NEWSLINE PAPER,- Despite having “an excessive amount of occurring,” Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, starring Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, and Mckenna Grace, is a hilarious follow-up that faithfully captures the essence of the original Ghostbusters.
Four decades have passed because Ghostbusters, directed by Ivan Reitman, skillfully blended comedy and visual effects to create a blockbuster hit. Many have tried to replicate its unique blend of sarcasm, sincerity, scruffiness, and spookiness ever since. Among such attempts are Ghostbusters II (1989), Paul Feig's 2016 all-female revival, and Jason Reitman's Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021). Now, more than any of its predecessors, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, co-written by Reitman Jr. and directed by Gil Kenan, feels more like a true Ghostbusters film.
Here the placing is quite important. In rural Oklahoma, technology teacher Gary (Paul Rudd) met Callie (Carrie Coon), the daughter of original Ghostbuster Egon Spengler (the late Harold Ramis). They revived the Ghostbusting business with her teenage children, Finn Wolfhard and Mckenna Grace.
With Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, Kenan and Reitman faithfully return the brand to its original home of New York. Better still, Gary and the Spenglers have relocated into the old Ghostbusters headquarters, a converted fire station that is still haunted by a specific slimy ghost. Though their true enemy is an ancient demon imprisoned in an enchanted brass ball for millennia, ready to come unfastened, the new generation meets the disapproving bureaucrat (Walter Peck) from the 1984 film.