It's not a controversial statement to say that the Ghostbusters franchise hasn't been good since the first movie (I enjoy the second one, but I can't say it's necessarily a good movie), but I'm sure there's debate about which of the sequels is the worst one. Many will probably choose the 2016 Paul Feig one for that title, but I think this one should take the crown.
It starts off in typical "Ghostbuster" fashion: a haunting event takes place to help set the mood. The problem here is this opening has no atmosphere, despite it being the most horrendous haunting event to be witnessed in the entire franchise. It lets the audience know of the potential stakes later in the movie, but the handling doesn't add any weight to the plot. With all of that said, this is probably the best scene in the whole movie.
Hard cut to modern day where the Ghostbusters from Afterlife are now in New York, living out of the iconic firehouse. There's some set up for potential new gadgets, but they don't get utilized in any meaningful way later on. After a boring action-chase sequence where buildings and property are damaged, the Ghostbusters are brought to the mayor's office, which for no reason other than nostalgia is occupied by Walter Peck (William Atherton) from the first movie. I know New York City has a habit of electing the worst possible people mayor, but the guy who was most responsible for causing the world to almost end in the first movie? A wholly original character could have been written to spar with the Ghostbusters, but for some reason it has to be Peck again.
The Peck inclusion seems like a nitpick at first, but it's emblamatic of a larger issue with the characters: namely, none of them really have anything to do aside from Phoebe (Mckenna Grace) and Ray (Dan Aykroyd). All of the other original cast members have less to do and are more awkwardly worked into the movie than their cameos in the 2016 version, and the characters from Afterlife are all given potential character arcs that don't really happen. Paul Rudd is trying to learn to be a step-dad: it just sort of happens by the end. Finn Wolfhard wants to be seen as an adult because he just turned 18: he fails at capturing a Slimer in his needless cameo and at the end gets to drive the Ecto-1 for some reason. Carrie Coon doesn't do anything but try to give Paul Rudd advice on how to be a proper parental figure: other than that, she has no character or agency in the movie. Podcast (Logan Kim) and Lucky (Celeste O'Connor) have forced reasons for returning for the sequel.
One of the new details of the movie that is a little interesting is the inclusion of a ghost (Emily Alyn Lind) who needs to find a way to escape the mortal plane and move on. In a way, the ghost is going to be busted, but not in the usual way. If the script were better, this would have been a wonderful new inclusion to the Ghostbuster lore.
That's right: based on everything I already said, the writing is unsurprisingly terrible. As already stated, the character stuff is bad, but what's even worse is their attempts at genre. The original Ghostbusters is a dry but witty comedy with some genuinely creepy horror moments. That uniqueness isn't present here. The attempts at scary stuff lack any atmosphere or creepiness to them, and the comedy is characters awkwardly saying stuff. Why bother making a Ghostbusters movie if you don't like what the first two movies established the franchise as and instead want to go for something so generic and without personality?
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is the perfect movie for someone on Youtube to create a 5 hour hour review of to pick apart because, like my review showcases, the problems are apparent immediately and in every scene. Without characters, humor, or scares, this movie is just a mush of bland and uninteresting stuff without appeal. It's the cinematic equivalent of gruel.
It starts off in typical "Ghostbuster" fashion: a haunting event takes place to help set the mood. The problem here is this opening has no atmosphere, despite it being the most horrendous haunting event to be witnessed in the entire franchise. It lets the audience know of the potential stakes later in the movie, but the handling doesn't add any weight to the plot. With all of that said, this is probably the best scene in the whole movie.
Hard cut to modern day where the Ghostbusters from Afterlife are now in New York, living out of the iconic firehouse. There's some set up for potential new gadgets, but they don't get utilized in any meaningful way later on. After a boring action-chase sequence where buildings and property are damaged, the Ghostbusters are brought to the mayor's office, which for no reason other than nostalgia is occupied by Walter Peck (William Atherton) from the first movie. I know New York City has a habit of electing the worst possible people mayor, but the guy who was most responsible for causing the world to almost end in the first movie? A wholly original character could have been written to spar with the Ghostbusters, but for some reason it has to be Peck again.
The Peck inclusion seems like a nitpick at first, but it's emblamatic of a larger issue with the characters: namely, none of them really have anything to do aside from Phoebe (Mckenna Grace) and Ray (Dan Aykroyd). All of the other original cast members have less to do and are more awkwardly worked into the movie than their cameos in the 2016 version, and the characters from Afterlife are all given potential character arcs that don't really happen. Paul Rudd is trying to learn to be a step-dad: it just sort of happens by the end. Finn Wolfhard wants to be seen as an adult because he just turned 18: he fails at capturing a Slimer in his needless cameo and at the end gets to drive the Ecto-1 for some reason. Carrie Coon doesn't do anything but try to give Paul Rudd advice on how to be a proper parental figure: other than that, she has no character or agency in the movie. Podcast (Logan Kim) and Lucky (Celeste O'Connor) have forced reasons for returning for the sequel.
One of the new details of the movie that is a little interesting is the inclusion of a ghost (Emily Alyn Lind) who needs to find a way to escape the mortal plane and move on. In a way, the ghost is going to be busted, but not in the usual way. If the script were better, this would have been a wonderful new inclusion to the Ghostbuster lore.
That's right: based on everything I already said, the writing is unsurprisingly terrible. As already stated, the character stuff is bad, but what's even worse is their attempts at genre. The original Ghostbusters is a dry but witty comedy with some genuinely creepy horror moments. That uniqueness isn't present here. The attempts at scary stuff lack any atmosphere or creepiness to them, and the comedy is characters awkwardly saying stuff. Why bother making a Ghostbusters movie if you don't like what the first two movies established the franchise as and instead want to go for something so generic and without personality?
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is the perfect movie for someone on Youtube to create a 5 hour hour review of to pick apart because, like my review showcases, the problems are apparent immediately and in every scene. Without characters, humor, or scares, this movie is just a mush of bland and uninteresting stuff without appeal. It's the cinematic equivalent of gruel.