2024 Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone

This is a direct continuation of the previous movie, “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” with the same characters continuing their work. Three out of four of the classic Ghostbusters make an appearance, as well as characters and ghosts from the original films. The new big bad is powerful, but once again teamwork saves the day. The effects are excellent. But it feels like a lot more of the same, the humor is a little stale, and the pacing is a little off. It was just okay.

Spoilery Synopsis

We open in 1904, as the firefighters get called to the Manhattan Adventure Society. There are screams inside, but there’s no fire; it’s freezing. Everyone inside is frozen solid. When the firemen disturb the strange person sitting in the corner, all the bodies shatter. Credits roll. 

Today, the Ghostbusters, Gary Grooberman and Callie Spengler, race through town in the famous Hearse. Trevor and Phoebe are in the back seat feeling exploited. Outside, manhole covers are exploding into the sky all around them. It’s the Hell’s Kitchen Sewer Dragon! They use all kinds of gadgets, including a drone-mounted trap, to catch the thing. There’s collateral damage, and that makes the news. The news reminds us who the Ghostbusters were/are. 

The Mayor, an unfortunately familiar face, chews out the team. He points out that Phoebe is only fifteen, too young to be doing what she’s doing. He wants to shut them down– still. At home, there is whiny family drama as Phoebe complains about her forced retirement. They seem to be having issues with the old containment unit. 

We cut to Ray Stantz, doing a podcast about the supernatural with Podcast, the character from the previous film. It’s a very weird show. Podcast has miniature Marshmallow men in the basement, and they reproduce like Tribbles. When a man comes in to sell some creepy stuff, the little men run and hide. Nadeen brings in the ball that the weird character in the pre-credit sequence was holding. Ray says there may be an evil spirit trapped inside. When Ray scans the egg, things go haywire at the Ghostbuster’s headquarters. 

Upstairs, Trevor finds a bunch of trash in the attic; Slimer’s been eating. The group gets a call, but they leave Phoebe behind, so she plays chess with a ghost instead. She’s Melody, and she died in a tenement fire many years ago. 

Gary asks Janine if anyone has ever dumped that containment unit, and she says no, not since 1984. They call Winston, who brings in an engineer who says it’s full. He says the firehouse is holding back a flood of bad things, but he’s been building a new and improved Ghostbuster’s headquarters. Winston has founded The Paranormal Research Center is looking for answers to all the mystical questions. 

Ray is there as well, and he’s brought his little ball of hate that Nadeem sold him. Ray explains some of the ghosts that they’ve kept around to study. 

While the others are out on a call, Phoebe answers the phone and goes off on a mission along with Podcast. The ghost she got called for is Melody; Phoebe can’t bring herself to capture her ghostly friend. 

That evening, Lucky and Lars at the Paranormal Research Center put the evil egg into their ghost-extraction machine. Instead, they accidentally manage to open it. The ghosts almost manage to escape, but the power comes on in time to keep them in place. Except the orb freezes Lars’s hand. 

Melody visits Phoebe at the headquarters, and they hang out. Melody gets the full tour, but she’s suspiciously interested in the ancient containment unit. She talks about her inability to move on. We see later that she’s serving someone else. 

Lars tells the assembled group that whatever’s inside the orb is doing mind control on other ghosts. Trevor, Lucky, and Lars go to see Nadeem about the orb. Turns out, he’s got a whole brass-lined room full of antique weirdness. Nadeem himself sets off the supernatural detector. They call Peter Venkman to check him out, and he’s definitely got something going on. 

Ray, Phoebe, and Podcast go to see Dr. Wartzki at the library about the words coming out of the orb. He explains that a phantom god named Garraka is said to be trapped inside. His plan was to raise an army of the undead and start a war against humanity. He has the power to kill by fear itself. He was defeated by the Firemasters, beings who trapped Garraka inside the orb. He plays a recording made by the old Adventurer’s Society before they all froze to death. Podcast records the audio. As the recording literally bounces away, Ray runs into an old ghost-nemesis from the past. 

The mayor condemns the firehouse and arrests Phoebe. Winston yells at Ray for putting the kids in danger. Gary talks Callie into fighting for the firehouse. Nadeem comes to the firehouse, and Lars blames himfor all the damage. Ray comes in and says that Nadeem is the new Firemaster, and it’s up to him to protect the world against Garraka. 

Phoebe and Melody hang out together. Phoebe wants to try out being a ghost for a while, so she goes the Research Center and pulls out her own spirit. It works! As soon as Phoebe becomes a ghost, Garraka possessed her. He can’t control humans, but he can control ghosts. The orb falls to pieces. After two minutes, Phoebe returns to her body, but Garraka is still free– and escapes.

Garraka goes to the Firemaster Cigarette store and freezes the proprietor. He then goes to Nadeem’s house and breaks in. He takes his own horns off the wall and puts them on. 

People at the beach, in summer, are attacked by ice and snow, which quickly expands into the city. Ray talks to the others, saying that Garraka is coming for the containment unit, which hols a potential army. Nedeem barely use his fire powers at all, so how much help could he be? Ray, Winston, and even Peter suit up for battle with new and improved proton-packs. 

A possessor spirit takes over the Ghostbusters car and wrecks the place. It then possesses a pizza and is eaten by Slimer. Phoebe confronts Melody as Garraka arrives outside. Everyone else blasts their proton packs at Garraka, but they don’t work. Nadeem shows up in his grandmother’s armor and tries to talk to the huge horned beast. That doesn’t work, and Garraka opens up the containment unit, freeing uncountable spirits and freezing everyone but Phoebe. 

Phoebe zaps the distracted Garraka with her gun, but he’s so powerful that he just freezes her stream– and her. Melody, however, lights a match, who powers up Nadeem, who really blasts the monster. Everyone works together to trap the old god. 

Ray rejiggers the old containment until it sucks in Garraka; it’s big enough to hold him. He’s beaten. Melody moves on into the light. All the ice melts. The mayor shows up and threatens to have them all arrested until the news shows up, and he has to praise them instead. Everyone cheers, even though the city is now overrun with spirits, probably including Zuul and Vigo from the first two films. 

Brian’s Commentary

What happened to all the ghosts that got out of the firehouse? Thirty years of captures? Looks like NYC is going to be uninhabitable for a long time with all that activity. 

It’s a continuation of “Ghostbusters: Afterlife,” but there are a lot of connections, actors, characters, and even ghosts, to the original films. The CGI and creatures are exceptional. The humor is… predictable at best. 

It’s good. If you liked the previous film, this is more of the same. 

Kevin’s Commentary

Of all the Ghostbusters movies, this was one. I’d put it as my least favorite. There wasn’t enough new, the pacing was a little off, the humor was a little stale, and the heavy emphasis on Phoebe didn’t interest me much. I didn’t quite hate it, but it was just okay. Hopefully, they can bring things back up if they make another.