“Me” for culture
I went to Ghostbusters: The Frozen Empire with the hope that it will be a worthy sequel to the first film made 40 years ago. Alas, no. But it’s better than the pathetic third movie. I had no problem with Kristen Wiig as a scientist. I like strong women, but all the other leads were off the wall and the plot was pretty much the same as the first one. And after this the afterlife the movie came and it wasn’t great. This new film takes the Spanglers, along with teacher Gary Groverstein (Paul Rudd), to New York, and that helps.
The film opens with Gary driving wild through the streets chasing a ghost around town with mom Callie (Carrie Coon) helping out while Trevor (Finn Wolfhard) assists and Phoebe (Mkenna Grace) fires the proton pack. This leads Mayor Peck (William Atherton), who you remember as the fool who forced the shutdown of the force field that caused the mess the first time, to decide that Phoebe, at 15, is too young to join them, and he promises to close them.
This sets things up for Phoebe to rebel, joined by Melody (Emily Allyn Lind), who is actually a ghostly vassal ready to betray them. Gary is a sort of father figure without any real authority who isn’t really romantically involved with Callie yet, although that seems to be the reason he sticks around. Callie is just worried and Trevor can’t do much. Phoebe is the center.
The thing that sets everything in motion is when Dr. Raymond Stantz (Dan Aykroyd) intervenes. He buys an artifact called the Orb of Garakka from the con man Nadeem Razmaadi (Kumail Nanjiani). This magically contains the essence of a truly evil god, and of course we know it’s going to get loose somehow. Enter Winston Zedemore (Ernie Hudson) as the financier of a high-tech enterprise dedicated to paranormal research. And of course, Dr. Peter Venkman (Bill Murray) pops in for a few minutes.
You can probably develop the plot all the way down the road. Phoebe messes up a bit thanks to Melody and the geek scientists free Garak and the family plus the old boys and a few friends end up in the big fight. And, of course, showing the mayor.
The cast is pretty good. Rudd delivers his lines well. He’s funny at times, but he’s not the main character. Cones is just worried and Wolfhard joins the ride. Grace is the key character and she does really well. If it wasn’t, the film might fall apart. Her scenes with Lind are touching, breathing a little extra life into things. Both young women are complicated, wanting change but not knowing how to make it happen. Nanjiani works hard to steal the show. He has some of the best lines, a guy who just wants a little money and becomes a hero and is not at all happy with any of it. Aykroyd is good. It brings back the nostalgia of the first film and its tortured explanations in theory really bring back the good vibes.
Murray barely appeared in the film. He manages a scene where he does some testing, ending with pens being thrown at his subject, a PG reminder of some of the sleaze in the first film. It looks like he only spent a few days on set, though he gets some good lines. Hudson is adorable as always and Annie Potts actually gets to dress up and fight. Her New York accent is once again fun and reminiscent of days gone by.
In many ways, the film references the first. Yes, it’s cute and fun. The real question is whether the movie is worth it or not. Honestly, it’s borderline. Yes, it moves fast. And there are some funny lines. And it’s good to see the old timers. The pace is relatively fast.
On the other hand, it is very predictable. It constantly works hard to mirror the first film so you know there’s going to be a big, bad god to defeat and also know the characters are winning so there can be another sequel. And this time there’s no real fun, silly ending. The Stay Puft Man doesn’t break things and the Statue of Liberty doesn’t walk. Just a nasty shadow god.
But in an age where there are few mainstream movies that the whole family can enjoy, this one is OK. Not great, but fun.
