5. ‘Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’ (dir. Gil Kenan, 2024)
In Ivan Reitman’s 1989 sequel ‘Ghostbusters II,’ a river of psychomagnotheric slime zipping underneath New York City gets charged up by the collectively angry feelings of the city’s addled citizens which, in turn, helps power up various evil spirits (ya know, ghosts). A similar idea is at play in Gil Kenan’s ‘Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire,’ itself a sequel to (we’re already guessing) a more-liked first film (2021’s ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’), in which a nasty spirit attempts to kill off the human population by the power of, essentially, bad vibes.
Of course, that basic baddie bit isn’t the only similarity between Kenan’s film and the rest of the original ‘Ghostbusters’ franchise. Such is the world of the legacyquel. But it provides the best roadmap for what Kenan and co-screenwriter (and ‘Afterlife’ director and, of course, Ivan Reitman’s own son) Jason Reitman were attempting in their first follow-up to a mostly amiable reboot. A little winking and nodding to what came before? It’s to be expected, perhaps even enjoyed. But a twisting on a relatively simple plot for ends that can most generously be termed ‘confusing’ and ‘joyless’? No one wants that. No one needs that.
The vibes? Oh, they’re bad.
At the end of ‘Ghostbusters II,’ that awful supernatural slime river (and the absolutely deranged 16th-century tyrant and baby-snatcher it helps empower) is defeated by the shared goodwill (and the temporarily animated charm of the Statue of Liberty) of an entire city. It’s a neat little conceit: Good guys win, stories can be somewhat convoluted and still deliver an understandable punch, you can animate the Statue of Liberty if you have a good enough reason. But it’s one ‘Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’ can’t effectively ape, let alone with the kind of joy the original films so effortlessly captured. This franchise might not be entirely dead just yet, but its latest resurrection doesn’t make nearly enough good arguments to keep pumping life into it. —KE
Read IndieWire’s complete review of ‘Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire.’