It’s difficult to imagine the film world without Ghostbusters, as it is a true classic that deserves its moniker as a “movie that made us.” But as much as the first one is rightfully revered, the path since then has been a bit bumpy. The sequel was fun in its own right, the reboot with the female cast was vastly underrated, and the requel that was supposed to pass the torch to a new generation was fun, if forgettable. Frozen Empire busts its way into theaters this weekend, and while I wish I could say it was the return to form we were hoping for, it relies too much on nostalgia to make it stand out as a must-see movie.
The Spengler family has returned to where it all started – the firehouse in New York City – and are happily living up to their legacy of keeping the city safe from any paranormal activity. At least until the cost of the damages they have caused starts to add up and make the mayor take notice. Phoebe (Mckenna Grace) is put on ice for being a minor despite being the brains behind the scenes and must sit on the sidelines until she turns 18. As she sulks, Gary (Paul Rudd), Callie (Carrie Coon), and Trevor (Finn Wolfhard) begin to investigate strange disturbances that are not only wrecking mayhem with the containment unit, but could also be a portent that a specter of unlimited power might be awakening soon and looking to unleash a second ice age upon the world unless the Spenglers can find a way to keep it locked up forever.
Powered mainly by Stranger Things, we live in a world of nostalgia that wants all of us to put on our rose-colored glasses and return to the “gentler” time of the 80s, and this is exactly what Frozen Empire (and Afterlife before it) wants to do. This isn’t to say there is anything wrong with that, but the problem here is that it tries so badly to be the original movie that it takes most of the joy and originality out of it. It’s almost as if the writers watched the first two, made a checklist, and then ensured that each entry was dutifully marked off as they wrote this. Aside from some small changes, a lot of it plays out, beat by beat, like the original. It’s not bad, per se, but it could have been a lot better.
And there are some new things that are interesting, but they don’t spend nearly enough time on them. Kumail Nanjiani, specifically, ends up playing a hugely important role, but we don’t get to know much of him except for the caricature he plays. The same can be said of Melody (Emily Alyn Lind) who has key and necessary moments, but she exists merely to move the plot along despite having a tragic backstory that could have been mined to great effect.
I guess if I had to sum this up in one word, it would be, “fine.” I’m glad I watched it, but it’s going to be a film you’re going to ask me about in six months, and I’ll have forgotten about it. It adds nothing new to the franchise and quite literally plays like a best of playlist from the 80s films. In the end, it relies too much on nostalgia instead of doing its own thing, which is a shame because it could have been so much better. Instead, it force-feeds us so many “memba berries,” we don’t even have room to finish our popcorn.