Ghostbusters’ cultural impact has been so gargantuan that one’s pop culture repertoire is not complete without knowing what terms like Ectomobile, Proton pack, PKE Meter, and Ghost traps stand for and if you don’t blurt out the word ‘Ghostbusters’ every time you hear “Who you gonna call?”
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But the much-beloved franchise’s reboot in 2016 was such a bomb that its studio decided to continue the original film canon with Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021), which opened to mixed reviews. But if Afterlife didn’t work for you, then you should definitely give the cold shoulder to Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, which is an uninspiring sequel that offers nothing new.
Jason Reitman’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife can be called an origin film for the new breed of Ghostbusters who happen to be the descendants of the late Egon Spengler. We were introduced to the nerdy Phoebe (Mckenna Grace), her wannabe-adult brother Trevor (Finn Wolfhard), their mother Callie (Carrie Coon) and former teacher turned Callie’s boyfriend, Gary (Paul Rudd). In the sequel, they have embodied their quirks and the dysfunctional team that’s somehow operational is introduced in the thick of the action as they zip through the Big Apple trying to take down the Hell’s Kitchen Sewage Dragon. Of course, the film has a bigger baddie, in the form of Garraka, a demonic ice god, and the usual interpersonal bonding tropes and a barrage of cameos and easter eggs to target the fans of the original films.
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Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (English)
Speaking of the original films, they were light-hearted, charming comedy entertainers and one of the pioneers of lacing the supernatural genre with humour; something that proved to be the formula for a slew of franchises over the years. Frozen Empire, for some reason, takes itself a little too seriously. If the fact that it actually starts with a quote from Robert Frost’s poem ‘Fire and Ice’ does not drive home the point, the lack of quality humour makes a case for it. Not to mention how the film throws random terms like ‘spiritual inhabitation’ and ‘ionic separator' at you to show how nerdy the nerds of this film are.
A scene from ‘Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’ | Photo Credit: JAAP BUITENDIJK
Frozen Empire is in its element only when it pulls out its not-so-secret weapon... no, not the proton pack but nostalgia. Not only does the film feature cameos from original Ghostbusters like Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson and Annie Potts, but we also see the return of Walter Peck (William Atherton) from the 1984 film. Then, there’s the horde of references, from the obvious mention of the Statue of Liberty incident and the miniature Stay Puft Marshmallow Men to the more complex ones like the library ghost Aykroyd’s character runs into which is a nod to the same ghost from the first film.
While the callbacks work to an extent, the original Ghostbusters cast returning to the new movie does not add much, given that they have very little to work with. The final showdown, featuring both generations of Ghostbusters, does not work as much as it’s intended to. Probably the only other highlight is Kumail Nanjiani in the role of Nadeem Razmaadi, who sells a brass orb that doubles as an apotropaic trap containing Garraka for 50 dollars. He brings in the much-needed gags and the film leaves you wishing we got more of him.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire does not offer much apart from fan service. The witless pandering feels redundant after a while given the franchise’s legacy and the move to take it forward with comparatively less interesting characters. Probably it’s high time the idea of expanding this series is put in cold storage.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is currently running in theatres