Rebuilding Rob

After seeing some commercials for Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire being available for digital download, I decided I better get to a theater and see it before it was gone. I expected to be only one of the handful of people in this particular screening. To my surprise, the theater was mostly full. But this may have had something to do with the fact that the weather was almost fall-like in Metro Detroit.

Im this latest entry in the Ghostbusters franchise, the next generation of paranormal eliminators – as introduced in Afterlife – are firmly established in the Big Apple. In keeping with Ghostbusters tradition, the team needs to stop the latest supernatural menace before it destroys the city. This time, its origin is tied not only to New York’s past; but also the early days of their firehouse headquarters as well.

Frozen Empire tells its own story. It speaks to the aside about what happens after we die. There are a few lines between the OG characters where they are dealing with getting older. The audience knows that we’re not going to see these characters too many more times in the future. It would have been a lay-up for the writers to fall back on the Egon Spengler character (played by the late Harold Ramis). However his story and his legacy are laid out in Afterlife. Frozen Empire moves the franchise forward and still pays homage to its past.

The great thing about sequels is that characters – their personalities and their dynamics with each other – are already established in the pervious movie. Frozen Empire reunites the new characters introduced in Ghostbusters: afterlife as well as the surviving, legacy Ghostbusters from the first two movies. This brings me to the one criticism I’ve see throughout the movie’s theatrical run: too many characters. Between the 4 OG cast member, the 4 main and 2 supporting cast members from Afterlife AND new characters for the new story, there’s a lot of people to keep up with. Two of the legacy characters- as well asl Lucky and Podcast from Afterlife – are there for nostalgia purposes and don’t contribute to the overall story. However, as Ghostbuster fan from the 80s, I’m glad they were all there for the ride.

FINAL TAKE: Recommended, for fans of the franchise. The person who saw the movie with me had not seen Afterlife; but I was able to bring them up to speed fairly quickly. However, people who have not seen Afterlife or the earlier movies the 80s would be very confused jumping into the story here.

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is still playing in theaters and available are for digital rental.

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The article “Rob Reviews: Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” first appeared on Rebuilding Rob.