Following on from the surprisingly good Ghostbusters Afterlife, Frozen Empire follows the Groobersons/Spenglers as they hunt ghosts in New York City after relocating to the original Ghostbusters' headquarters. After a particularly messy bust results in a lot of damage to the city, the now Mayor Walter Peck decides to impose some sanctions on the family - namely by not allowing Phoebe to participate, as she is just a minor. Distancing herself from the rest of the crew, she spends time with a young ghost who is trapped in purgatory, and also Ray Stanz's occult bookstore. But when Ray comes into the posession of an ancient artifact that could bring about the destruction of humanity, the Ghostbusters will need all the help they can get, past and present....

After enjoying the previous film (despite its flaws), I was quite excited to see where they would go with these new characters. Taking the action back to New York was a smart move, as it nicely scratches that nostalgia itch without it going overboard (one of my main criticisms of Afterlife). The characters all work together well and are likeable, the story is, well... typical Ghostbusters... and the special effects are great.

There were quite a few little tidbits here that I really liked. I liked how the original characters all had proper purpose - Ray has his knowledge and his bookstore and acts as an info resource, Venkman is a consultant who helps with any phsychic investigations, and Winston is the millionaire who funds a giant Ghostbusters research facility. It goes beyond them just having nostalgic cameos for the sake of it. And speaking of the facility, they have various different ghosts they are studying and interacting with, which is quite cool.

However, the film does have issues. A lot of the time it struggles to be funny, with a lot of the gags falling flat. I know these actors can be funny, they just need to have a better script written for them. The only actor who lands his gags consistently is, unsurprisingly, Bill Murray. I know he ad-libs a lot in his films, so if he did here that may explain why, but he stands out against an otherwise largely unfunny experience.

Another issue is the Phoebe/Melody sub plot, which felt hugely out of place and I wouldn't be surprised if it were included to tick a box somewhere. Why does this ghost look like a normal human when practically EVERY other ghost in this franchise is grotesque? Like a said, it feels out of place and grinds the pacing to a crawl.

But by far the biggest problem, is that there are just far too many characters. At the climax of the film there are 11, yes ELEVEN Ghostbusters, and they are all fighting for screentime so bad the film completely loses its focus in the final act. In fact the final act in general felt a bit limp - they built up this main adversary who went down far too easy.

All in all, this film feels more like a Ghostbusters celebration rather than a meaningful story extension, which is fine because I love this franchise and these characters, but still they seem to struggle to stand up to the sheer genius, brilliance, and perfectly executed first film. From here they need to dial it back a bit, focus on the new characters and streamline the plot. Oh, and for the love of God PLEASE get someone in who can write decent gags....

So much promise, too much stupidity, Perhaps the movie was trying to entertain the younger generation. But, if it was, the director should have remembered, that the originals did that perfectly without the cheese.

The scary and ominous bits were great, the nostalgia was there, the action worked, the big bad was cool but the idea of a fire master was pure junk.

I dig the new Ghostbusters movies and I hope we get more, but please, steer away from the cheese!!!

If this had been serious with a few comic lines/moments scattered like frosting it would have been great. But, it focused too much on trying to be comedy.

So... yeah, but no. Thanks for another Ghostbusters film, because I love the franchise, but this could have been a heap better.