Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Blu-ray
Blu-ray + DVD + Digital
Sony Pictures | 2024 | 115 min | Rated PG-13 | Jun 25, 2024
I missed it during the short time it was in theaters, but I finally got around to seeing Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire the other day, now that this questionable sequel to one of my favorite franchises has come to haunt me at home. I’ve only seen Afterlife once, and I had forgotten much, mostly all the new characters and kids being tossed into the soup, so we have all these new people plus the return of several of the original cast, all joining forces against the biggest evil to ever threaten NYC and the world. Who ya gonna call?
Frozen Empire stumbles over its own ambition, trying to deal with too many characters and subplots, leaving the main plot to come grinding to a halt. Often, I was simply bored waiting for some actual action. Don’t get me wrong; there are numerous cool moments in the movie but very little ghostbusting. We pick up this film with the Egon’s family from the last movie moving into that famous NYC firehouse from the original, perfectly recreated for this film with more interior details and set than ever before. It’s an impressively large set that allowed the actors to immerse themselves in some physical reality, which admittedly helps sell the more fantastical stuff about to happen.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is all about the member-berries, and the firehouse is just the start. ECTO-1 is back with new paint, lights, and a rooftop drone launching pad for aerial ghostbusting. There are so many nods to the original with the librarian ghost, the giant stone lion outside the library, Walter “Dickless” Peck is back to cause more problems for our family of ghost hunters, and Slimer has made a nest in the attic of the firehouse under a pile of junk food trash. Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Annie Potts, and Ernie Hudson are all back to reprise their roles, and it was fun to see what they were all up to. Winston runs some fancy research facility that is making all new proton packs and other ghostbusting devices, while Ray is running an occult-style curio shop. It is in this very shop that the true adventure begins when Nadeem (Kumail Nanjiani) brings in a spherical brass relic that has been imprisoning an ancient evil for thousands of years.
The movie opens strong with a fantastic mobile ghostbusting sequence through downtown NYC that reintroduces the characters, the new tech, and the various defined roles of the team. McKenna Grace plays Phoebe, who at only 15 years old is able to invent some pretty cool tech, but is apparently too young to be busting ghosts, so she is left to hold down the firehouse leaving her plenty of time to possibly fall in love with Melody (Emily Alyn Lind), a young ghost girl. With so many plot threads to follow it was amazing they actually managed to converge into a final fight, inside the firehouse no less, with big “Frosty”. Sadly, the final fight was a bit too formulaic and predictable…just like this entire movie. Even the stars, especially Bill Murray, just seemed annoyed at being there. I think he had more fun making Zombieland than this, and it clearly shows on the vacant scowl on his face for most of the movie, unlike Aykroyd who seemed to be having a good time. As previously mentioned, McKenna Grace is the shining star of the film, and even Patton Oswalt seems to be thriving in his exposition-heavy scene.
It’s been a minute since I’ve watched an actual BD movie, let alone review one. 4K has indeed spoiled me when it comes to visual and audio fidelity, but the convenience of streaming has nearly replaced my physical media with the exception of the best and more deserving films. While obviously not as pristine as the 4K edition, this 1080p/AVC presentation gets the job done with a fantastic image full of rich colors, great texture details, and incredible HDR for deep blacks and vibrant lights. While I have not seen any part of this movie in UHD, I can’t imagine it looking much better than this when viewed with a non-critical eye. The audio portion of the package is slightly disappointing in that DTS-HD 5.1 was the best mix I could choose; no 7.1 or Atmos options here like you can get on the 4K version. I didn’t realize how much those extra channels contribute to the overall sound design, and Frozen Empire ended up feeling aurally flat. LFE was great and my subwoofer was flexing in parts of the film, but overall, audiophiles should definitely go with the 4K release.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire has a respectable Special Features section kicking off with an Audio Commentary by director/co-writer, Gil Kenan who reflects on the making of the film with some fun insights and backstory. Return to the Firehouse is a 22min feature that will fuel your nostalgia for the franchise while Busting: Capturing the Ghosts of Frozen Empire spends half that time talking about the ghostly effects of the film. Easter Eggs Unleashed finds most of the major secrets buried in this latest film before challenging you to find more, and Manifesting Garraka focuses mainly on the creation of the final boss creature. New York, New Gear looks at the new weapons and toys for the next generation of ghostbusters, and Welcome to the Paranormal Discovery Center explores Winston’s lab in greater detail. Wrapping up the package is Knowing the Score that discusses the films soundtrack, and finally, six Deleted Scenes that I thought should have been left in. There is also a digital code for your Movies Anywhere library.
It’s obvious that Frozen Empire is a setup to relaunch the franchise. Garraka has released all the ghosts from the past 40 years trapped in the containment unit in the firehouse, so this is just one big reset. Sadly, the joy and charm from the original movies and even the characters seem to have been lost. The cast is too big, the plot is too busy, which is ironic given the lack of action moments. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire starts and ends strong, but everything in the middle seems disappointingly out of place. If you must watch now, then wait for a sale or just wait for it to hit streaming – it shouldn’t take long.
