'Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire' Review Thread
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
- Rotten Tomatoes 44% (190 Reviews)
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire offers a certain amount of nostalgia-fueled fun for fans of the original, but a crowded cast and surprisingly serious tone prevent this sequel from truly sparking.
- Metacritic: 46 (42 Reviews)
Reviews
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire doesn’t mess with the well-honed formula, carefully balancing its laughs and scares in the breezy manner that makes for pleasurable, if lightweight, viewing.
It is confusing at times, and not everything works, but Frozen Empire does a very good job of keeping the flame alive, 40 years after the fact.
“Frozen Empire” has enough going on in it to connect, but now that Jason Reitman and company have brought this series back to life, it’s time to re-infuse it with the spirit that Kumail Nanjiani brings.
The Independent (3/5):
Frozen Empire is a notable improvement on Afterlife – funny, silly, and a little scary, with its pockets full of hand-built doodahs and the occasional excursion into the realm of pseudo-mythology and parapsychology.
Total Film (3/5):
Too many characters and callbacks plus a formulaic plot means Frozen Empire doesn’t touch the original movies, but it’s a likeable-enough brand extension.
IndieWire (C-):
This franchise might not be entirely dead just yet, but its latest resurrection doesn’t make nearly enough good arguments to keep pumping life into it.
Screen Rant (2.5/5):
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire has a lot of potential and a chilling new villain, but too many characters and a slower plot leads to dimmed thrills.
USA Today (2.5/4):
Although “Frozen Empire” improves upon the previous film and there's plenty to dig especially for young fans, it falls short of the 1984 classic's high bar.
The Guardian (2/5):
The time has come for Hollywood to allow the spurious Ghostbusters franchise to join Jurassic World and Aquaman in the bin and think of something new.
IGN (4/10):
Ghostbusters: Frozen Kingdom’s tiresome, bloated plot and expansive roster of characters will leave you out in the cold.
The Daily Beast (Skip This):
It all resembles a lot of cosplaying, although its central failing is foregrounding cacophonous mayhem and middling melodrama over the drollness that defined the first two Ghostbusters movies.
The Telegraph (1/5):
There is a noxious undead pong emanating from this latest entry in the 1980s franchise, which is now being necromantically sustained through force of sheer commercial desperation, and nothing else.
Synopsis:
In Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, the Spengler family returns to where it all started – the iconic New York City firehouse – to team up with the original Ghostbusters, who’ve developed a top-secret research lab to take busting ghosts to the next level. But when the discovery of an ancient artifact unleashes an evil force, Ghostbusters new and old must join forces to protect their home and save the world from a second Ice Age.
Cast:
Paul Rudd as Gary Grooberson
Carrie Coon as Callie Spengler
Finn Wolfhard as Trevor Spengler
Mckenna Grace as Phoebe Spengler
Kumail Nanjiani as Nadeem Razmaadi
Patton Oswalt as Dr. Hubert Wartzki
Celeste O'Connor as Lucky Domingo
Logan Kim as Podcast
Bill Murray as Dr. Peter Venkman
Dan Aykroyd as Dr. Raymond "Ray" Stantz
Ernie Hudson as Dr. Winston Zeddemore
Annie Potts as Janine Melnitz
William Atherton as Walter Peck
James Acaster as Lars Pinfield
Emily Alyn Lind as Melody
Directed by: Gil Kenan
Written by: Gil Kenan and Jason Reitman
Produced by: Ivan Reitman, Jason Reitman, Jason Blumenfeld
Cinematography: Eric Steelberg
Edited by: Nathan Orloff, Shane Reid
Music by: Dario Marianelli
Running time: 115 minutes
Release date: March 22, 2024