‘Frozen Empire’ is the ‘Ghostbusters’ Sequel I’ve Always Wanted

Let’s be honest, the history of sequels to Ivan Reitman’s groundbreaking sci-fi/comedy Ghostbusters has been as tumultuous as the Tunguska Blast of 1909. Following the wild success of the original film and the Real Ghostbusters cartoon and toy line, Ghostbusters II released in 1989, and despite the love so many of us have for this sequel – developed as a course-correction cash-in for troubled Sony Pictures – general audiences and critics saw it as a by-the-numbers retread of its funnier predecessor. It also had the misfortune of releasing the same summer as mega-blockbuster Batman, which came out just one week later.

Then there were the ‘90s and the swirling, omnipresent rumors of a third Ghostbusters movie that persisted into the 2000s. Dan Aykroyd insisted it would happen, news of script drafts kept interest alive, but aside from a surprisingly solid video game in 2009, anyone hoping for further adventures of Peter Venkman, Egon Spengler, Ray Stantz, and Winston Zeddemore were left in the spectral dust.

And then the 2016 remake happened … and there was much online toxicity. We don’t need to go over that, but I will say that the movie didn’t deserve the hate it receive.

That leads us to Ghostbuster: Afterlife, Jason Reitman’s sentimental tribute to both his father and the late Harold Ramis. I thoroughly enjoyed the film for what it was, appreciating the introduction of the Spengler family (Carrie Coon, McKenna Grace, and Finn Wolfhard), the always affable Paul Rudd, and other new characters set to continue the franchise for the foreseeable future. I loved seeing the returning original cast, I dug the new surprises (namely the insanely toyetic Mini-Pufts), and I thought it was a competent story that blended the original Ghostbusters lore with a dash of Stranger Things and a sprinkle of The Goonies. I wasn’t as crazy about the third act, which was mostly a retread of the original 1984 film (sound familiar?), but I also acknowledged that this movie was more a soft reboot for future sequels than a true Ghostbusters 3 in the traditional sense.

That future, my slime-soaked friends, is here. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is now playing in theaters, and despite what many critics have been saying, this movie is an absolute blast.

The film opens with the Spengler family now operating as New York’s premier paranormal investigators thanks to a little help from the entrepreneurial Winston. They’re living in the classic Tribeca firehouse, they’re responding to calls in the Ecto-1, and they’re dealing with a certain ugly little spud who’s been squatting in the attic. Ray’s still running an occult bookstore and now a YouTube channel thanks to the tech-savvy Podcast (Logan Kim), Winston’s running a research lab to develop new Ghostbusters tech where Lucky (Celeste O’Connor) from Afterlife has been interning, and Peter is … well, he’s doing Peter stuff. But when a mysterious object enters Ray’s shop, weird things start happening … heralding the forthcoming arrival of an evil deity named Garraka poised to command an army of ghosts and unleash a new Ice Age.

Perhaps what I like most about Frozen Empire is that it feels like a long episode of the Real Ghostbusters cartoon which, according to director Gil Kenan, was entirely the point. From wacky new ghosts to wild new gadgets, this movie is jam-packed with interesting things to look at. Kumail Nanjiani is fantastic as a con artist who could very well hold the key to saving mankind, while Patton Oswalt – though barely in the film – injects some much-needed giddiness into the expository scenes as a folklore expert confined to the basement of the New York Public Library.

McKenna Grace’s Phoebe gets an interesting story arc as the ‘buster who is too young for actual field work, and it’s that alienation from her family/team that leads her to develop a relationship with a kindred spirit – pun intended – in the form of the spectral Melody (Emily Alyn Lind). Grace does a lot of the emotional heavy lifting in this film, and she was more than up to the task. I also never anticipated seeing a storyline like this in a Ghostbusters film, which was refreshing.

As Frozen Empire reaches its effects-laden finale – which features Janine Melnitz (Annie Potts) donning  Ghostbusters gear for the first time in a film, there is unfortunately a sense that the cast is a little too crowded, with about a dozen Ghostbusters of all ages battling Garraka during the climax. Should this series continue, and I hope it does, there will come a point in time when we must trim the roster a bit. Not everyone needs to zip up a tan jumpsuit and throw on a proton pack every time there’s busting to do … even though it makes them feel good after all these years.

And that overstuffing isn’t just limited to the Ghostbusters themselves. It occasionally seems like the filmmakers felt pressured to include a reference to the original two films every few minutes out of fear that longtime fans would be bored. This tendency was especially prevalent during a sequence that took place at the aforementioned New York Public Library, but I won’t spoil that here.

Overall, Frozen Empire does an excellent job building off what Afterlife accomplished, expanding the Ghostbusters mythology while adhering – at times to its detriment – to what came before. It’s funny, it has heart, and it takes some bold risks. Let’s hope they keep taking them.