Review for Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

Introduction

I was warned. I mean, I saw the trailer for Ghostbusters Frozen Empire earlier this year, and had the kind of enthusiastic reaction that is usually reserved for the proverbial “best thing since sliced bread”. I was told, quite rightly to temper my expectations, but I feel delighted that I can still summon that childlike enthusiasm for a new film even this far into middle age. I can be a cynical old goat at the best of times, so being able to emit a girly squee at something new can only be a good thing. Now I finally get to watch Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, the direct sequel to Ghostbusters: Afterlife, I can see just how much lower my expectations should have been.


Since the events of Afterlife, the Spengler family, along with former schoolteacher Gary Grooberson have relocated to New York where they now operate as The Ghostbusters from the iconic firehouse. And typically for the Ghostbusters, they’re drawing the ire of the Mayor’s office as they cause no little damage as they trap spooks and spectres in the Big Apple.


However, an ancient evil is stirring, and an army of ghosts threatens to bring the coldest of winters to New York in the summertime, and even teaming up with the original Ghostbusters may not be enough to save the world this time.

The Disc

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire gets a 2.39:1 widescreen 1080p transfer on this disc, with the choice between DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround English and Italian, DD 5.1 Surround English Audio Descriptive, with subtitles in these languages and Danish, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, Latvian, Lithuanian, Norwegian and Swedish. I’m really going to have to stop watching extra features. On the one hand, it’s great that special effects are so seamless these days, but on the other hand, seeing so many scenes that I thought were shot on location, actually shot on green-screen is depressing. But a big budget film gets an excellent transfer on this disc, clear and sharp with rich consistent colours and excellent detail. The special effects once more lean heavily towards the look of the original eighties films, and the production values are high when it comes to sets, locations and costumes. The audio is excellent, the dialogue is clear and the action comes across well, the sound design nice and immersive. It’s more of an orchestral film than a pop music film when it comes to the soundtrack, but the Ray Parker Jr. theme song is all present and correct.

Extras

You get one disc in a BD Amaray style case, which boots to an animated menu. The following extras are on the disc.

Return to the Firehouse: Making Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (21:40)
Busted: Capturing the Ghosts of Frozen Empire (11:28)
Easter Eggs Unleashed (6:34)
Commentary with co-writer and director Gil Kenan
Manifesting Garraka (3:55)
New York, New Gear (7:05)
Welcome to the Paranormal Discovery Centre (9:44)
Knowing the Score (6:33)
Deleted Scenes x6 (8:44)

Conclusion

I really should have tempered my expectations. Sliced bread can rest safely in the bread bin, although Ghostbusters Frozen Empire is still a well made piece of entertainment. Even more so than Ghostbusters Afterlife, Frozen Empire pivots away from satirical comedy towards a family adventure film. That is probably a good thing, given that the entrepreneurial eighties are a thing of the distant past at this point, and jokes about getting three mortgages to fund a paranormal investigations and eliminations start-up will probably fall flat at this point.


Structurally, the story is familiar. The Ghostbusters go through various supernatural hijinks through the first couple of acts, while in the background, the big bad villain of the piece moves and machinates. Then in the final act, the villain makes an appearance, threatening the world, and it falls to the Ghostbusters to save the day. It’s pretty formulaic stuff at this point, and when your brief is to indulge in nostalgia for the fortieth anniversary of the original film, doing anything else would be insane. There are plenty of fun moments in the film, some great new characters thrown into the mix, and plenty of ghost-busting action, which does deliver two hours of entertainment that will satisfy.


Frozen Empire does have its issues though, and sadly for this film, it is the villain of the piece, perhaps the weakest and most unimpressive of all of the films (including that Ghostbusters film we don’t mention). Everyone remembers Gozer and Vigo, and those threats had effective builds through their respective movies before suitably and supernaturally spectacular finales. No one will remember the name of Garraka in forty years; I doubt anyone will even recall what this generic CGI scarecrow looks like. There is this ominous build through the film, about how Garraka will take over the world with an army of ghosts, but in the end, it boils down to a confrontation between Garraka and the Ghostbusters alone. If you promise an army of ghosts, you have to deliver on that. Also, the scope of the story is small scale, despite the budget and effects. You got to see the population of the city reacting to Stay Puft and the Statue of Liberty, but the nature of the digital backlot is such that there isn’t really the room for the mass of extras that would make this city feel lived in.


In terms of the characters, especially the legacy characters, the story isn’t quite as strong as it should be. The narrative kind of hops from A to B to C, and I did get the feeling that perhaps a little too much was cut out than needs be. Ray Stantz has a big role in the story, Winston not quite as much, instead supplying a great deal of exposition, and while it was cute seeing Walter Peck again, it felt more like a stunt than anything else. The weakest aspect of the cast surprisingly is Bill Murray. Peter Venkman shows up a couple of times in the film, delivers a Venkmanism, and then ambles off. Thankfully, the narrative surrounding the Spenglers is a lot stronger, and these character arcs resonate more through the film.


We have the paradox here of a film which, technically isn’t all that brilliant, but as a viewer I enjoyed it way more than it really deserves. I think it’s only on the strength of nostalgia for the original Ghostbusters that it manages to succeed, but that’s all it really needs to do. Ghostbusters Frozen Empire is a whole lot of fun. Sometimes that’s all you want from a movie.