Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024) Review

AN OVERSTUFFED SEQUEL THAT

PUTS THE FRANCHISE “ON ICE”

In 2021, the Ghostbusters, everyone’s favorite supernatural ghost fighting team, returned to the big screen for third cinematic outing with the release of Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Directed by Jason Reitman, the film, which starred Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace, Logan Kim, and Paul Rudd, is set 32 years after the events of Ghostbusters II, following the strange events when a single mother and her two children movie to an Oklahoma farm they inherited from her estranged father, Egon Spengler, a member of the original Ghostbusters. Originally slated to be released in July 2020, Ghostbusters: Afterlife was delayed four times due to the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic before finally settling firmly on a theatrical release on November 19th,2021. The film itself received mixed opinions and reviews amongst critics and moviegoers alike, with many praising the feature for Reitman’s direction, the cast’s performance, and a respectable tribute to the late Harold Ramis, while criticism was drawn towards the movie’s screenplay and too much of the nostalgia fan service. Nevertheless, the movie did gross roughly $204 million worldwide at the box office against a production budget of $75 million, which was enough for a sequel to be greenlit. Now, three years after the movie’s release, Sony Pictures and director Gil Kenan present the next chapter in the Ghostbusters film franchise with the release of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. Does this movie present a well-deserved sequel film to Afterlife, or does it shutter and falter within its own frozen and mediocre landscape?

THE STORY

Three years after the events that took place in Summerville, Oklahoma, Callie Spengler (Carrie Coon) relocates her family, including her beau Gary Grooberson (Paul Rudd) and her children Phoebe (Mckenna Grace) and Trevor (Finn Wolfhard), back to New York City and taken over the Ghostbusters Firehouse headquarters, restoring the family’s business of hunting and capturing ghostly specters that are on the loose. Wrecking the city during the most recent supernatural capture, the gang is threatened with punishment by Mayor Walter Peck (William Atherton), forcing Callie and Gary to bench Phoebe due to her young age. Naturally, the female teen doesn’t take the news well, discovering an unexpected companion in the form of Melody (Emily Alyn Lind), a friendly ghost who shares a special connection to Phoebe. Meanwhile, original Ghostbuster Dr. Raymond “Ray” Stantz (Dan Aykroyd), is on a quest to purchase interesting and obscure objects for his occult book shops, which puts him into contact with Nadeem Razmaadi (Kumail Nanjiani), who’s looking to sell a mysterious orb that contains an unknown dark energy found in his grandmother’s old belongings. As Dr. Winston Zeddeemore (Ernie Hudson) uses his paranormal research facility to examine the orb, the evil spirit, Garraka, seeks to be released from its spherical captivity, bringing forth the “death chill”, aiming to freeze humanity and bring all ghost under his dominion.

THE GOOD / THE BAD

The Ghostbusters franchise has had its ups and downs…. over the years, but it seems to be on the up and up after the success of Ghostbusters: Afterlife. I wasn’t truly a big fan of film series as some are, but I appreciate the original two films from what they were and deserved a lot of attention for being both memorable and icons of 80s era of movies. To be honest, I was more aware (and liked) animated cartoon TV series (The Real Ghostbusters) as well as the iconic “theme song” for the entire franchise, which everyone still seems to know and love. I somewhat liked 2016’s Ghostbusters, but it felt too much of a retread and didn’t capture the same type of energy and magic from the original features. This, of course, brings up 2021’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife, which was the true sequel follow-up to 1989’s Ghostbusters II. I know that a lot of people liked it (as did I), but (again) it felt very much like a retread that was bloated with nostalgia fan service. Plus, I still think that the movie was “Ghostbusters meets Stranger Things” to a certain degree, especially with the young characters. There were some things that I really did like, including feeling like a “proper” extension of the franchise by having several callbacks, familiar acting talent to be a part of this entry, and a new generation of “Ghostbusters” coming on-board. Still, Afterlife did have some problems that were a bit overdone, including a very much recycled plotline from the first one as well having a bit too much nostalgia fan service moments that, while fun and amusing, came off as a bit too much at times. Regardless of that, the movie still proved to be effective in its presentation and proving the point that the Ghostbusters franchise still had life in it for more feature film installments.

Naturally, this brings me back around to talking about Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, a 2024 supernatural comedy film, the follow-up sequel to Ghostbusters: Afterlife, and the fourth theatrical film in the Ghostbusters series (fifth if you include 2016’s all-female cast of Ghostbusters). As stated, given the reception that Afterlife had, it was almost an inevitable that sequel was going to be commissioned by Sony Pictures, with the announcement following sometime after the movie’s release. Then the movie sort of went silent on the project for a little bit, with a few tidbits here and there that began to appear online. It wasn’t until I first saw the film’s movie trailers, which began to appear sometime towards the end of 2023 year, and it did do the movie justice, showcasing a lot of familiar tones that Afterlife captured as well as a new threat coming. I still did have some reservations about the film, but it was lessened from what I thought of Afterlife before seeing it. I figured that the filmmakers would learn from what worked (and didn’t work) from the 2021 sequel and take that knowledge in applying it towards this endeavor. I also did like that majority of the cast from Afterlife was coming back for this new film and that the original Ghostbusters team were also returning for much larger roles (presumably). To be sure, I was quite interested to see this upcoming movie, which I did see when it opened on March 22nd, 2024. I did, however, have to wait to get my review done for this movie, which was due to my work schedule and my back catalogue of 2023 films to review. Now, with all of that done and out of the way, I am ready to share my personal thoughts on this latest Ghostbusters film. And what did I think of it? Well, I was bit disappointed with it. To be sure, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire does try its best to emulate the same exact energy as it did with its predecessor, but gets bogged down with overstuffed narrative and relying too much on nostalgia fan service once again. It’s not utterly terrible and there is some entertainment of viewing this movie, but it gets quickly buried underneath a rather “busy” plot and abundance of characters.

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is directed by Gil Kenan, whose previous directorial works include such films as City of Ember, Monster House, and A Boy Called Christmas. Given his previous projects that he was worked on Kenan makes the most of his time on this particular blockbuster sequel, with Frozen Empire acting as his most ambitious (and largest) film to date. Interestingly, Kenan did have a hand in the production of Afterlife as both a writer for the movie as well as an executive producer. Considering that notion, Kenan does have some areas of expertise in approaching a new Ghostbusters film, especially in how to shape a follow-up endeavor to Afterlife. In that regard, Kenan does somewhat find redeeming qualities in this picture, molding Frozen Empire to have the same type of energy, bite, and visual flair as what worked in the 2021 movie. In essence, the film itself, like Afterlife, is fun movie to watch, presenting a tale that mixes both old flavoring of the Ghostbusters franchise as well as interjecting the project with modern day influences and material. This particular concoction doesn’t exactly work in the way that was intended for the maximum effect (more on that below), but, for his efforts, Kenan does a decent job in shaping the movie with that classic “something old, something new” type of vibe that I felt throughout the movie; something that anyone (fan of the series or not) could find enjoyable while viewing the feature to a certain degree.

In contrast to Afterlife, which did find itself rehashing a lot of familiar tropes and scenarios from the original Ghostbusters film, Kenan does get the opportunity to add a new antagonist to the feature (Garraka), who has quite an interesting backstory and lore behind him. This, of course, plays a part in the main narrative (naturally) and gives context to the featured villain as well as adding some new tidbits into the supernatural mythos to the Ghostbusters premise. This world-building aspect helps generate some excitement in Frozen Empire, which does make it sound out from its predecessor, which seemed to recycle too much at times. Of course, moving the film’s primary setting back to NYC was a terrific idea, with Kenan seemingly having fun of bringing the Spengler family back to the famous city and hunting ghost throughout. It feels more “in-line” with the original two films and does provide some great visual sightseeing along the way as well as giving the opportunity to see some of the old veteran Ghostbuster characters back into action, without feeling shoehorning them too much or without proper context.

Of course, the movie does have its action scenes, with Kenan presenting several visual flair paranormal encounters that has its mixture of scares (PG rated), action, and comedy. Also, like Afterlife, Kenan doesn’t get too distract with ghostly visual from spending time with the human characters, especially ones that were paramount in the last film. Naturally, the Spengler family takes centerstage and, while not all shine correctly in the movie, Kenan still position most of the feature on Phoebe’s story arc as the prime character. The comedic bits in the movie do play at part in Frozen Empire and, while not always perfect, do provide some laughs along the way for some levity moments. Overall, Kenan does moderately succeed in bringing his interpretation of a Ghostbusters movie to life, with Frozen Empire “keeping up appearance” to what Afterlife was presented to be…. a fun and entertaining supernatural flick that can be viewed by young or old moviegoers and appreciate another installment in this ghostbusting franchise.

In the film’s presentation, Frozen Empire certainly carries the visual weight of which its 2021 predecessor had as well as having that modern day blockbuster pedigree to the proceedings, which is a good thing. Like how Afterlife, the movie itself is display with plenty of eye-candy visual flair moments, with the feature promptly showcasing a plethora of supernatural specters and ghoulish fiends. So, of course, I do have mention that the movie’s visual effects team should highly praised by rendering such menacing specters in such a fun and engaging way, especially with the film’s main antagonist character (Garraka), who looks and sounds incredibly terrifying. Plus, as mentioned, Kenan does take the movie’s setting back to New York City, which (again) does bring back that “old familiar haunt” for the backdrop sandbox area for the film and does settle in quite nice within the world building aspect. Thus, seeing the “big apple” back in the background for all these new characters to run around was appealing and does create that nostalgia feeling that the Ghostbusters team is back….in both characters and primary setting. Thus, the film’s “behind the scenes” team, including Eve Stewart (production design), Pancho Chamorro, Marina Parker, and Michael Standish (set decorations), Alexis Forte and Ruth Meyers (costume designs) as well as the entire hair / make up department and the art direction group, for their efforts made on this movie and bringing the movie’s world to life with such visual flair. In addition, the film’s cinematography work by Eric Steelberg does showcase some impressive work of usage cinematic camera angles and shadowing, especially some of the more supernatural shots that help “amp up” some of the thrills and chills moments / dramatic effect scenes. Lastly, the film’s score, which was composed by Dario Marianell, does a pretty good job in building up the musical composition of a Ghostbusters feature film, hitting all the right notes and melodical melodies the correct way. It won’t be the most “sought out after” movie soundtrack of the year, but it’s still a solid soundtrack, nonetheless.

Unfortunately, Frozen Empire does falter within its own shaping and overall execution of how everything plays out, which does hinder the feature and, while entertaining, comes up lacking character substance and too much of overlapping plot threads, weighing the sequel down. How so? Well, for starters, the movie itself is way too busy within its own character roster and storytelling elements as the feature itself is way too busy for its own good. Yes, despite the main threat of Garraka, Frozen Empire has a lot to unpack within its various characters that populate the story from beginning to end. From main characters to follow, their own story arcs, and side characters that come in and out of the narrative, it’s quite obvious that the movie’s plot is quite crammed and (naturally) the film can’t examine each particular aspect in the correct cinematic viewing experience. As such, many plot threads and characters feel half-baked right from the get-go and don’t really amount too much or feel superfluous in otherwise already overstuffed story. This makes the character weak and uneven, the plot (while interesting) feel too bulky, and the overall flow of the movie to be rather elongated and bogged down with too many details.

Part of the problem of this comes from the film’s direction, with Kenan struggling to find a proper rhythm throughout much of the feature’s runtime, which clocks in at around 115 minutes long. While that is five minutes under the two-hour mark, the movie itself is (sadly to say) quite boring and aimless at times. Why? Well, Kenan direction for the project is quite uneven at times and, while he certainly does nail a few parts will, the end result is that he struggles to balance everything the correct way. As such, the movie itself comes too claustrophobic at times as Kenan can’t properly juggle everything in a timely manner or presentation. This also comes into play of the characters, who get shifted around too much and not in proper function to fully flesh out them story arcs in the feature. Another crucial element is that Kenan weighs the movie down with too much fan service moments; a major problem that Afterlife certainly faced. Fan service (as a whole) can be good, but, just like everything, is only good in moderation. Afterlife had this problem and tried too hard to trigger that wave of nostalgia and fan service scenes. Frozen Empire shares a similar style, with Kenan indulging those moments a bit too much and ends up backfiring on a lot, which results in scenes that could’ve worked if only done in spurts and used sparsely. I think that the movie had the potential, and the overall presentation could’ve been better….if it was helming by a more capable director on who had a firmer grasp and clearer vision as to what this Ghostbusters movie wanted to be and how it should be navigated.

Perhaps another problem of this is found within the feature’s script, which was penned by Kenan and Jason Reitman (son of original Ghostbusters director Ivan Reitman and the director of Afterlife), is (again) showcases how crammed everything is in Frozen Empire’s presentation. A lot of moments of expositional dumps, boring plot threads, and lack of build up to the ultimate showdown of which the narrative is building. Also, (as mentioned) the script’s positioning of the variety of characters and how they are examined is clearly the weakest link, with many not getting the exact screen time or pay-off that the story visibly wants to say. Perhaps the biggest blunder is the whole “Phoebe / Melody” storyline arc, which is potential and meaningful, yet feels the most boring parts of the movie. This definitely could’ve been reworked for a far better display of some of the moments of narrative proses rather than being so clunkily handle. In addition, the movie big selling point “the freezing of NYC”, which the trailer promos and marketing campaign, comes very late in the movie and ends up being part of the rushed conclusion (more on that below). This aspect had so much potential for the movie (both presentation and story) to play around with, but it comes too late in the cinematic game and ends up only as the main set piece for the finale, which is a huge disappointment.

Another problem that the movie suffers is in the comedic bits that are sprinkled throughout the movie. Yes, the Ghostbusters are famous for their combination of supernatural horror and comedic levity moments, but the previous installments had a well-balance of story, action, comedy, and supernatural horrors. Frozen Empire, however, seems to be a bit lopsided when it comes to juggling all of those genres together in a cohesive manner, with the comedy aspect feeling a bit more off-putting than what it should. As I mentioned, some of the comedic parts were fun, but majority of them felt too long or superfluous. Plus, the jokes and gags themselves (for the most part) felt a bit too juvenile in a few scenes and not as sharp (or witty) as they’ve could’ve been. Again, there are several parts that I did laugh, but the overabundance of comedy isn’t that all it wished to be and ends up being a bit distraction, especially when the more supernatural action is occurring. Perhaps such moments of comedic timing (and its bite / payoff) could’ve been reworked in the film’s script handling.

Then there is Frozen Empire’s main antagonist, Garraka, a fearsome demon with supernatural mystical powers that command the power of snow and ice to freeze all, who (in my opinion) was somewhat underutilized in the movie’s capacity as the villain. Why? Well, it’s because of how the movie sets him up and ultimately appears in the narrative’s climax finale (more on that below). Without going into too many details, Garraka comes off better as a sort of “phantom menace” when the character is off-screen rather than when physically manifest during the film’s third act. There’s a lot of build up to his debut in the movie, but comes off as bit wasted potential for a bad guy, which is such shame as he certainly looks quite fearsome and cool looking in his physical form.

Lastly, most of these problems are carried over (and cultivate) in the feature’s third act finale. As mentioned the “big freeze” of NYC mostly take place during this part and where the movie’s main villain (Garrka) takes center stage. The problem? Well, it all feels quite lackluster, rushed, and almost watered down to a certain degree. Yes, there are some humorous and somewhat “cool moments” to be showcased in this portion, yet it all feels very simplified and edited down to make for a more leaner runtime….as if many scenes from the climax were left on the cutting room floor. Because of this, the ending battle between Garrka and the Ghostbusters seems rather weak and hurried, with a lot of the film’s build-up to this point doesn’t exactly reach a very climatic point. It’s all rushed and over with, which is very mundane and disappointing, especially when considering that the stakes in Frozen Empire are high and resolve in a haphazard and low-key way.

The cast in Frozen Empire is relatively familiar, with a lot of recognizable names (both from previous installments or newcomers) attached to this Ghostbusters sequels, which did make a lot of curious and excited. That being said, while said talent is present in the movie, the character themselves are mostly underwritten or undercook, with too many players going in and out of the movie’s narrative to be fully fleshed properly. As such, most of these individuals get shortchanged and are merely there for continuity purposes or act as plot devices in expositional dumps. Carrying over from Afterlife, the character of Phoebe Spengler, the granddaughter of original Ghostbuster team member Egon Spengler, continues to be the central protagonist in the movie, with actress Mckenna Grace come back to play the role once again. Known for her roles in Gifted, I, Tonya, and Annabelle Comes Home, Grace has certainly amassed some credibility in the acting field, playing a wide variety of roles throughout her career. She was definitely a delight in Afterlife and wonderful (yet humorous quirky) protagonist to follow as she uncovers more about her grandfather’s legacy and to stop the supernatural threat in that story. Thus, it’s a forgone conclusion that the character of Phoebe would once again would be at the center of Frozen Empire’s narrative and, for her part, Grace continues to give a solid (and likeable) character to root for throughout the main storyline of the film. She (Grace) handles herself quite well in the variety of scenes where she takes more of centerstage, especially with more established acting talent around her. Plus, Grace still is quite adept in playing up the inane awkwardness of the character, which is still endearing to see throughout. That being said, the character of Phoebe (or rather her character arc) gets too bogged down with some unnecessary “filler” substance and actually gets sidetracked a bit too much with some boring narrative elements. There definitely something to say on what’s presented in Frozen Empire for her, but it ultimately comes out to be half-baked and far less interesting. Thus, Phoebe, despite Grace’s performance, is far less interesting than how she was in Afterlife.

The other Spengler sibling, Trevor Spengler, gets less to do in this sequel and is merely there for continuity reasons. Of course, actor Finn Wolfhard (It and Stranger Things) is still good in the role as Trevor, but the script for the film doesn’t know what to do with him and leaves him pretty much to dangled in cinematic obscurity. He sort of gets his small subplot, but it doesn’t really amount to much and only becomes important during the film’s finale. Thus, despite Wolfhard’s performance, the character of Trevor is less important in the movie and is sadly (and woefully) underdeveloped, which is strange since he played a more vital role in Afterlife.

The other two young characters in the movie (Podcast and Lucky Domingo) seem to be added to Frozen Empire’s story for simple reasons of continuity purposes, reflecting upon Afterlife’s narrative into this one. Of course, the acting talent for their respective characters come back, with actor Logan Kim (The Walking Dead: Dead City and Kung Fu Panda 4) and actress Celeste O’Connor (Freaky and Madame Web) delivering some relatively okay performances, but both Podcast and Lucky act as “window dressing” for the feature. Even their sum parts in the grand scheme of the feature’s plot seems skimpy and act as more “filler” and forgettable side characters, which is disappointing.

As for the two adult characters from Afterlife, both actress Carrie Coon (Gone Girl and The Gilded Age) and actor Paul Rudd (Ant-Man and I Love You, Man) return to reprise their Afterlife characters in the movie as Callie Spengler, Phoebe and Trevor’s mother / daughter to the late Egon Spengler, and Gary Grooberson, a former teacher who is now dating Callie and acts as a surrogate father-figure for her kids. However, both Coon and Rudd can’t really drum up much to their respective roles and feel empty-handed and glossed over version. Coon’s Callie, much like Afterlife, is a bit insufferable and unlikeable right from the get-go and continues to be very “meh” throughout much of the Frozen Empire’s runtime, still acting as the matriarchy to the family, but still quite underdeveloped. Likewise, Rudd’s Gary, who I did enjoy in the previous film, is downgraded a lot more in this picture and doesn’t really amount to much. He does get one or two moments to shine in the spotlight, but the movie doesn’t play to Rudd’s strength, which is a shame. Perhaps the only good thing about these two characters is that both Coon and Rudd do have good on-screen chemistry with each other, but, as for their characters of Callie and Gary, they are quite drab and half-baked.

Of course, much like Afterlife, one of the spotlight parts of Frozen Empire is seeing the return of several of the original Ghostbusters team in reprising their roles once again as if they had never left. Perhaps the best (and who gets the most screen time) of this group would have to be actor Dan Aykroyd (The Blues Brothers and My Fellow Americans) as Dr. Raymond “Ray” Stantz. The movie (and by extension the script) does feature the character a lot more promptly as a larger supporting character and we (as the viewer) get more insight in Ray; a man who is still struggling of letting go of his “ghostbusting” days, with Aykroyd bring the right amount of humor and warmth to proceedings. The payoff for this works well and is satisfying and Aykroyd’s Ray feels the best (of the original cast) to be integrated into the Spengler family storyline.

After him, the other two original Ghostbusters character (Dr. Winston Zeddemore and Dr. Peter Venkman) appear in the movie and do have more screen time than what they did in Afterlife. However, their involvement in the movie is still quite brief and there could’ve been more screen time to develop what these characters are doing after retiring…..much like what the movie did with Aykroyd’s Ray. Still, actors Ernie Hudson (The Family Business and The Crow) and Bill Murray (Groundhog Day and Lost in Translation) do continue to make the most of their parts on the project and, much like Aykroyd, easily slide back into the roles as if they had never left them, which all the more reason why it’s a bit disappointed that there isn’t more of their characters in Frozen Empire.

Beyond the original team, actress Annie Potts (Designing Women and Pretty in Pink) returns to the Ghostbuster franchise once again to play the character Janine Melnitz, who does make for a fun moments here and there, despite her limited screen time, but that was to be expected, so it didn’t bother me as much. Still, she was a great return from the original group. Sadly, there isn’t much to say for the character of Mayor Walter Peck, the mayor NYC, who is once again played by actor William Atherton (Die Hard and Real Genius). It was nice to Atherton return to the Ghostbusters franchise and his acting is perfectly fine in the capacity for Frozen Empire, but there isn’t much to him…just an opposition that halts the progress of the Ghostbusters team a few times. Heck, even the somewhat reunion between his character and Murray’s Venkman was all too brief and lacked the necessary “comedic punch” I think that Kenan was hoping for.

There are several newcomers in the movie, with Frozen Empire highlighting two particular characters in the roles of Nadeem Razmaadi, a fast-talking man who’s in possession of a mystical orb and the descendant of a long line of protectors of evil force inside the orb, and Melody, a wayward and lonely ghost who takes a liking to Phoebe’s quirky ways, which are both played by actor Kumail Nanjiani (Stuber and The Big Sick) and actress Emily Alyn Lind (Revenge and Doctor Sleep). Of the two, Nadeem gets most out of the feature and makes for a lasting impression on the movie’s plot. Naturally, he does play an integral part of the narrative progressing forward (acting as a catalyst for events to unfold), but it’s actually Nanjiani’s acting ability and screen presence, which makes him so fun and endearing to watch. Melody, on the other hand, seems a bit clunkily handled throughout the feature. I do get where the filmmakers were trying to go with this character, but it comes off flat from the get-go. I do give credit towards Lind’s performance, but the actress can only take the material so far.

Rounding out the rest of the cast includes actors Patton Oswalt (Young Adult and Ratatouille) as Dr. Hubert Wartzki and James Acaster (Cinderella and Springleaf) as Dr. Lars Pinfield. These particular two characters are merely there to push the plot forward (providing a few expositional “fill-in” bits), but both Oswalt and Acaster are perfectly fine in their respective, which is mostly due to their screen presence.

Lastly, the film does have Easter Egg scene at the mid-credit portion of the end credits. While I won’t spoil it for viewers out there, but it is amusing, yet also (at the same time) a bit too much “same old” stuff that was to be expected in this movie. It’s not terrible and made provide a few laughs, but it’s nothing grand or doesn’t set anything up…..just a little scene.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Faced with personal dilemmas of family drama and challenges, Phoebe Spengler (and her family) rally together, along with old friends and new allies, to stop the icy forces of the demon Garraka from emerging and wreaking havoc across NYC in the movie Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. Director Gil Kenan’s latest film takes what was established in 2021’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife and runs with it, expanding upon the mythos of the ghostbusting Spengler family (and their friends) for another supernatural adventure that honors its past while speaking to a more modern audience of viewers. While the feature does bring a lot nostalgia familiarity to the proceedings as well as some cool sequences of blockbuster flair, a solid visual presentation, and a recognizable cast, a great majority of the movie feels imbalanced from the get-go, including from Kenan’s direction, an overfilled narrative, a flimsy script, a few clunkily executed moments, a hurried third act conclusion, and wasted potential in its characters (both heroes and villain). Personally, I thought that this movie was just merely okay, but more on the disappointing side of things. I was clearly “hyped up” to see this film and (unfortunately) it didn’t meet my expectations. It was nice to see another Ghostbusters flick, especially since Afterlife proved that the franchise could live on, but this sequel just seemed subpar in comparison. It has some good ideas, moments, and characters, which definitely could’ve worked, but how everything was so crammed and squeezed together to make for a hodgepodge two hour movie that struggles to find its own proper rhythm and footing. To be sure, I have very little interest to rewatch this movie again and, when comparing this movie to Afterlife, I feel Afterlife was the better of the two. Thus, my recommendation for this film would have to be an “iffy choice” as some might like the direction of what the feature goes, while others (like me) might be more turned off by it. Like a lot of the previous films, the ending leaves the door open for another installment in the series and, while I do welcome it, I fear that the next Ghostbusters entry would have to do a much better job in shaping and overall execution. In the end, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, while having some merits of ghoulish blockbuster fun, feels like a step backwards for this beloved franchise, putting this imbalanced and overstuffed sequel (as well as the potential future of the series) on cinematic thin ice.