Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

By Joanna Langfield

This ‘busters made me feel okay.

Good natured and aiming to please, this chapter of the initially joyous series is better than some, nowhere near as inspired as its original. But things being what they are, an affable attempt at making me laugh and, maybe get a chill up my spine is much appreciated.

Here, the extended family is back in the firehouse, on call whenever ghosts pop up amongst us. The Spangler descendants wind up teaming with some of the originals, who’ve now started a top-secret research lab, in an effort to elevate the art of busting. But is this new alliance strong enough to take on some super strong evil forces, now out to freeze the world with a new Ice Age?

I know there’s more to the story than this, but don’t ask me to explain it. All the possible nuances flew right over my head. I was too busy relaxing into the rhythm of the thing, enjoying the new generations (the always likeable Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard and McKenna Grace) but more delighted to see the old. The reuniting of Annie Potts, Ernie Hudson, Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd will always be a treat and it certainly is this time around. And the addition of Patton Oswalt, great in one happily extended scene, and especially Kumail Nanjiani, who manages to resurrect the likeable and zany charm of the first crew, well, I’d watch a new chapter just with them.

But, of course, there are the scary parts. The film is rated PG-13, so I was interested in how the 6, but I’m almost 7 year old sitting next to me was doing. And yeah, he got a little freaked out at the mean ghosts. Just so you know.