REVIEW: ‘Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’ is a fumbling follow-up

It’s time to take the Ghostbusters off the contacts list, they don’t need to be called again.

Set after the 2021 film “Afterlife,” “Frozen Empire” takes place in New York City in the present day with Egon Spengler’s daughter Callie (Carrie Coon) hunting ghosts with her kids Phoebe (Mckenna Grace) and Trevor (Finn Wolfhard), as well as her boyfriend Gary (Paul Rudd). Though successful, the four have also gotten into trouble with NYC leadership for property damage.

They get off with a warning, but are forced to leave Phoebe, still a teen, out of ghost catching. Meanwhile, former Ghostbuster Ray (Dan Aykroyd) is presented with an old family heirloom with a powerful entity inside. As the film goes on, situations with the characters begin happening that may release the entity.

“Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” is a film that seems like it’s trying to be multiple things at once, a YA story, a direct sequel to “Afterlife,” a reunion legacy sequel to the original films and a big budget blockbuster. In trying to do too many things, nothing really succeeds, and the film feels overly stuffed.

Director Gil Kenan and writer Jason Reitman just try to smash too much stuff together in an attempt to snag nostalgic audiences and those looking for large scale action movies that are usually based on comic books. The result is a clumsy mess of a picture that never finds a good stride.

“Afterlife” managed to work well enough because it was a fairly simple story. It certainly pushed the nostalgia hard, but at the end of the day it was a comedic family romp mainly focused on adventurous kids with just extended cameos of the original cast.

This time around it’s trying to focus on the “Afterlife” characters, the original characters, as well as an entirely new character who has special magical powers. It makes the movie come across more like a Marvel movie, but the Ghostbusters aren’t the Avengers. Trying to make them such, even giving them a secret advanced base with personnel like Shield from the MCU, feels out of place.

All of that isn’t to say the film is unwatchable or that it’s a cinematic experience completely lacking in personality. It is certainly trying to please too many people, forsaking a better film in the process. However, Kenan and Reitman still manage to get some moments of comedy and entertainment to work.

Even with some enjoyable sequences littered throughout, though, the film’s bloated overarching story and weak writing continue to let the film down. This is especially true with the character Phoebe, as the film wants her to be the central protagonist, but this is made difficult being an ensemble picture.

Because she’s sharing so much of her screentime, her coming-of-age, rebellious teen journey feels underdeveloped. Another aspect that doesn’t work quite right with Phoebe’s arc is a relationship with a teen ghost she meets named Melody (Emily Alyn Lind).

On the one hand, it led to some good scenes of the character being able to connect with someone who understands her. On the other, it seemed like there was some romantic tension between the two, but nothing ever comes of it, in a pretty clear example of queerbaiting.

The rest of the characters have their ups and downs. It does feel like Rudd is just playing his Ant-Man persona with Gary, which is getting stale, but his portrayal of the character attempting to be more of a father to Phoebe and Trevor has some charm. Trevor meanwhile doesn’t really have much to do this time around but tag along with the others and occasionally get slimed by Slimer.

As for the returning group, one has to wonder if they were brought back for anything else other than the nostalgia play. That’s especially true with Bill Murray and Annie Potts. Look, getting a chance to spend time with these characters again can be a fun thing to see, and it worked with a smaller dose in “Afterlife,” but it gets to be a bit much this time around.

Reducing their time probably would have benefitted other returners from “Afterlife,” such as the audio show producer Podcast (Logan Kim) and Trevor’s friend and Ghostbuster intern Lucky (Celeste O’Connor). The same is true for new characters. The film introduces a slacker named Nadeem (Kumail Nanjiani) who has a paranormal skill and a new Ghostbuster named Lars (James Acaster).

Both characters feel underwritten, Nadeem just being comic relief and Lars having little personality. Maybe the two just should have just been combined into a brilliant but lazy new Ghostbuster recruit character, which could provide more time for a better fleshed out arc.

As a paranormal action flick, there are some scenes that provide a bit of entertainment value over the two-hour runtime, an opening car chase being a highlight. But the final battle against the CGI villain is fairly forgettable. Even less enjoyable was the return of the mini-stay puft marshmallow men, which are a cheap gag at this point.

“Frozen Empire” is a clunky attempt to milk whatever the “Ghostbusters” franchise has left and the result is a mostly disappointing entry. It’s not entirely a trainwreck. There are some funny lines, a few entertaining bits and a couple good character moments. But as a whole, it’s a weak effort that shows there’s not much left in this franchise creatively. 2.25 out of 5.