The Ghostbusters film franchise feels a little strange today. Questions may even arise as to how such a concept even turned into a relatively small, but still series, which even a separate company, Ghost Corps, is involved in. But in 2021, “Ghostbusters: From Beyond” proved that such a movie can look quite harmonious even in the present, the main thing here is to treat the original source with dignity. The film “Ghostbusters: Chilling Terror” was supposed to consolidate and develop the successes of the previous part. We’ll tell you in our review how this movie turned out.
Pros:
the cast really tries and plays well; the old Ghostbusters spirit is still there; interesting and important ideas that are present in the script
Minuses:
it’s as if the plot itself can’t decide what it wants to be and what it wants to be about; inappropriate comedic elements that aren’t even that funny; nostalgia is done quite poorly here
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
Genre sci-fi-comedy action
directed by Gil Keenan
Starring: Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, McKenna Grace, Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson
Premiere cinemas
Release year 2024
IMDb website
Gary Gruberson (Paul Rudd) has become part of the Spangler family. Together, they took on the duties of the Ghostbusters and now hunt down various spirits in New York. The local mayor is not very happy about this, as are many residents who see the Hunters only as troublemakers. But the latter will soon have to prove to the whole city that they are really worth something. Otherwise, the whole world will face a new Ice Age.
“Ghostbusters” received an attempt at a reboot in 2016, when the entire main cast was replaced with women, and they tried to make the film itself according to all the Hollywood trends of that time. It turned out boldly, but doubtful in many aspects. The failure at the box office only confirmed that this formula does not work.
However, with “Ghostbusters: From Beyond” the situation is even more interesting. Because this is not a remake, but in fact a direct continuation of the original, albeit many years later and with new characters at the center of the story. The film was even directed by Jason Reitman, the son of Ivan Reitman, who directed the original Hunter duology. That is why the 2021 film adequately conveyed the spirit of the original source, in which the creepy is well combined with the funny, and all this was diluted by an acting cast of modern stars. The spectacle turned out to be, perhaps, simple, but definitely worthy.
Ghostbusters: Chilling Terror has once again got a new director. It was Gil Kenan, who together with Reitman wrote the script for the last part. Jason remained in the chair of screenwriter and executive producer, so it seems that no one expected any special changes. But it turned out that “The Ice Empire” does not have even a third of the charm that its predecessor shone with.
At first everything seems fine. The film doesn’t waste any extra time on presenting the characters and setting up the conflict, because all of that has pretty much already been done in the previous story. Viewers are immediately immersed in the everyday life of the new Hunters amid the hustle and bustle of New York, where even fewer people are happy with their activities. The ghosts here are both creepy and cute, the chemistry between the characters is quite good, and the naivety and absurdity do not seem to reach critical levels, remaining just an element of style.
However, the longer the movie goes on, the more naivety and absurdity come to the fore. The script seems to be building everything up to come together in the finale in a competent climax, but none of these threads are impressive. In addition, you are constantly distracted not even by jokes, but by ridiculous attempts at jokes. However, someone in the audience did laugh while watching it, so the comedy elements of the movie still have their audience.
But these elements do not allow the already shaky plot to adequately express itself. It’s as if the filmmakers couldn’t decide what they wanted more: to entertain you with laughter or still tell an interesting story. They suddenly decided on this issue in the last third. “Suddenly” is the key word here, because they bring you to the credits in a hurry. All the moments come together so unnaturally that all remnants of the charisma of local history disappear completely.
And it’s sad, because there are interesting ideas here about family, about returning to your life’s work and taking responsibility for your actions and your family. The actors here also play very well, even if in some places they are noticeably caricatured. The same musical theme is in place, the ghosts are well stylized and artistically delightful. That is, the technical and secondary elements in the film are really on point.
But they are all strung together with a story that you don’t want to watch at all. Because she’s not talking about anything. It is made up of individual scenes, which, in terms of semantic load, are somewhere on the same level as YouTube short films – and, moreover, are far from the best. The viewing is completely pointless.
Obviously, this film presses on the feeling of nostalgia even more than the previous one. But here’s the rub: Ghostbusters is a very American franchise, both aesthetically and conceptually. Perhaps that is why she lives so long. Because the authors simply chose well which market to target.
However, to other viewers, the local elements may be completely foreign. Especially if we are talking about Ukrainians. Therefore, this eternal pursuit of nostalgia does not work in the case of The Ice Empire.
And this is also an indicative point due to which cinema has its own pragmatic benefits. Because it demonstrates how pointless almost all modern revivals of famous franchises really are if you take away the nostalgia for the past.
Conclusion:
“Ghostbusters: Chilling Terror” tries to do everything that critics and audiences loved “Ghostbusters: From Beyond,” but it succeeds only at the shell level. In fact, there is almost nothing good here. And it’s a shame that Sony only had enough for one good “soft reboot-continuation” in this series.
