Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024)

★★★★

If Ghostbusters: Afterlife was the emotional family drama, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is the Saturday morning cartoon of the franchise! Personally, while I had a lot of fun with this one and enjoyed it quite thoroughly, it never quite reached the heights that Afterlife somehow managed to. It’s not quite as cohesive, strong, or emotional of a film. That being said, it does feel a lot closer in tone to the original films and has a lot of creativity in its visuals, storytelling, and gadgetry to overcome its crowded cast and occasional obvious wink to the original classic. It did play it a little safe at times and took a while to get going, while also having an anticlimactic 3rd act, but this franchise has seen much worse. It’s solid B+ movie fun! It has a great cast, fun moments, and some unique ghosts! While it may not be on the level of Afterlife, and I had a few nitpicks, it manages to capture the style of the original films really well and feels just like the kind of family flicks we used to get in the 80s and 90s! It's got issues, especially in the end, but Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is such an unapologetic love letter to the DNA of the franchise and its potential that I didn't care. I smiled ear to ear from start to finish. So awesome seeing the new and old Ghostbusters together back in NYC!

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Film Info:

Premise: 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.

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Sony - Columbia Pictures

Directed by Gil Kenan

Written by Jason Reitman & Gil Kenan

Cast: Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Mckenna Grace, Finn Wolfhard, Bill Murray, Annie Potts, Kumail Nanjiani, Patton Oswalt, Celeste O’Connor, Logan Kim

Runtime: 1hr 55min

Rating: PG

Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Sci-Fi

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IMDb Rating: 6.6/10

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 43%

RT Audience Score: 85%

RT Critic Average: 5.2/10

RT Audience Average: 4.3/5

Metacritic Score: 46

CinemaScore: B+

Letterboxd: 2.9/5

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Fun Fact: Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is dedicated to the late Ivan Reitman, the original director of the first 2 movies who passed away in February 2022.

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Trailer: