115 min | PG-13 | March 22, 2024 | Sony/Columbia Pictures
The Ghostbusters franchise continues with too many characters, too much nostalgia, and not enough reason to exist. McKenna Grace deserves her own movie. This is not it.
The Spengler family has moved into the old New York firehouse. They are Ghostbusters now. An ancient artifact unleashes an entity that threatens to freeze the entire city. The old Ghostbusters show up to help. The new Ghostbusters do their thing. There are approximately fifteen characters competing for screen time and none of them get enough. The film is a sequel to Afterlife that trades rural charm for urban franchise management.
McKenna Grace plays Phoebe Spengler and she is the franchise’s future. She has the deadpan intelligence and emotional depth to carry these films. The movie sidelines her for the middle act and the film sags immediately. Paul Rudd plays Gary with likable dad energy and nothing to do. Carrie Coon and Finn Wolfhard return with diminished roles. Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and Ernie Hudson appear because the franchise requires their presence. Kumail Nanjiani shows up as a character who exists to deliver exposition. Patton Oswalt plays a researcher with an ancient obsession. The cast is enormous. The characterization is thin.
Gil Kenan co-wrote Afterlife and takes over directing duties from Jason Reitman. The New York setting should give the franchise its energy back. It does not. The action sequences are competent but lack the inventive chaos of the original. The ice-themed villain provides some visual spectacle. The firehouse looks great. The technology is shiny. None of it compensates for a script that prioritizes fan service over storytelling. Every legacy character appearance feels calculated rather than organic.
Afterlife worked because it was small and personal and earned its nostalgia through grief. Frozen Empire abandons that approach for franchise expansion and the result is a film that is busy without being exciting and crowded without being fun. The Ghostbusters IP is worth billions. This film was made to protect that number. It shows.