Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

I still remember when i was 7 years old during Christmas in 1984 i was walking on the shopping street of my hometown with my mother. We were shopping Christmas gifts for the family and i remember she walked into a bookstore to get her sister a book that she really wanted to read. Being 7 years old in a bookstore of course i started looking for children´s books and i did find the right section. As we walked out and she did get the book she was looking for, we walked further up the shopping street. It was when we passed the local cinema i suddenly stopped as my mom saw i was looking at a big movie poster of a film called Ghostbusters. The big white ghost covering the whole poster looked so cool and my mom saw how curious i was about this film. I did not see the original Ghostbusters film until early 1986 in our neighbors The Ostwalds home. Their father Frank Ostwald had bought the film on VHS so he let some of the neighbor kids watch it in his living room. I still remember how much we all loved out first view of Ghostbusters and after the film ended we would still sing the theme song singed by Ray Parker Jr. I borrowed the VHS tape from Frank and rewatched Ghostbusters whenever i could, since i had to do some homework as well for school. It was in 1989 i actually got to experience my first Ghostbusters film in cinema when me and my father went to see Ghostbusters 2 in our local cinema. I enjoyed the film but i could tell something was missing from the original film. My dad actually got me the official Ghostbusters 2 skateboard at that time and i believe it should be somewhere in my mothers basement. After the sequel it would take many years until we would see a direct sequel ( not talking about the 2016 version ) and that turned out to be Ghostbusters: Afterlife. A film i actually enjoy and felt like a great way to pay respect for the fans of the original film. They managed to capture some of the charm and ghostly vibes that we all love about this franchise. So here we are in 2024 with the latest sequel Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, the latest sequel of the worlds favourite ghost hunters. Is it possible that this is the best sequel so far since the original film or is Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire a desperate attempt to cash in on ticket sales?

Three years after the events in Summerville, Oklahoma, Callie Spengler ( Carrie Coon ), her boyfriend Gary Grooberson ( Paul Rudd ), her children Trevor Spengler ( Finn Wolfhard ) and Phoebe Spengler ( Mckenna Grace ), with their close friends Lucky Domingo ( Celeste O´Connor ) and Podcast ( Logan Kim ), relocate to New York to aid Winston Zeddermore ( Ernie Hudson ) and Dr. Raymond Stantz ( Dan Akroyd ) in reestablishing the Ghostbusters. After a mission capturing a ghost in Hell´s Kitchen doesn´t go as safely as planned, Walter Peck ( William Atherton ), the Ghostbusters long-time opponent threaten to close them down for good. When Nadeem Razmaadi ( Kumail Nanjiani ) sell Dr. Raymond a strange brass orb with strange ritual markings on, they have no idea what powers lies hidden inside this object. A demonic god Barakka was trapped inside a very long time ago will unfortunately be set free, causing complete chaos all over the city of New York.

I am fully aware that some people might disagree with me but i personally feel that you have to be a fan of this franchise to appreciate Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. This film is full of nostalgic details from the past and adds new fun details as well to the new team of Ghostbusters cleaning up New York City. The last film Ghostbusters: Afterlife knew it had to please the fans of the original film and i have to say they did a pretty good job. I feel that they managed to please us again with this sequel and even let us see a lot more scenes especially of Dan Akroyd´s legendary character Dr. Raymond Stanz compared to Afterlife. We see the other old school Ghostbusters as well which is of course Bill Murray and Ernie Hudson as well as their iconic secretary Janine Melnitz played by actress Annie Potts. The new team that we saw for the first time in Ghostbusters: Afterlife is back and i think they all do a good job on ther characters. My personal favourite is actress McKenna Grace ( wonderful performance in TV series The Handmaid´s Tale ) as the very intelligent Phoebe Spengler. I feel that Phoebe is one of the strongest characters that they thankfully added to this franchise because she really do feel like she is related to the character Egon Spengler ( Harold Ramis ). They have similar odd personalities, they love math and science and i love the fact that Phoebe doesn´t try to fit in anywhere she is just herself. The special effects for Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is good for the most part and i appreciate the scenes where the strange brass turn the city of New York into ice. I also like the design of the demonic god Garraka when we finally get to see it. The ghost scenes is also a detail i feel they managed to pull of well in this film. I actually don´t want to say anything negative regarding this film because i simply had fun with Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. It may not be a perfect film but who cares? Fans will definetely have a good time with this sequel and director Gil Kenan manage to balance this film with nostalgia and add modern details without being disrespectful to the fans. If you love Ghostbusters then be prepared for a fun ride with this sequel. 

Rating: DDD