Movie Review: Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
A weak plot and truncated character arcs disappoint this fan.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is the sequel to the 2021Ghostbusters film, Afterlife, making it the fourth direct sequel in the franchise. The main cast reprise their roles, but there is not much to say about them. Their character arcs are present but truncated due to the number of characters. I count at least 13! For a recap of the new crew see my Afterlife review.
Regarding Frozen Empire, I wish to focus on the villains whose machinations are full of holes. To understand the problem, we must go through a detailed plot summary.
Garraka is a demigod with designs to rule the world. His primary powers are freezing the living and controlling the dead. Millenia ago a group of “fire masters” trapped him in a brass sphere. He plots his escape. From within the sphere, Garraka is not powerless. Much like the sleeping Cthulhu, he is able to exercise some influence over the outside environment. This includes recruiting a ghost named Melody (Emily Alyn Lind) to aid his escape in exchange for passage to the afterlife.
It’s not clear why Garraka, who can mind-control ghosts, needs to make this bargain. Couldn’t he force Melody to cooperate? Perhaps his powers are limited by his prison. However, he can freeze city streets and physically damage the Ghostbusters’ containment unit. Also, he is able to control ghost Phoebe (Mckenna Grace). Why, then, not control Melody?
Anyway, Melody forms a relationship with Phoebe with the intent of using her to free Garraka. The plan, apparently, is to get Phoebe to “ghost walk” so that Garraka can force her to recite a magical chant that frees him. Why couldn’t Melody say the phrase that pays? Because, silly, the ritual requires a human voice (duh!), and it just so happens that making ghost Phoebe talk makes her body talk, too … somehow. Or something…I don’t know.
The plan implies that Garraka knew about the Ghostbusters’ spirit extraction device that makes Phoebe’s ghost walk possible. Ok, he may have ESP. But did he also know that it had never been tried on humans, and so it might not work in the precise way that he would need it to?
Speaking of which, a lot of coincidences must happen to make Garraka’s plan succeed. The extraction device working is one. Another is Phoebe’s personal crisis that makes her vulnerable to Melody’s manipulations. And what if Phoebe never entered the extraction chamber? Melody never mentions the device, let alone attempts to persuade Phoebe to use it. In fact, it’s Phoebe's idea!
(Parenthetically, the two girls want to exist on the same dimensional plane to “physically interact” with each other I guess to have lesbian ghost sex.)
In a one-sided conversation with Garraka, Melody asks, “Does it have to be her?” referring to Phoebe. That’s a good question. It never gets answered. And must she ghost walk? Why not kill her? Maybe that would sever the tie (or whatever) to her body, but it’s not clear.
So, ghost Phoebe releases Garraka who makes his way to the Ghostbusters’ containment unit where he hopes to release and control an army of undead. Our heroes make a stand at the firehouse. But it’s all for naught! Garraka freezes them all. Except Melody and fire master Kumail (Nadeem Razmaadi). Feeling remorse for her deception, Melody lights a match. Kumail wields its fire, and the two are able to unfreeze the others. Phoebe (back in her body) then leads the charge to victory.
Once again, we ask why not mind-control Melody? Had Garraka used his necromancy to prevent her from lighting the match, the movie would have ended very differently.
The answer to all these questions is simple: the plot needed it. The plot needed Garraka to get free so the movie could have a climax. Phoebe needed to get betrayed to learn a valuable lesson. Melody needed to be tricked by the evil demigod so she could be culpable yet remain an empathetic character.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is “nostalgia-fueled fun,” as Rotten Tomatoes puts it. That’s not nothing. However, its weak plot coupled with an oversized cast that truncates their character arcs makes this addition to the franchise a disappointment.