I’m surprised how much I enjoyed this “Ghostbusters” follow-up.
The story in “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” shifts from the characters’ small Podunk town to the Big Apple, where the ghost removal business all began in 1984.
The youngest girl of the family of ghostbusters, Phoebe Spengler (Mckenna Grace) can’t join the ghostly proceedings because she’s a minor. In the mix this time is William Atherton, who played jerk bureaucrat Walter Peck in the original. He’s still playing a jerk, but this time as the mayor of New York.
Familiar “Ghostbusters” faces Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson and Annie Potts are back for more in this latest adventure. Paul Rudd of “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” is back as well as new characters Lucky (Celeste O’Connor) who is Trevor Spengler’s high school friend.
Newcomers include Patton Oswalt (“King of Queens”) as Dr. Hubert Wartzki, who works at the library, and Kumail Nanjiani as Nadeem Razmaadi. He sells his late mom’s trinkets, which may or may not include a hiding place for ghosts.
A new ice age is forming because of the ghosts’ apparitions. This time the battle royale includes not one giant marshmallow man but dozens of cute-but-menacing tiny Stay Puft Marshmallow Men who like to bite. Young Phoebe becomes friends with a young girl ghost who perished long ago. They even play chess in the park.
This latest entry is so much better than “Ghostbusters II” in 1989, which was a major lackluster, sub-par letdown. Gil Kenan, one of the co-writers along with the late Ivan Reitman and Reitman’s son Jason, directs this time. Kenen keeps the pace up nicely.
Murray must agree. The veteran funnyman said for years that he wouldn’t make another “Ghostbusters” movie until someone wrote a decent script. He meant one that wasn’t haphazardly pieced together like Frankenstein’s monster.
Slimer, the character in the original comic-adventure that slimed Peter Venkman (Murray), returns to continue his fondness for Cheetos and mayhem. I remember just smiling and chuckling at this one because it was so much fun. I wanted more because the antics seemed to go by too quickly.
Grade: A
