in a “horrifying tenement fire”. She died before her face melted off, which is why she doesn’t have a “crispy” look. Melody ends up beating Phoebe in chess to Phoebe’s shock, but Melody explains how she’s had a lot of time to practice. They decide to play again, and Phoebe asks what the worst thing about being a ghost is. Melody responds that she will be 16 for the rest of eternity unless she completes her “unfinished business”.

When she decides to explain the best part about being a ghost, she beats Phoebe again in chess and disappears.

Parabiologist Dr. Lars Pinfield (James Acaster) is one of Winston’s engineers, and he investigates the containment unit while Gary annoyingly asks him questions as he tries to work. After there is a thud and a roar heard from the unit, Phoebe suggests there are many things trying to get out. Following this, Winston and Lars meet with the rest of the group, and Winston shows them Egon’s old design of the containment unit. While using the design for reference, Lars talks about how the containment unit is essentially a large ghost trap, an articulated stream of protons that could stabilize the particles of a ghost. After 40 years of compiling spiritual waste, they ran out of space. Eventually, there was a momentary burst of spiritual energy that created a rift. It’s a potential gateway to the other side. Janine chimes in to say they didn’t just buy the firehouse for nostalgia. Winston refers to it as the “finger in the dam”, or the “fortification of between everything we do and don’t understand”. They have to protect it. When Trevor wonders why they can’t just build a new ghost compactor, Winston reveals they already have. While they have been busting ghosts, Winston has had his engineers thinking towards the future. He takes them over to a building that used to be the Triborough Aquarium and has been used more recently by squatters and ravers. Going down a certain hallway into a private room inside, Winston introduces them to the Paranormal Research Center. This is where they do all their experiments to analyze every aspect of ghostbusting. They have everything from a parabotanists to paramusicologists. While looking around, Trevor finds Lucky (O’Connor) testing out an arm cannon of sorts. Apparently, she’s interning there, and Trevor didn’t even know. Gary pokes around and finds a CD player, but it opens itself and starts acting crazy because it’s been possessed by an evil Spin Doctors CD. Lars closes it and takes it from him. Moving on, Winston points out that Ray has provided them with a collection of spirit-loaded items.

Basically, everything there is haunted. Lars points out a grandfather clock inhabited by the spirit of an actual grandfather and tells them that any emotionally charged object can contain a ghost as long as it’s experienced some sort of horrific event. By exciting the atoms, they are able to create a fluid moment of chemical transition. Then, they lock onto the spirit, extract it from its host object, and then deposit it into their second chamber, so it can be properly disposed of. As Lars says this, he goes through the actions with the possessed CD player. Watching the whole thing happen, Phoebe asks if they have made any attempts on living possession, but they are still tweaking things. Winston shows them their new containment unit based off of Egon’s original design, and Ray, along with Podcast, pop in to add that it can “spin the equivalent of 50 million cubic hectares of plastic confinement”. It’s a “psychic jail as big as the American West”. Callie wonders how long it would take to move the ghosts from the firehouse to here, but Lucky thinks it would take 3-7 years, even if they went trap by trap on regular shifts. Before Ray leaves, he drops off the orb that caused all the commotion earlier and wishes them luck on extracting whatever is inside of it because it broke the PKE meter. Phoebe walks over to a cell with a glass window, and there are several of them in the room containing trapped ghosts they are studying. They can’t escape because each cell has a barrier of proton fields, the same technology in their proton packs. They look into several different enclosures, and Ray points out the Possessor as the one to worry about because it can occupy any inanimate matter it wants. Its enclosure looks like a living room. In a matter of seconds, it takes turns possessing everything in the room, finishing by launching itself as a pair of scissors towards the window to scare them while Ray laughs it off.

Back at the firehouse station, Gary sees a somber Phoebe working on homework, so he intentionally unplugs a part of the cyclotron on his proton pack and asks her to fix it. In seconds, she fixes it for him, and Gary uses this opportunity to talk to her. He knows things suck at the moment for her, but he stresses how time flies and uses himself as an example. He used to be her teacher, but now, he’s something else. He’s not sure what to refer to himself as in relation to her actually, and he’s interrupted by the siren going off for another job. He apologizes to her and heads out. Once they leave, the phone rings and Phoebe picks it up on behalf of the Ghostbusters. The customer needs someone right away, so Phoebe and Podcast go to check it out. Back at the Paranormal Research Center, Lars and Lucky work on extracting ghosts from Ray’s items. They take one away from a creepy doll first. After Lars tells a ghost chair inside of an enclosure that he will play with it later following its knocking on the glass, Lucky chooses the orb as the next item to extract from. It fights the extraction and turns off the power. Now, they have to wait for the generators to warm up. Until then, the proton fields are down. Just as the ghosts are nearing an escape, the fields come back up just in time. Lars grabs the orb, but it freezes his hand, and he drops it. Meanwhile, Phoebe and Podcast go to Melody Diner. They walk in, and the waitress points out the ghost sitting at the table. It’s Melody, and Phoebe stands in shock that it’s her. She doesn’t shoot until after Melody escapes. That night, a frustrated Phoebe hides her proton pack under her bed. Melody appears outside of her window, and Phoebe says she could’ve captured her if she wanted but didn’t. Next, she invites Melody inside to hang out. So, she does and goes straight through the wall. Phoebe can’t believe she can transapparate but still move chess pieces, and Melody explains that she exists on an entirely different dimensional plane, and that she wouldn’t understand. Phoebe wants to know more and starts to ramble about how she’s always wanted to visit a different dimensional plane. With this, Melody goads her into giving her a tour of the firehouse.

Eventually, they get to where the containment unit is and Melody stares at it. She knows exactly what it is. Reaching out to it, she asks Phoebe if she has ever wondered what happens when they’re done on Earth. Recalling what happened to Egon at the end of Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Phoebe talks about how she’s seen it and how beautiful it is. Melody stops reaching out to the unit and turns to hear Phoebe’s story, as Phoebe details how your particles start to lose their bonds and float off into space, with quantum physics suggesting that we become a fabric of the universe. Melody hopes to do this someday when she crosses to the other side because that’s where her family is. Phoebe doesn’t understand why she can’t already join them, but Melody comments that if she knew how, she’d already be there. Melody lights a real match from a matchbox, so Phoebe asks if it’s her “object”, her emotionally charged anchor that keeps her tethered to this world. Melody reveals the last match burned her family alive accidentally, which confirms Phoebe’s theory. Melody used to think the matches were keys to moving on, but she’s gotten used to the idea that she isn’t going anywhere. Callie interrupts to ask Phoebe if she’s good, and Phoebe turns to see Melody has disappeared. That night, the frozen entity coming from the orb infiltrates the city streets and freezes a lot of things all over the place. Melody walks the street speaking to some unknown ghost and she tells it that she’s going as fast as she can. Referring to Phoebe, she asks the ghost if it has to be her because she clearly doesn’t want it to be. Sadly, the ghost confirms it, and Melody understands. The next morning, Trevor tries to capture Slimer in the attic by luring him out of the garbage mound with a line of Cheetos. It almost works, but they are both startled by a rumbling noise and the firehouse shaking, allowing for Slimer to escape again. Callie wakes up Phoebe and takes her down to the containment unit to show her how the walls have been smashed open around it. Phoebe can’t explain it to her as to how it happened.

Everything around the unit is frozen.

Back at the Paranormal Research Center, Lars (with his arm in a sling) shows Ray, Podcast, Trevor, and Lucky how putting a lighter under the orb does nothing, as it stays at the temperature of absolute zero, the degree at which all particles stop. Lars takes the orb near the enclosure where the mini Stay-Puft Marshmallow Men are at and shows how they act different when its near. He deduces its communicating with them, not the orb itself but whatever is inside of it. He thinks it’s commanding the other ghosts with some sort of mind control. As he says it, the Marshmallow Men stare at the orb in a trance. Another jumps towards it and smashes up against the glass. The power of the orb starts to go throughout the building too. The proton fields holding the ghosts in the enclosures start to freeze. The Possessor escapes. More Marshmallow Men jump and smash up against the glass. Ray is amazed at the “extreme thermodynamic exudations, thought transference”, and notes the danger that could come from whatever is inside the orb if it’s let out. Once Trevor questions where they got the orb in the first place, Trevor, Lucky, and Lars, head over to Nadeem’s apartment to talk with him. He confirms he was the one who sold his family artifacts to Ray, but he says the money is gone and shuts the door, though he opens it and invites them in once Lars explains they aren’t there for a refund. He shows them around and offers random things for sale. This was his grandmother’s old apartment, but he has no emotional attachment to it. When they ask him about the orb, he says it was from the back room. Nadeem takes them over to it, and it looks like a brass sex dungeon with strange artifacts all around. In case there was any doubt, Nadeem says it’s all for sale. Lars talks about how brass was once believed to be a magical alloy and how there are countless tales of demons trapped in brass urns and lamps going all the way back to the times of Solomon. They realize the room is soundproof, so there’s a chance Nadeem’s grandmother wanted to keep the orb quiet, assuming that it was always kept in that room. Lucky uses her PKE Meter, and it reacts highly when pointed at Nadeem himself, so they have him come with them back to the Paranormal Research Center.

At Ray’s Occult bookstore, Phoebe finds what she thinks is a rotting carrot on his shelf but is actually a human pinkie from the haunted state hospital for the criminally insane in Pennsylvania when they didn’t have equipment. Changing the subject, Phoebe asks if he’s ever thought about what it would be like to be a ghost. He admits he’s thought about it every day, wondering how he would materialize, what it would feel like, and would it be some kind of visual manifestation. They are interrupted by Podcast watching video he took of the orb. He thinks the audio is corrupted. He takes it over to them, and Ray knows it’s ancient verbiage of a dead language. He knows someone who could help but stops himself. Podcast wants to investigate, and Phoebe is down. Ray notes that she’s benched, but Phoebe reminds Ray that he’s supposed to be retired. With this, the three head out on the Ecto-C, a motorcycle with a sidecar. Podcast sits behind Ray, and Phoebe sits in the sidecar. At the Paranormal Research Center, Dr. Peter Venkman (Murray) gives Nadeem a garden-variety test, wired helmet and all. It’s used to determine if he is a human or a cross-dimensional beast. He gives up him a layup question on the first one by asking if he loves puppies or would kill them. His second question is if Nadeem ever experienced déjà vu. When he says he hasn’t, Venkman repeats the question, which Nadeem saw coming and says it with him. Venkman laughs it off but throws his pen at him. With this, a flame appears out of some equipment in the lab, and Venkman takes notice. He sees it is related to Nadeem’s anger, so he gives him a hypothetical question of if he were to devour a small child, would he prefer the skin to be on or skinless entirely. Nadeem gets frustrated with the line of questioning and gets angrier. He becomes further incensed when Venkman throws a few more pens at him. The flame gets bigger and Venkman can see it. Nadeem turns to look at what he’s staring at, and the flame goes down. Ray, Phoebe, and Podcast show up to the library and Ray illegally parks, though he’s not worried because they know him there. Just then, the manager there tells Ray he’s not allowed within 50 feet of the library, but Ray goes in anyway with the kids.

They meet with Dr. Hubert Wartzki (Oswalt) of Semitic Philological and Linguistic Studies in his office. Right away, Hubert determines that the audio is not Essenic, Chaldean, or French. It’s pre-Sumerian and pre-Sanskrit. Actually, only five people in the world can understand the words spoken.

Because of this, he thinks his colleague Dr. Jahangiri put them up to this as a prank. Podcast hangs up the phone and tells him Jahangiri is already dead, freaking Hubert out. Phoebe assures Hubert that the guy is fine. Moving along, Hubert wonders how they got a recording of a language that has been dead for thousands of years. Phoebe responds by asking if Hubert believes in spiritual inhabitation or spectral possession, which he does. So, Ray shows him a picture of the orb, adding that this is where the ancient chants came from. Immediately, Hubert takes them to the library below them. Showing them a gigantic book, he tells the group how the last recorded sighting of the orb wasn’t photographed nor painted. It was carved in stone. If they believe the folklore, which he does, the orb is a magical prison for a phantom god called Garraka. Around 4,000 years ago, Garraka served a bloodthirsty king called Samudari from the Battle of the Seven Armies and such. After Garraka helped conquer half of Central Asia, Samudari grew suspicious of Garraka’s ambitions. Because of this, Garraka was captured, branded, broken, and disfigured. The horns that were the source of his strength were ripped off his head. As a response, Garraka went on a killing spree. His plan was to raise an army of the undead and wage war on humanity by channeling fear into a weapon: Kusharit Umoti. Ray has heard of this and calls it by its nickname, “The Death Chill”, the power to kill by fear itself. A cold shiver will run down your spine, your veins turn to rivers of ice, your bones crack, your lungs cave, and the last thing you see is your own tear ducts freezing up. Hubert adds that before Garraka could collapse the collective bronchial tubes of greater South Asia, he met his match, and his icy spell was shattered by a roving band of mythical spirit catchers called the Firemasters. They used fire and brass to trap the evil god inside the orb, the one they have now. Phoebe realizes the Firemasters were basically ancient Ghostbusters. Next, Hubert shows them a briefcase full of wax cylinders containing 19th Century audio recordings.

One of them has Mary Todd Lincoln using the “F-word”.

Anyway, Hubert brings out the one they may be interested in. It’s a recording from the turn of the century in New York from an incident at the Manhattan Adventurers Society, meaning it’s a recording from the opening of the film. Hubert talks about how the group would steal relics and artifacts and talk about it over some liquor and hookers. One day, one they pulled out was the Orb of Garraka. Hubert plays a recording of the chant that opened the orb. What resulted was the first time in the history of New York where a room full of people froze to death in the middle of July. As they listen, the Possessor jumps out of Podcast’s stuff and possesses the wax cylinder as it plays. It jumps from the cylinder into a garbage bag and possesses the garbage bag to escape. Ray realizes it’s the Possessor and it now has the chant that can release Garraka, so they chase after it. On the way, Ray has an encounter with the ghost librarian from the original Ghostbusters, and he freaks out once she flies towards him. They get outside and find the bag, but the Possessor has now possessed the lion statue Fortitude outside of the library. As it tries to attack Ray, he shouts for them to press the button on the Ecto-C. Podcast presses every button on it until a proton pack comes out. Phoebe uses it to save Ray and just manages to destroy Fortitude as the cops come. Unfortunately, the explosion of the statue causes a huge mess and a cop car being destroyed. Once again, they’re all arrested and the Possessor escapes with the chant. At the police station, Winston yells at Phoebe for what she did, and Walter Peck piles on. At the same time, Peck is slightly happy because he has been able to use this latest catastrophe to finish off the Ghostbusters officially. The firehouse has been condemned, their proton packs are in a police lockup, and they’ll be melted down for scrap by the morning. Phoebe brings up how the last time Peck tried to shut them down, he created a crossrip into another dimension. Peck accuses her of slander and gives her a chance to shut up or be arrested. She refuses, so she’s arrested.

Time is running out and another potential apocalypse is looming, but the Ghostbusters are once again facing bureaucratic problems that seem to stall their saving of the world.

Have these people not learned?

My Thoughts:

Backpacking off the success of the new direction of the franchise following its predecessor, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire continues the adventures of the Spengler family as they settle into their roles as the new team of Ghostbusters trying to live up to the legacy that came before them. The movie doesn’t match Afterlife in terms of humor, but that’s not the focus here. Though Frozen Empire is still funny, things are tense. This story has more layers to it and furthers the mythology of the franchise. In doing so, it goes down a darker path and is the most serious of all Ghostbusters-related productions, increasing the emotional depth, its themes, and the struggles the family faces as the main characters become more independent. Additionally, the best part about this sequel is that it moves away from being a retread in terms of the antagonist and churns out a deeper original story, with a creepy and creative new villain that Afterlife could have benefitted from. Despite this sequel being the clear fourth best of the series, it’s still an entertaining and thoughtful addition to the evolving saga of our favorite world-protecting fighters of the paranormal.

With Dan Aykroyd and Jason Reitman’s expansion of the production company Ghost Corps and the intended goal of making it a larger universe spanning film and television, Frozen Empire might be the best example of their vision, highlighted by the welcomed character development of Ernie Hudson’s Winston Zeddemore. It’s funny how Harold Ramis’s Egon Spengler and Winston were the third and fourth billed of the first two Ghostbusters movies but have now been retconned over the years to develop into the most crucial pieces to the franchise. Honestly, it’s a nice thing to do. Bill Murray is fine with or without the franchise and will always be looked at as the star, and Aykroyd will always have his hands in the series in some fashion, so he doesn’t need the spotlight nearly as much. The characters of Egon and Winston have the most room to grow and develop, and all the creative minds that have dipped their toes in the franchise have taken notice of this. It started with Egon, as they have allowed for his legacy to flourish over the years, with the concerted effort in focusing on his importance being traced back to The Real Ghostbusters, Extreme Ghostbusters, and these two new sequels due to the main characters’ family being traced back to him. Now, it’s Winston’s turn, and he’s deserved it. Ernie Hudson has been disrespected a lot as the fourth Ghostbuster over the years, so further developing his overall character arc is a welcomed addition as a “Thank you” for his hard work over the years. It began with the teasing of his mentor role in the end credits of Afterlife, where he’s established as someone who got into finance following the fallout of the original team. He never forgot his roots though, and he becomes a wealthy backer who buys the firehouse and funds the next generation while employing a team of engineers to work on furthering the development of paranormal research and subsequently, ghostbusting.

In a perfect world, Bill Murray’s Peter Venkman would have the biggest return role because his icon status is known to worldwide audiences and beloved by all. We’ll always want more of him, but the time has come where we have to give up on that dream since Murray’s track record of being noncommittal at the worst times is well documented. Sadly, we have to come to terms with the fact that making Peter Venkman a bigger contributor to movies like Afterlife, Frozen Empire, and beyond just isn’t a possibility, as much as the fans wish for it. With this in mind, allowing for Hudson’s Winston taking on this new role is cool and a great way to advance the series into the future expansion Aykroyd and Reitman have planned. Within the Ghostbusters universe, the avenues they have gone down in the advancement of ghostbusting technology and research makes sense. After all these years, the possibility of the containment unit being filled is an intriguing one, making the viewer question why there wasn’t a contingency plan in place. It’s the perfect setup to reveal the Paranormal Research Center that Winston has also funded, and the idea of a series containment units alongside each other being as massive as the American West is pretty cool. Though it’s true that the Ghostbusters films are at their best when the focus is on the characters and isn’t as grandiose in its details, this is a logical next step and a good change. After all these years, the characters involved are too experienced in the field and would want to make improvements in an effort to make life easier. Moving laterally for forty years isn’t an option when fighting the paranormal, especially if three out of the four Ghostbusters are scientists and the other one is a millionaire working to improve conditions to make sure the world stays a safe place as the heroes age. For all intents and purposes, things can’t stay how they were in 1984 if this series wants to stay in the same timeline. They have to change, and the business of busting ghosts have to advance with the times if the characters want to keep up and stay ahead of the curve. So, from a story perspective, I have become okay with where Afterlife and Frozen Empire have taken us thus far.

Now, the real challenge is to figure out how to maintain the energy, the humor, the likability, and the entertainment factor of the old movies. That is still something that needs to be maintained and also where Frozen Empire does falter slightly. It’s not nearly as dark as what people have made it out to be. Plus, the original doesn’t get enough credit for its underrated moments of creepiness. Nevertheless, this sequel is easily the most serious. Age is a major theme, as is finding a purpose in regard to it, and the dialogue can cut deep when you least expect it. Phoebe’s arguments with her mother Callie become more intense too, though it’s not unlike any teenage girl growing up with her mother, so this just adds to the character development of both women to see what makes them tick to their core. As much as we want Callie to understand things from Phoebe’s perspective and Phoebe may have been disrespectful with her hurtful insult of “Honestly, if you weren’t a Spengler, you’d be answering our phones”, Phoebe is 100% correct in her assessment and her angry response to what is happening to her. Everyone in that firehouse can eat shit if they think otherwise. Phoebe is the intelligent one, she’s the one who Egon essentially handpicked to take over through his ghostly efforts, and she is the one who captained the events of Afterlife. Trevor just joined later on and can work on a car. That’s all he does. If anything, Podcast should be given more credit than Callie and Gary, but now, they are telling her what to do on the matters of ghostbusting? Yeah, it’s hard not to see it from Phoebe’s perspective. Her lashing out in frustration is a relatable and welcomed change of pace. It’s written well in this regard because the audience doesn’t get agitated with her, despite having the potential of a “bratty teenager” character trope. Since she is justified and we like Phoebe too much, the audience is fully behind her and enjoy her efforts because the viewer knows her anger comes from a good place.

Though they aren’t as funny as the original movies which goes without saying, these characters and their decisions are written well in the context of the story. Along with Afterlife, these two films have made a concerted effort to give a lot of depth to these characters, more than the original movies ever did and the layers take the story down unexpected paths. This is why the odd friendship between Phoebe and similarly aged ghost Melody is an intriguing one. It doesn’t take long for the viewer to assume nefarious intentions from Melody, as there is a certain eeriness to her calm retelling of her horrific backstory and death, but the idea of Phoebe feeling so removed from her family and friends at this moment in time to where she only gets excited around her new ghost friend aligns with the introverted Phoebe who has always had trouble connecting with those around her. Plus, with Mayor Peck taking away her right to be a Ghostbuster, she loses her purpose at the same time, her calling. Combining her being at her lowest and loneliest, the lengths she goes to even consider such an outrageous stunt like sticking herself into the ionic separator to become a temporary ghost and to hang with Melody on an equal playing field, not realizing this would allow for Garraka to possess her physical body to do the chant to release him, somehow does work in a crazy way. At first, my initial thoughts in the moment were, “Who in the fuck would do something this stupid in attempt to make a friend?”, but further deliberation has changed my stance on the matter. First of all, we can’t let logic ruin every good story. Sometimes, it’s worth mentioning, but in other cases, we have to understand that these are movies after all and let certain things go. Secondly, lapses in judgment are made all the time, especially in different emotional states, and every human being is different. It’s easy for a viewer to sit there in hindsight and condemn a character’s actions, but in the heat of the moment, people react in various ways to different scenarios. They may realize they messed up afterwards, but in the moment, a human being reacts instinctively. In some cases, the instincts can take over and each individual’s thought process are different in said moment. This is crucial in understanding a character as nuanced as Phoebe Spengler.

During this timeframe, the only person who sees things her way is Melody and she takes comfort in that. That’s why she just wants to get closer to her because she sees this as real. Unfortunately, Melody senses it, as does Garraka, which is why she is preyed up on and chosen as a target. They could sense her vulnerability and faults and took advantage at just the right time. Sometimes, that’s all it takes. As naturally intelligent as Phoebe is, she struggles mightily with emotions, human interaction, and understanding how to deal with personalities that are all over the place on the scale of intellect. Phoebe sees things one way and can point out why others might be wrong, but she rarely sees why they think in such a way or where they may have come from to get to certain conclusions. This is why she has a tendency to respond with emotional blow-ups on occasion. After her Ghostbuster privileges are taken away, she is left with nothing. Callie doesn’t fight for Phoebe outright because she knows the legal trouble that could cause even more issues if she does. Phoebe never looks at it from this perspective and just sees Callie agreeing with Peck’s decision, not even considering how serious it could be if they get caught again. With everyone else going along with it, Phoebe comes to the usual teenage conclusion that we have all been through. Of course, this is the thought that everyone is against them. In reality, we know it’s never that simple and each situation is complicated, but she doesn’t see it that way because she saved the world previously and should be given some leeway. In a perfect world, any of us would agree with that argument because she is more capable with a proton pack that most adults, but Frozen Empire and all of the Ghostbusters movies previously have stuck to their guns in grounding itself in the reality of bureaucratic decision-makers being just as in their way as the actual ghosts they face. If the Ghostbusters and their adventures were all real, it would indeed go down like this. Sometimes, we wish it took a page out of The Real Ghostbusters‘ playbook in having mostly everyone appreciate their efforts, but the movies are different, and it has to be respected within the timeline how consistent they have been with this from the beginning.

Seriously though, who in their right mind would vote Walter Peck for Mayor after the bullshit he pulled in the 80s (“Peck, you clown. You are never gonna get it, are you?”)?

Of the other young actors, Finn Wolfhard didn’t do much of note other than chase after Slimer, but he’s settled into being a decent supporting character, nothing more. Considering how bloated the cast of this film is here, someone had to take a backseat, and it was Trevor’s turn this time around. Hopefully, they do something with him in the sequel that adds to his development. Celeste O’Connor’s Lucky was grasping for straws. Her becoming an intern at the Paranormal Research Center and Trevor not even being told about it was a stretch, and their idea for her character development being a tendency to make strange sex comments just made me turn my head in confusion (“Nipple stuff. Iconic”). One comment can be funny, but she goes back to it enough to where you’re wondering what her deal is. Her development regressed to the point where if the Lucky character was dropped completely, no one would bat an eye. She’s replaceable. Actually, removing Lucky entirely at this point would have been preferred. When they go to investigate Nadeem’s grandmother’s brass sex dungeon, it should have just been Trevor, Ray, and Venkman, just so we can see Venkman more. It would have helped the humor and overall entertainment value of the film rather than Lucky shoehorning weird jokes that don’t fit the character. Murray’s deadpan style and sarcasm would have been perfect during that sequence. For the record, every scene Bill Murray is in stole the show, but who here is surprised? After all these years, he’s still got it. His back and forth with Kumail Nanjiani’s Nadeem was great, and his return to the firehouse station to help out with the final battle was iconic, especially when he lights up seeing Janine donning the Ghostbusters’ gear (“Melnitz in uniform! Looking sporty!”). When he hit the wall and the small bottle of whiskey came out to which he asks, “Courage anyone?”, was gold. No one does it like Bill Murray. I also enjoyed the use of Dan Aykroyd’s Ray Stanz, as his enthusiasm about these topics and the franchise is ever present here. You can see the twinkle in his eye when he observes the Ecto-1 driving by on a call through the window of his bookstore.

Ray, and more than likely Aykroyd as well, wishes they were still out there on the call and so do we really. The reality check he gets from Winston is unexpectedly poignant following Fortitude’s destruction. Ray tries to tell him of the dangers that lie ahead of the cylinder containing the chant until Winston tells him to stop because they’re too old for this chaos. In a meaningful line that represents not only his youthful energy but also seems to be a representation of the heart of the loyal fans that have followed this franchise heavily since 1984, he responds, “I don’t know what our age has to do with this”. It’s not about the age. It’s the love of the game. After Winston points out how Ray could have gotten himself or the kids hurt (With all due respect, it’s what you sign up for when you become a Ghostbuster. Deal with it, Winston), he suggests Ray take a vacation because these are supposed to be their golden years. Like a true fan of the series, Aykroyd himself seems to be speaking through Ray saying, “Winston, this is the way I want to spend my golden years. This is what I love”. It’s a heartfelt moment, and us fans can take solace in the line because it almost assures us that Aykroyd will always be involved with this franchise in some way. The passion for this stuff is evident in every word he speaks. This is why I’m also glad his role increased so much compared to Afterlife. Along with his funny friendship with Podcast that adds a lot to the humor of the movie, Ray plays like he’s retired but regularly gives advice, stays as a presence in and out of Ghostbusters-related facilities, and is essentially available to jump back in the saddle at any time, especially when his interest is attracted to a new antagonist at hand. If this is the new role for Dr. Ray Stanz, and he’s always going to be a solid contributor in this fashion in future sequels, I’m all for it. He deserves it, and the fans want it. Though I was on Phoebe’s side of Callie just choosing to be a Ghostbuster being disrespectful to the others’ efforts, Callie Coon and Paul Rudd’s chemistry that fueled Afterlife is still present as they play off each other so well, though Callie is less cool and a little more emotionally affected by what’s going on this time around.

It’s not necessarily a bad thing because the stakes have been raised and Callie taking things more seriously is understandable, it’s just slightly less likable because that was the best part about Callie in the first movie. Despite this, Paul Rudd makes up for any shortcomings. He looks like a natural in the Ghostbusters outfit and the funniest exchange of the film came from him when he’s trying to cheer Callie up by saying the lyrics to the Ghostbusters theme song but delivering them as if it’s a serious monologue of hope.

My biggest gripe with Afterlife was the return of Gozer the Gozerian and everything it entailed because it was essentially a copy of the climax of 1984’s Ghostbusters. Thankfully, Frozen Empire understands that it doesn’t have to go backwards anymore, as Afterlife already did that part to bring the old fans in. They can move on creatively, which is why the biggest success of this sequel is the horrific, Slender Man-like entity known as Garraka. The backstory did remind me a little of Thor: Ragnarök, but any time a new supernatural villain is thrown into the mix and threatens the world, it’s exciting. It’s a cool hurdle for the Ghostbusters to overcome because each victory strengthens the team in the eyes of the audience. The challenge is making us believe in a potential loss. After Ray talks about how Garraka is coming for the containment unit to recruit every ghost they have ever caught in an effort to make an army, and the blizzard/ice storm washes over New York, there is a real sense of danger that we’re watching something massive unfolding. The CGI is fantastic during this sequence too, and the visual of Garraka freezing the streams was insane! The suspense of it all is done well, especially when they turn the firehouse station into a base, and damn near everyone becomes frozen literally and figuratively when the monstrous villain breaks in to face them. In an interview, Kumail Nanjiani stated how the creative team behind the film took inspiration from The Real Ghostbusters cartoon, and it is felt with how well the suspense, the chaos, the humor, and all-around Ghostbusters action come to play in that third act in combination with the all-powerful, world-destroying antagonist. What was great about the climax is that it took both the new team and the old team’s combined efforts to pull off a miracle, and to no one’s surprise, the old team still stole the show (“Just do it! We all trust you!”) How it all ties into a surprisingly emotional ending of Melody’s Egon-like finale was icing on the cake (“I’ll see you in the fabric of the universe”).

Hey, it turns out that friendship did mean something.

The scientific solutions in the third act were researched and presented well in making sense of where everything was going, but unambitious slacker Nadeem as the Firemaster was the tipping point where it all felt like too much. He was just one character too many. Nadeem wasn’t funny enough to warrant his inclusion, and he became too important for being such a jackass. It did add a layer to the action, but the movie would have flowed better had the focus been on everyone else and the story was tightened up to take out the extra explanations of backstory stuff that came off as overkill. If it was all just to lead to Nadeem shooting a flame at Garraka, all the time it took to get to that point could have been used strategically elsewhere. After they searched his apartment, the character should have been discarded. This way, the Ghostbusters could take center stage completely during the ending, following Melody’s turn, to solidify their teamwork as a collective supergroup of old and new.

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire may not have been an example of a franchise getting better and better with each sequel, as this series has actually been the total opposite of this hope. However, it’s still a fun adventure and a worthy sequel that warrants more. As long as the team in front of and behind the camera is willing to continue the saga, I’m all for it because the direction they have gone down since the franchise’s return in 2021 has been a genuine delight. Frozen Empire was loaded with entertainment and contains enough world-building that we as fans can only be amped for what’s on the horizon for this cast of characters. And if anyone is experiencing unusual paranormal activity in their area, there is only one group we want called, and that’s the Ghostbusters. Let’s just hope the ride continues. Really, there is no need to be overly critical. This sequel was solid. Next time, just be happy they’re back and thank them, dickless!

Also, when making the next sequel and there is any shred of doubt in anyone’s mind if the movie might not meet expectations, increase Bill Murray’s role. It’s literally that simple people.

For Ivan.