Reviews
‘Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’ Review – The Nostalgia Tank Is Running on Empty in Familiar Ghostbusting Tale
It’s been almost forty years since Ghostbusters introduced the plucky foursome fumbling their way through spectral encounters, using a now iconic Manhattan firehouse as their operations base. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, set two years after the events of Ghostbusters: Afterlife, further entrenches the Spengler family and newcomers into the franchise by returning to where it all began: New York City. Frozen Empire offers familiar set pieces, references, and easter eggs aplenty, but the nostalgia tank is now running on empty.
Phoebe (Mckenna Grace), Trevor (Finn Wolfhard), mom Callie (Carrie Coon), and stepdad Gary (Paul Rudd) have adjusted well to life as Ghostbusters in the rundown yet classic firehouse. So well, in fact, that their latest paranormal capture caused enough city damage to put them in the crosshairs of Walter “Dickless” Peck (William Atherton). That’s not the only source of trouble for the new team; the firehouse’s containment unit is at capacity and struggling. Then there’s the matter of an ancient artifact that happens to act as the prison for a malevolent deity, Garraka, that intends to plunge the world into an icy apocalypse.
Sewer Dragon Ghost being chased through New York in Columbia Pictures GHOSTBUSTERS: FROZEN EMPIRE.
Afterlife co-writers Jason Reitman and Gil Kenan (Monster House, 2015’s Poltergeist) once again share writing duties, with Kenan taking over as director of Frozen Empire. Kenan has the unenviable task of corralling both the new generation of Ghostbusters and originals into one cohesive story, and it quickly proves to be an insurmountable hurdle to clear. Uniting the Spengler family with Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson), Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd), Peter Venkman (Bill Murray), and Janine Melnitz (Annie Potts) is seamless enough, thanks to the legwork in Afterlife. But Frozen Empire quickly struggles with incorporating Afterlife characters Podcast (Logan Kim) and Lucky (Celeste O’Connor). That’s before the introduction of Kumail Nanjiani’s Nadeem, Emily Alyn Lind’s Melody, Winston’s engineer Lars (James Acaster), and a slew of cameos.
Stretched far too thin in trying to give every character a moment to shine, whether through humor, callbacks, or ghostbusting heroics, Frozen Empire takes a long while to lay the groundwork. The throughline is Afterlife’s heroine, Phoebe, but poor Phoebe spends the bulk of the movie struggling with growing pains and teen angst. McKenna Grace does what she can and ultimately retains rooting interest through sheer will and empathy, but Frozen Empire throws every contrivance possible in her way to prolong the story’s central ghost problem.
And it has a big ghost problem, just not in the way the story presents.
(L to R) Callie (Carrie Coon), Trevor (Finn Wolfhard), Gary (Paul Rudd), Janine (Annie Potts), Phoebe (Mckenna Grace), Podcast (Logan Kim), Ray (Dan Aykroyd), Lars (James Acaster) and Lucky (Celeste OConnor) in Columbia Pictures GHOSTBUSTERS: FROZEN EMPIRE.
With marketing leaning so heavily into the frozen aspect of its title, there’s very little in the way of a frozen empire or ghostly apocalypse. The movie spends the bulk of its runtime scattering its overcrowded cast to various corners, each separately discovering vital clues or puzzle pieces, with a cute but scant scattering of new encounters or familiar specters to tickle the nostalgia bone. When it comes to the film’s big bad, Frozen Empire prefers to tell audiences, rather than show, what terrible beast is poised to unleash hell on New York City. By the time he does come into full power, the climax feels far too abrupt and uneventful compared to the lengthy setup promising an epic showdown.
As polished as this entry may be, the stakes feel at the franchise’s lowest.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire can’t decide between nostalgia, humor, or heart. So, it opts for a scattershot version of all three. Whereas Afterlife grappled with family legacy, Frozen Empire isn’t sure of itself beyond addressing the shift from old guard to new. But it’s still far too reliant on nostalgia to serve as the next step in the franchise’s evolution, and that also includes the formula, right down to updated lines like “Are you the flame master?” It winds up a series of charming moments cast adrift amidst an overly simplistic, familiar story.
That may be enough for some, especially when Frozen Empire pulls out some deep-cut nods. But by the time the mid-credit scene kicks in, solely designed to inspire merchandising sales, it’s more likely to leave you ready for the Ghostbusters to retire in peace.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire arrives in theaters on March 22.
Rebooting and expanding upon Bryan Bertino’s chilling 2008 horror film in a brand new trilogy, all installments already shot as part of one continuous, overarching story, makes for one of the more ambitious horror endeavors as of late. It also means that The Strangers: Chapter 1 is only the opening act of a three-part saga. Considering it’s the entry most committed to recreating the familiar beats of Bertino’s film, Chapter 1 makes for a tricky-to-gauge, overly familiar introduction to this new expansion.
The Strangers: Chapter 1 introduces happy couple Maya (Madelaine Petsch) and Ryan (Froy Gutierrez) on their way to starting a new life together in the Pacific Northwest. Car troubles leave them stranded in the quirky small town of Venus, Oregon, where they’re forced to stay the night in a cozy but remote cabin in the woods.
Naturally, the deeply in love couple soon find themselves in a desperate bid to survive the night when three masked strangers come knocking.
Madelaine Petsch as Maya in The Strangers. Photo Credit: John Armour
Director Renny Harlin, working from a 289-page screenplay by Alan R. Cohen & Alan Freedland that was broken into three movies, keeps Chapter 1 mostly self-contained to recapture the spirit of the original film. The core remains the same in that it’s reliant on the eerie stalking and escalating violence that builds toward a familiar conclusion, but Harlin mixes it up a bit through details and set pieces that hint toward the larger story around Venus itself. The early introductory scenes establishing both the protagonists and their setting offer the biggest clues toward the subsequent chapters, with the bustling diner giving glimpses of potential allies or foes yet to come- like the silent, lurking Sheriff Rotter (Richard Brake).
One downside to announcing this as a trilogy is that we already know that the successive chapters will continue Maya’s story, robbing more suspense from a film that liberally leans into its predecessor for scares. The good news is that Madelaine Petsch brings enough layers to Maya to pique curiosity and instill rooting interest to carry into Chapter 2. Maya begins as the gentler, more polite half of the young couple in love, but there’s a defiance that creeps through the more she’s terrorized. On that front, Petsch makes Maya’s visceral fear tangible, visibly quaking and quivering through her abject terror as she attempts to evade her relentless attackers.
The Strangers – Chapter 1. Photo Credit: John Armour
It’s her subtle emotional arc and quiet visual hints toward the bigger picture that tantalize most in an introductory chapter meant to entice younger audiences unfamiliar with the 2008 originator. The jolts will have a harder time landing for fans of Bertino’s film, however, even when Harlin stretches beyond the cabin for stunt-heavy chase sequences or gory bursts of violence. It’s worth noting that Harlin’s tenured experience and cinematographer José David Montero ensure we can grasp every intricate stunt or chase sequence with clarity; there’s no worry of squinting through the dark, hazy woods to make out what’s happening on screen. A more vibrant color palette also lends personality to Venus and its residents.
The Strangers: Chapter 1 exists in a unique place in that it’s the first 90 minutes of what will amount to a roughly 4.5-hour movie yet doesn’t give much away at all about what’s ahead, presenting only part of the whole picture. Chapter 1 does a sufficient job laying the groundwork and delivering horror thrills but with a caveat: the less familiar you are with The Strangers, the better. Harlin and crew get a bit too faithful in their bid to recreate Bertino’s effective scares, even when remixing them, and it dampens what works. The more significant departures from the source material won’t come until later, but look to a mid-credit tease that sets this up.
The Strangers: Chapter 1 doesn’t establish enough of its own identity to make it memorable or set it apart, but it’s just functional enough to raise curiosity for where we’re headed next.
The Strangers: Chapter 1 releases in theaters on May 17, 2024.
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