Movie Review: ‘Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’ clears a low bar
9 months ago

Movie Review: ‘Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’ clears a low bar

Associated Press  

Forty years after “Ghostbusters” and following a string of sequels that never measured up to the 1984 original — beginning all the way back with 1989’s “Ghostbusters II” — it’s fair to wonder, well, who else ought we to call? And as easy as it might be to label the new one, “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire,” another half-hashed retread — which it is, a little bit — it’s also a significant upgrade from “Afterlife,” which relocated the action to Oklahoma and forgot to pack any comedy. “Frozen Empire,” back, thankfully, in New York, is a breezier, more serviceable sequel that has a modest charm as an ’80-tinged family adventure. The innate appeal of “Ghostbusters” had to do with its brash mixing of genres — adult-edged comedy with sci-fi toys — that summoned the spirit of “Abbott of Costello Meet Frankenstein.” When the sequels have gone astray, it’s usually because they get bogged down with solemnity or special effects when all they really need is the it’s-the-end-of-the-world-and-I-feel-fine smirk of Bill Murray. Familiar-faced ghosts return, too, in “Frozen Empire,” which, like its predecessor, doesn’t skimp on the fan service.

History of this topic

'Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire' movie review: An underwhelming nostalgia bait
7 months, 3 weeks ago
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire review – funny, silly, and a little scary, the franchise finally returns to fun
8 months, 4 weeks ago
‘Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’ is No. 1 with $45.2M, Sydney Sweeney’s ‘Immaculate’ lands in fourth
8 months, 4 weeks ago
Review: At least the cast is having fun in the overstuffed ‘Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’
9 months ago
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is powered by nostalgia but pulled into the present by a fresh cast
9 months ago
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire 'feels closer to a proper Ghostbusters film than any other sequel'
9 months ago
Ghostbusters Frozen Empire trailer: Paul Rudd teams up with original crew to fight new and dangerous villain. Watch
10 months, 3 weeks ago
Ghostbusters Afterlife: Is nostalgia killing cinema?
3 years, 1 month ago
Review: Listless ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’ fails to reanimate fun of the original
3 years, 1 month ago
Review: Too many old ghosts mar ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’
3 years, 1 month ago

Discover Related