Ghostbusters: Frozen Kingdom Review
Was it cool in there, or just me?
Overview: Another Ghostbusters movie? Yes, please! But, I had some reservations…Afterlife was an instant classic, but Frozen Kingdom lacks the same gravitas. Short on laughs and long on nostalgia, it’s the weakest installment in the Ghostbusters series. This one is a 7/10 with a few moments that could’ve been better.
Long Review with Spoilers Below:
Afterlife was one of those movies that hit me in all the feels and had me sobbing like a baby both times I saw it in the theater. I wish I could go back and experience that all over again and perhaps this was what I was hoping for when I got my ticket for Frozen Empire.
It was enjoyable, but it was not the same as Afterlife. It’s hard to really describe what was missing, but it was enough for me to shrug and accept that I was lucky to just get another Ghostbusters movie. And, we are back in NYC like a proper Ghostbusters movie and saving the world from another god-like Big Bad who exploits ghosts for evil purposes.
Obviously what was missing from the writing of both movies was Harold Ramis. Looking back, he was easily one of the best comedic script writers of all time, and his resume of 80s and 90s films is legendary. I miss him…and John Candy too.
I just think this movie had so much more to give us; it felt hamstrung. Were the expectations too high? Did people feel intimidated being around that much talent, or did people just not rise to the challenge of making something really funny?
Honestly, every time Hollywood puts out another movie based on something I love,
I now cringe. The nostalgia-bait movies are particularly concerning for a number of reasons: They demonstrate a lack of originality in Hollywood while simultaneously demonstrating greed. I understand the need to make money and please shareholders, but I don’t understand when this need grants film makers the right to rape old IPs and childhood memories.
Thankfully—THANKFULLY—Jason Reitman and his team truly honor the franchise. I can’t say the same about so many others, namely Star Wars, who sold their souls long ago to the highest bidder.
But I digress. That is a dark rant for another time.
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GARRAKA! I’m going to run around saying this name like “MUSTAFA!” to make people shiver in fear. Tall, dark, and horny indeed.
Honestly, I expected this movie to be funnier, but it wasn’t. It wasn’t really funny to me, and only presented a few “scary moments.” A great ghostbusters film needs to be creepy and needs a lot of humor in the face of existential dread. This is why this is definitely the weakest of the four Ghostbusters movies.
The protagonist of this movie, like the previous one, is McKenna Grace who continues to be impressive. Her talent really isn’t being a lead in a comedy film, but it works for this role as Phoebe because her teenage angst, combined with her genius character leave a lasting mark.
Like the previous film, Finn Wolfhard is by far the weakest link and he’s not really acting—he’s just being who he is in real life. He continues to be as unimpressive as an actor and his last season on Stranger Things was pure cringe.
Patton Oswalt has no business being in this movie. Not even sure what the point of his character was other than to add his unnecessary commentary about history.
Newcomers (to the franchise) Kumail Nanjiani and Emily Lind steal the show as pivotal characters to the plot. Not sure if Lind was supposed to be a love interest for Phoebe—they seemed to be pushing that heavily—or is just extremely fascinating to her as a ghost. I’m leaning towards romantic.
Paul Rudd and Carrie Coon are a bit flat in this one. Rudd is now a bona fide comedic actor and he truly fits the bill for a Ghostbuster. If somebody had asked me to assemble a team of four Ghostbusters using comedic actors, he would definitely be included in that. In fact, here is my team:
Paul Rudd: Ray Stanzz
Kevin Hart or Chris Rock: Zeddmore
Ryan Reynolds: Venkmann
Michael Fassbender: Spengler
Yeah, I used Fassbender (think of him playing Steve Jobs) because we need somebody who comes across as serious but is able to apply subtle comedy to offset the sarcasm of Reynolds, Rudds reactionary comedy, and Hart/Rocks “what the fuck am I even doing here!?” It could work. In the Early 90s we could’ve had a team consisting of Dana Carvey, David Spade, Jim Carrey, and Damon Williams. Imagine that shit! But none of these teams would be as iconic as who brought the characters to life, akin to the Holy Trinity of DC comics.
Moving on…
At this point, I really want to know how Winston Zeddmore got his millions; what is his backstory? Moreover, what is the deal with Ray and Peter as well? Why aren’t we discussing more of them? I hate how we have to just speculate about this while settling for Venkman just randomly showing up. Were some scenes cut?
I guess I was starving to know more, particularly when three of the OG characters had more screen time. We didn’t get that, as we were more focused on the Spengler family. This was fine as it established a “new generation” and focused on the combined writing of Gil Kenan and Jason Reitman.
The Good
The movie was dedicated to Ivan Reitman and I will continue to declare that this movie, along with Afterlife, remain the gold standard for how to honor classic movies. If you’re going to do nostalgia, do it right. This is definitely worthy of the franchise and does NOT rape my childhood.
I admit Garraka was cool as hell.
The Bad
I really really really miss Rick Moranis and would love for him to just appear in one scene. Just one scene. Will it hurt him to just do one scene, one cameo just so we can see the whole family together? I’ll tell you what, if he showed up in this movie even for that one second I would’ve jumped out of my seat and probably would’ve started crying.
This movie was missing a lot of humor and tried too hard to be scary.
Patton Oswalt. Need I say more?
The Ugly
The damn trailers ruined the funniest and most intense parts of this movie. That is inexcusable, and whoever allowed that should receive a severe reprimand. All of the best lines were spoiled and it really killed the movie for me.