Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire movie review
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Hello everyone, It's time for another movie review. I do apologize for how late this is. This year has been a real roller coaster ride. Anyway, it’s time for my long overdue review of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. All I can say is thank goodness for physical media and Amazon.
That’s how I got the DVD version of this movie. Now with that out of the way it’s time for the review of this sequel to Ghostbusters: Afterlife.
Now for a start one of the big differences between the two movies was this. This film got directed by one Gil Kenan. That said he co-wrote this movie with Jason Reitman. And the two kept the Ghostbusters canon consistent which is a major plus for this film. If you’re going to make a film into a franchise keep the canon consistent.
It’s something a lot of modern writers should know. The cast from Ghostbusters Afterlife returns in their roles.
The movie starts out in the year 1904. The Ghostbusters' office is a fire station. Said fire fighters get summoned to a local hotel. There they find a room with everyone frozen to death. One clue they find is an orb which freezes any who touch it.
The other clue is strange chanting coming from a phonograph. I will confess at first, I thought that this scene was pointless. But the significance would come into play later.
That said the scene shifts to three years after the events of Ghostbusters Afterlife. Gary and Callie are now a couple. They’ve relocated with Callie’s kids Phoebe and Trevor to New York city. Winston Zeddmore and Ray Stanz have brought back the Ghostbusters. The team are chasing a ghost from Lower Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen through the streets of New York.
They do capture the Ghost but not without a lot of property damage. This incurs the wrath of now Mayor Walter Peck. William Atherton who played Peck in the original movie returns. And Atherton does a great job of making Peck someone we love to hate. Very well played Mister Atherton, well played.
The result is Phoebe who is 15 gets benched to placate the mayor. The teen girl isn't happy about this move. Callie (Carrie Coon) and Gary (Paul Rudd) think they're doing what's best. But it's obvious they don't know about Peck's grudge against the Ghostbusters. And trying to placate people like Peck is a move that is very…unwise, but that's something for later.
Upset and trying to control her emotions Phoebe (McKenna Grace) goes to a nearby park to play chess. This is Phoebe’s coping mechanism when she gets like this. Now on the one hand I can appreciate this. It’s taking all that negative energy and channeling it into something positive. But going out into the New York streets late at night yeah that’s asking for trouble.
Now that said Phoebe begins her round of chess. That’s right before she gets a visitor. This visitor comes in the form of a ghost. The ghost's name is Melody, and her part gets played by Emily Alyn Lind. She was a sixteen-year-old who died in a fire.
Hence why she looks like she’s on fire. The significance of this comes into play late in the movie.
The next day Ray Stanz (Dan Akroyd) and Podcast (Logan Kim) are doing a show involving cursed artifacts. When the show is over, they get a visit from a man named Nadeem Razmaadi. He hands them a brass orb that seems like nothing. But then Ray pulls out his psychokinetic energy meter, or P.K.E. device. On scanning it the orb sends out a massive surge of cold energy.
Said energy makes its way to the Ghostbuster’s HQ where it damages the ecto-containment unit.
Here’s where another problem comes up, one that’s been brewing for some time. The unit is almost at full capacity. It seems that the Ghostbusters weren’t thinking that far ahead. In the latter days of the Cold War many believed there wouldn’t be a tomorrow. So, they never took the idea of the long run into consideration.
Oops, surprise we made it through the Cold War in one piece!
Winston Zeddmore (Ernie Hudson) is now a wealthy philanthropist. He takes them to a private-run facility he’s opened. There the Spengler family meet the facility head Dr. Lars Pinfield. This character got played by James Acaster. Celeste O’ Connor returns as Lucky and she’s helping test all the new equipment.
Trevor played by Finn Wolfhard is very happy to see her.
Dr. Pinfield shows off the equipment and facilities. Then they try to extract the spiritual power from the artifact. Despite their efforts it comes to nothing. Worse the entity in the orb sabotages the facility. Thus, allowing a type of ghost known as a possessor to escape.
The significance of this will come into play later.
Meanwhile Trevor, Dr. Pinfield, and Lucky go to Nadeem’s apartment. They proceed to have a long talk with him. Then they take him to Peter Venkman (Bill Murray). In an ironic twist Venkman’s penchant for antagonizing people reveals a big surprise. Nadeem has what’s called pyromancy power.
That is, he can control fire. Must…resist…Avatar: The Last Airbender reference!
Ray, Phoebe, and Podcast visit the New York Central Library. And as it turns up Ray is not exactly welcome there. That's due to all the trouble that came in his years as a Ghostbuster. The three enlist the help of Dr. Hubert Wartzki. They investigate a strange chant they heard from the orb.
He also happens to be the head of the local chapter of the H.P. Lovecraft society. Those who are fans of the legendary horror author are eccentric. But they're open to the ideas of the unknown. So, the supernatural stuff would be right up their alley.
It turns up the chant they found is Pre-Sumerian. Wartzki explains the chant is from over 4,000 years ago. Yikes that's longer than anyone reading this has been around and then some! The story itself comes from Southwest Asia. Uh-Oh that would be the ancestral home of Nadeem’s family.
This keeps getting more interesting by the moment.
The story involves a powerful group of Sorcerers known as Firemasters. They imprisoned a powerful and evil phantom God named Garaka. This came after a ruler in that region tried to use the phantom God to conquer it. Ah treachery it’s always fun times and laughs for all. And it looks like Gozer has some competition, gee what a surprise!
The phantom god sought to conquer the world with an undead army. Said army would use a power known as “Kusharit Umofti” AKA The Death Chill. Said ability is the power to kill by fear itself. Gee that sounds like something that’ll lead to warm and sunny days for all!
It also turns up Nadeem’s grandmother was of the lineage of the Firemasters. Here's an example of why a family should always have contingencies. Especially when it comes to important family secrets! That way they can prepare in case they have to take up the mantle. What happened to with great power there must always come great responsibility?
But then again Nadeem has some issues with responsibility to be fair. As it turns up one of Nadeem’s ancestors helped stop Garraka from escaping the orb in 1904. And that happened to be the opening scene of the movie. Now there's some clarity to things. My only complaint is they could've put the 1904 scene here as a flashback and it would've made things clearer.
A group known as the Manhattan Adventurer’s Society took the orb and tried to conduct a ritual to free the God. All the members ended up freezing to death. This is why rank amateurs shouldn’t go near powerful supernatural artifacts. Trouble is always the result.
As it turns up it was a mixture of fire, brass, and Garraka losing his horns, the source of his power, that confined him. And now that orb is in the ghost research facility. And its wreaking havoc as Garraka is trying to escape. Also, Nadeem has the horns in a secret room. Yeah, sounds like another day at the office.
Things take an ugly turn when the possessor steals the phonograph recorded chant. And in the process the creature wreaks havoc. And that includes bringing a Central Library Lion to life. Having seen those lions on a visit to New York I can say this. Yeah, I’m glad those things are lifeless stone.
If they ever came to life…yikes!
The three end up destroying the statue. Winston and Ray have an argument over the situation. Peck uses the fiasco to shut down the Ghostbusters. Phoebe points out that it was Peck’s shenanigans that almost brought about the end of the world last time. Peck tries to intimidate her, but the teen girl isn’t budging.
She is right, Peck’s arrogance and stupidity almost led to Gozer destroying the world.
Phoebe gets cuffed and taken to the police station. Oh, Mayor Peck abusing his power huh? What a lovely fellow Walter Peck is! He hasn't changed from the original Ghostbusters movie, thank goodness!
Callie and Gary pick her up from custody. Gary who’s been wary of laying down the law decides to be a father who’s a jerk. Okay to this I will say both sides have a point. Phoebe and the rest could’ve handled that situation better. But Callie is a little too resigned to moving from place to place.
She should’ve stayed and fought for the station. But this situation will get resolved later.
Back at the fire station they start packing up. Phoebe runs away and meets up with Melody. Now by this point it’s true there’s something not quite right about Melody. This will become clear soon enough.
Something else of note for the movie. Some have said that this is the writers turning Phoebe gay or in this case lesbian. Okay I’d like to put this argument to rest if it’s all the same. First off, I have no problem with lesbian characters. If I did, I wouldn’t like characters like Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune.
I have no problem with lesbian characters if they’re done well. That said the accusations of Phoebe being a lesbian are on the hasty side. What’s going on is two teenaged girls in the awkward first stages of friendship.
Being a teenager boy or girl is messy, complicated, and awkward. Based on their few scenes there was no sign of Phoebe showing any lesbian tendencies. So as stated, the accusations are premature. It’s two teenage girls in the awkward first stages of friendship.
That said Phoebe is in for an unpleasant surprise. The two sneak into the ghost research facility. When Phoebe becomes a ghost Melody admits she’s been working for Garraka the whole time. Oof betrayal is a hard thing to take. Worse the phantom God uses control of Phoebe’s spirit to force her body to recite the chant.
Said chant frees the phantom God from his prison. Houston, we have a problem.
Lucky arrives but her proton pack doesn’t work, and she gets frozen. After Garraka leaves the others arrive. Lucky gets revived and all head back to the fire station. Phoebe is distraught at getting used. Gary snaps her out of it as he makes it clear they need the teen's magnificent brain.
Garraka arrives at Nadeem's apartment and reclaims his horns. Houston, we have a big problem!
Having regained his horns, the Phantom God is now far more powerful. After that New York gets frozen in the middle of summer. Garraka and his minions approach the fire station but Winston, Ray, and Janine show up to lend a hand. Venkman also arrives and gives everyone including himself a shot of liquid courage. Liquid courage being brandy of course.
After that it’s time for the final showdown with Garraka. Can the Ghostbusters find a way to stop the phantom god? Will Nadeem learn to use his pyromancy powers? And what other surprises lay in store?
Now for the record this movie didn’t have quite the oomph that Ghostbusters: Afterlife did. But this was a good popcorn movie. And it stayed true to the Ghostbusters canon. Still, it makes me wonder will Oscar from Ghostbusters II be in it? And if so, how much influence will Peter Venkman have had on him?
Paul Rudd as always did a good job. In fact, the returning cast did a good job. Kumali Nanjani does a good job as Nadeem. To my surprise I found Emily Alyn Lind’s character very sympathetic. A 16-year-old killed in a fire is seeking to cross over.
Yeah, it’s obvious she hates being a ghost and wants to cross over. So, like I said I can empathize with her.
I admit some of the jokes kind of fell flat. And there was a little too much of the teen drama. That said this movie was okay. It’s a good popcorn flick to go to. I give Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire a B minus.
Like I said this is a good few hours' entertainment.
Thanks for reading this review. I hope you enjoyed my take on Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. If you did enjoy this, please like and share this across all social media platforms. Also let me know your thoughts in the comments section. Did I do good or does my writing need improvement?
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