Dr. K's Waiting Room

Released: 22 March 2024
Director: Gil Kenan
Distributor: Columbia Pictures
Budget: $100 million
Stars: Mckenna Grace, Paul Rudd, Callie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Dan Aykroyd, and Ernie Hudson

The Plot:
After embracing their family legacy as Ghostbusters, Callie Spengler (Coon) and her kids, Phoebe (Grace) and Trevor (Wolfhard), move into the team’s old firehouse headquarters in New York City with former teacher Gary Grooberson (Rudd). However, Ghostbusters old and new are forced to unite against a new demonic threat that threatens to blanket the city in an endless winter.

The Background:
Ghostbusters (Reitman, 1984) started out as a way for Dan Aykroyd to finally join forces with Eddie Murphy and close friend John Belushi, before director Ivan Reitman, writer/actor Harold Ramis, and comedian Bill Murray joined the project and produced a critical and financial success. This led to the under-rated Ghostbusters II (ibid, 1989), which sadly underperformed and was mostly met with negative reviews, and a much–maligned 2014 reboot. in 2021, almost ten years later, Reitman’s son, Jason, revived the franchise with Ghostbusters: Afterlife, a direct continuation of the original films that depicted a new generation of Ghostbusters, grossed over $204 million worldwide, and was largely praised for its cast, atmosphere, and references to the first film. Bolstered by the film’s success, Aykroyd hoped to see multiple follow-ups, the first of which became a reality when director Gil Kenan signed on to direct, Jason Reitman returned as a producer and co-writer, and cast old and new signed on to return. This time around, the filmmakers drew inspiration from the popular Real Ghostbusters cartoon (1986 to 1991), returned the action to New York City, and was dedicated to Ivan Reitman, who sadly died between movies. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire barely cleared $191 million at the box office and was met with largely mixed reviews. While critics praised the actors and nostalgia-ladened atmosphere, they also criticised the bloated cast and its derivative narrative, though the filmmakers remained hopeful that more movies would follow.

The Review:
I think it’s only fair to say that, despite being a lifelong Ghostbusters fan, I wasn’t all that enamoured by Ghostbusters: Afterlife. I didn’t like how the film wasted so much of its runtime catching us up (or reminding us of) the Ghostbusters’ past, or that everyone slagged Doctor Egon Spengler off until the final act, which suddenly celebrated him and the late Harold Ramis. It felt a bit too safe at times, repeating many elements of the original film, and spent a lot of time building up the new characters and their dynamics but not in a ghost busting context. However, it ended with the promise that the Ghostbusters would be back in action in New York City and, to be fair, Frozen Empire opens with that very much being the case. After a pretty terrifying opening flashback showing the power of the film’s newest demonic villain, the film jumps to the present day to find Gary Grooberson busting ghosts alongside his surrogate family – matriarch Callie Spengler and her teenage children, Trevor and Phoebe. Having relocated to New York in the interim, the new team not only use the old firehouse, car, and equipment but new gear like Ecto-1’s gunner seat and remote-controlled ghost traps. As exhilarating as their new profession is for them, however, the Ghostbusters still attract a fair amount of negative press; their reckless ways cost the city millions in repairs and earn them the ire of perennial Ghostbuster hated Walter Peck (William Atherton), now inexplicably the Mayor of New York City and wielding the power to threaten the Ghostbusters’ livelihood (despite the financial backing of former Ghostbuster Doctor Winston Zeddemore (Hudson)). While this later becomes a real threat to their operation, Peck initially makes good on his promise by forcing the team to bench Phoebe since she’s underage, a catalyst that kicks off a handful of the film’s many plot threads.

Despite her vast intelligence and enthusiasm for the job, Phoebe is effectively barred from ghost busting, driving a wedge between her and her mother and testing her already awkward relationship with Gary. While Gary is eager to be more than just the kids’ confidant and friend, he’s unsure of his boundaries in his strangely unaffectionate relationship with Callie; while she urges him to be a more assertive father figure, he struggles to fill that role out of fear of overstepping the mark. This could’ve been an intriguing plot thread and, indeed, the ghost (no pun intended) of its potential is weaved throughout the film and hastily paid off in the climax but, for the most part, neither Phoebe or Trevor seem all that bothered. They largely accept Gary and Phoebe only lashes out at him due to her frustrations about being benched and ostracised from what she sees as her legacy. She finds some solace when she befriends a ghost girl, Melody (Emily Alyn Lind), which almost explores the question of what it means to be a ghost, adds a humanising element to the spookers, and hints towards Phoebe’s sexuality but, again, these elements are strangely undercooked and boil down giving her a friends to talk to who she stupidly risks her life to grow closer to, only to be burned when Melody begrudgingly betrays her. Much of the film does revolve around Phoebe, which is great as she was the standout character of Afterlife and some of the best parts of Frozen Empire revolve around her investigating the demonic Garraka alongside Doctor Raymond “Ray” Stanz (Aykroyd). Truthfully, these elements should’ve had much more screen time, same as Winston’s Paranormal Research Center, which could’ve offered Phoebe an alternative to ghost busting but instead existed as a fantastical expansion on the firehouse’s eco-containment field and uncomfortably positioned new character Doctor Lars Pinfield (James Acaster) and the returning as Lucky Domingo (Celeste O’Connor) as glorified zookeepers who forcibly extract, imprison, and experiment on unquiet spirits.

Still, at least Phoebe has something to do here. The same can’t be said for Trevor, who’s primary arcs here involve whining about wanting to be treated as an adult and trying, in vain, to capture Slimer, who’s taken residence in the firehouse attic. His reunion with Lucky is barely a factor and I honestly wouldn’t have missed him if he wasn’t in the film as he really doesn’t do anything of note accept try to help capture ghosts, which is a shame considering him and Phoebe should really be at the forefront of this new generation of Ghostbusters. Similarly, Callie has very little to do here; so little, in fact, that Phoebe angrily attacks her position in the team, criticising her for not being a scientist and only being a member because of her last name. Her sole function is to push Gary to back her up and be a more assertive father figure; otherwise, she’s basically a non-factor. This is the same for Podcast (Logan Kim), which is, again a real shame as he’s got a lot of screen presence and charisma and the whole point of Afterlife was setting up these kids as the new team. Instead, he’s just kinda here because he was in the last film and could easily have been missing without the plot being impacted. On the plus side, Ray gets a lot more to do this time around; Phoebe affectionately refers to him as “Dr. Ray” and Aykroyd’s enthusiasm is infectious, making him a real highlight. Similarly, Winston also gets more play as a mediator between Peck and the Ghostbusters, and offering solutions to their storage and tech issues. In fact, one of the best scenes is him and Ray interacting where Winston chastises Ray for his recklessness given his age, though this also makes me wish we saw more of the old team as mentors to the newbies.

This, however, leads into one of Frozen Empire’s biggest issues: there’s just too many characters here and not a lot for them to do. Doctor Peter Venkman (Bill Murray) also shows up, but more as an obligation and a cameo, with Murray appearing bored and painfully aged compared to Ernie Hudson. Former Ghostbuster receptionist Janine Melnitz (Annie Potts) rounds out the old cast, and even suits up at the end, but again is just here as nostalgia bait and really doesn’t offer much to the movie. Add to that the aforementioned James Acaster and a brief appearance by Patton Oswalt and you have a painfully bloated cast that left me thinking many of these roles could’ve been trimmed down, excised, or replaced with other characters and the film’s pacing would’ve been much improved. The most egregious new role, for me, was Nadeem Razmaad (Kumail Nanjiani), an awkward and out of place comic relief in a horror comedy stuffed with comedic actors. Nadeem sells his grandmother’s possessions to Ray, unaware that he’s giving up his responsibility to protect the orb (which contains Garraka’s evil) from harm, and reluctantly learns it’s his destiny to help stop Garraka by mastering his innate pyrokinetic abilities. Sadly, he’s more annoying than funny and, while his firebending abilities help out in the end, I could’ve easily done with him being excised, the Ghostbusters simply finding the orb, and more time being spent on Phoebe outfitting the proton packs with brass to tackle Garraka. This demonic demigod is more of a looming threat than a tangible presence, only appearing in the flesh (so to speak) in the final act, and is truly a terrifying figure, with many awesome powers, but sadly loses a lot of the menace established in the chilling opening with his poor body count. It’s a shame as I liked the aspect that other ghosts were terrified of him, and that he can control them, but it’s not like he manipulates an army of ghostly minions and he shows up way too late, and is far too monstrous, to have much characterisation beyond being unknowably evil.

The Nitty-Gritty:
Given the presence of Callie and her kids and their newfound lives in the firehouse with Gary, a prominent theme remains family. As mentioned, Gary struggles to assume a more prominent role in the kids’ lives; he wants to be more than just a friend and co-worker and their mum’s boyfriend, but isn’t sure about how to go about that as he’s worried about overstepping the mark. As Phoebe becomes more outspoken and resentful, Gary gets some opportunities to be more assertive, but earns her respect and the “Dad” title by the conclusion simply by supporting her in the battle against Garraka. The familial theme is primarily supported by Phoebe and Gary, with Callie not showing any pressure about living up to her father’s legacy and Trevor more concerned with Slimer, so this fell a little flat for me. Another theme is of age; Winston chastises Ray for endangering himself and the kids by not letting go of his ghost busting ways, but not only continues to support the Ghostbusters but even suits up alongside them out of loyalty and nostalgia, unable to resist the call of adventure. Venkman also joins them and falls into this category, but simply by being present; he has no real arc in the film except being an ass who tries to steal the spotlight. Other notable themes include destiny, with Nadeem being sceptical and then astounded to learn of his birthright, and the question of what lies beyond, briefly explored in Phoebe’s interactions with Melody.

Even more so than Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Frozen Empire leans heavily on nostalgia; we’re back in New York City and in the firehouse, for starters, so many of the same locations are onscreen, most explicitly the New York Public Library, with convenient exposition basement. This doesn’t always land for me; it’s good to see Slimer back, even in a small role, but I could’ve done without seeing the Mini-Pufts as they weren’t really necessary and the “possessor” ghost could’ve filled that role. On the plus side, the outfits, equipment, and effects all look great; Ecto-1 has a lot of new features, like drones and remote control cars, we get to see Ecto-C (a motorcycle with sidecar and mounted proton pack), and some of the team don new red outfits and upgraded proton packs in the finale. The ghost effects are bolstered by CGI but seem to also include some traditional practical work, especially Slimer, though Garraka casts an intimidating figure whenever he’s onscreen, which just makes me wish we saw more of him. Actual ghost busting is few and far between here, which was disappointing for me considering it seemed like we’d see the Ghostbusters in full force. Instead, the film rehashes the overstuffed containment grid plot and spends more time exploring Phoebe’s burgeoning relationship with Many. However, I wasn’t sold on this; something about a human, talkative ghost raises some weird questions for me about the Ghostbusters’ work and I found it ludicrous that Phoebe, who’s basically a genius, would willingly have her spirit sucked out of her body to be closer to her new friend.

One aspect I did enjoy about Frozen Empire was that it at least had a new villain. Garraka may not’ve featured into the main plot as much as I’d like (though, to be fair, neither did the previous villains), but at least the film didn’t rehash Gozer again. Much of the film is focused on Garraka’s orb, its history, and the threat it poses if opened; so, naturally, Dr. Pinfield tries to extract its presence. However, it’s Phoebe who unwittingly unleashes the demon; tricky by a reluctant Melody, she leaves herself open to Garraka’s possession and speaks the incantation which unleashes him. He then promptly ushers in an unnatural ice age across the city and causes the containment unit to breach, which is said would give him an army of ghosts to control but this doesn’t actually happen; the spirits just fly off and we never see them do anything. The new and old Ghostbusters gather at the firehouse to fend of Garraka, only to find his power is so great that he can freeze their proton streams, leaving their fate in the hands of Phoebe and her brass-empowered proton pack and the bungling Nadeem. Luckily for them, Melody has a change of heart and gives Nadeem the flame necessary to weaken Garraka, which allows Phoebe and her family to ensnare him while the old Ghostbusters fiddly with the containment unit and suck him up. In the aftermath, Peck caves to the overwhelming public support and the Ghostbusters are celebrated as heroes once more and head out to round up the ghosts that escaped, presumably meaning the next movie will feature some actual ghost busting rather than a lot of exposition, nostalgia bait, and wasted characters. I just don’t get how Peck, a guy who worked for the Environmental Protection Agency, became Mayor of New York City. I don’t get why Dr. Pinfield and Doctor Hubert Wartzk (Patton Oswalt) needed to exist; I feel Ray, Peter, and/or Winston could’ve fulfilled their roles. I don’t get why Trevor, Lucky, and Podcast were sidelined, why there was little chemistry between Gary and Callie, or why the film played it so safe when it had a great opportunity to tell a new, fun story about a dysfunctional family of Ghostbusters who are mentored by their older (but no less spritely) superiors.

The Summary:
If it’s not clear, I was left bitterly disappointed by Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. The film’s runtime is shorter than its predecessor’s and not much longer than the original films and yet it just dragged so much, especially in the middle and with all the exposition into Garraka. I get wanting to explain the new threat, but it just went on and on and then the payoff was really flat and lacked any stakes as we never saw any civilians in danger. The film’s just far too bloated with too many characters and plot lines; I get Phoebe being mad about being benched, but she could’ve found a new life in Winston’s lab, researching ghosts and such, and found solutions to their problems from there. The family dynamic was lacking for me; Callie and Trevor may as well have been absent as they didn’t do anything of note, which was really disappointing considering how important they were in Afterlife. I liked that Ray and Winston had bigger roles, but I believe that the old team should be relegated to cameos and supporting roles, especially if you’re trying to establish a new generation of Ghostbusters. It’s difficult for me as there was a lot to like here in the aesthetic and nostalgia bait, but something was missing for me and Frozen Empire just faltered midway through and failed to stick the landing, making for a disappointing and often dull viewing experience that could’ve been so much more.

My Rating:

Pretty Good

What did you think to Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire? Were you also thrown off by the pacing and bloated plot threads or did the nostalgia bait balance this out for you? What did you think to Phoebe’s sub-plot and her relationship with Melody? Would you have liked to see more from Garraka, and were you a fan of the “Firemaster” element? Which Ghostbusters movie is your favourite? Whatever your thoughts on Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, leave a comment below or on my social media and go check out my other Ghostbusters content across the site.