THE GHOSTBUSTERS GIVE FANS THE COLD SHOULDER
The Ghostbusters are back! But this time they pack in more cast, more plot threads, and somehow less ghost than Afterlife. Can this movie heat up your collection? Or does this movie need to chill?
Let’s find out!
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is the latest movie in the Ghostbusters franchise and moves the plot back to the loveable yet somehow mostly empty at night NYC. Aside from coming back to the big apple. We get all the returning cast back plus a new addition to thwart a big bad popsicle. The plot felt like it wanted to have epic stakes, but when it came down to showing on screen death and calamity, the producers said, “Nah, I gotta get that sweet sweet PG-13 rating.” Not that Ghostbusters needs gratuitous violence to sell, it’s just the trailer made it seem way more dangerous than the film lead on.
Paul Rudd was Paul Rudd in the film, and I mean that in the best possible way. Finn Wolfhard had his screen time chopped down in the movie due to the cast expanding a bit, so this didn’t really move the needle either way for his overall career, he was fine in the role, but his character just had more agency in Afterlife. Mckenna Grace was the movie’s focal point, as she also was in Ghostbuster: Afterlife. Her performance was fine, her character was written a bit annoying though. But we can chalk that up to dumb teenager does dumb stuff to advance the plot. The plot of course would have more holes than swiss cheese if put up too much scrutiny.
The best thing I can say about the movie is that the pacing never let up. The writers crammed so many characters and exposition into the movie that even on the non action scenes there is at least something of vague interest going on. Some people might have different thoughts on the subtle romance that brews in the film. I myself didn’t catch what was going on until after the film and going online so that at least means it’s subtle, which I can appreciate.
There was one scene that really stood out where two characters interact and I was so oblivious to the subtext that when I went back to look up the discussion around the scene, I was like, “Oh, that’s dumb, and this is supposed to be the plan that everything was riding on?”
If you’re a fan of the franchise and just want more content, this movie was made for you. While it’s full of nostalgia and tropes, it can still be entertaining to a casual viewer, just maybe not at full price.
This was a good time… if your streaming!
I’m gonna give Ghostbuster: Frozen Empire 7 proton packs out of 10!
So what did you think of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, did you like it? Did you love it? Did you hate it? Did you even see it!?
Let us know in the comments below!
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