Who You Gonna Call This Time?

We didn't watch Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024) because we're completists, or to make fun of it. We kind of liked Afterlife, and we kind of liked this one.

So the whole kid Ghostbusters family has moved to New York, to the old fire station. There are ghosts to be busted, and they mount up ECTO-1 pretty early on. But William Atherton, the EPA guy from the first movie, is now mayor of New York, and he wants these Ghostbusters shut down! Especially because McKenna Grace, on gunner seat, is fourteen, clearly underaged. So her mom, Carrie Coon, drops her from the team. Paul Rudd, not her dad, just mom's boyfriend, is sympathetic, but supports Coon.

While everyone is out on a bust, she sulks in Central Park, and sits down at a chess board. Sixteen-year-old ghost Emily Alyn Lind shows up to insult her and beat her at chess. Grace clearly becomes infatuated. This live/dead underaged lesbian romance drives the plot.

The original Ghostbusters are also on the job: Ernie Hudson is a philanthropist businessman who funds the operation. Bill Murray still runs a curio shop. And Dan Akroyd, with the help of Podcast (Logan Kim), collects possibly dangerous magical objects. Kumail Nanjiani sells them an orb he got from his deceased mother. With the help of Patton Oswalt, they determine it's an... Oh, never mind. It's a ghost McGuffin.

And of course, the ectotrap still hasn't been emptied, and is getting kind of overstuffed. Maybe Atherton was right. 

I'll say right off that I didn't love the whole thing with Paul Rudd trying to not try to be a dad to Coons' kids - he's still just a boyfriend. Probably pretty relatable to many, but kind of boring. I loved seeing Ernie Hudson getting some respect and some screen time. And all the running around, chasing ghosts, pursuing secrets, etc., while not really worth writing about was fun to watch. And of course, it was great to see Akroyd and Murray, and new guys Nanjiani and Oswalt, doing their stuff. 

Jason Reitman passed the director's role to Gil Kenan, and there were no more Ramis appearances. So I think this franchise can go on as long as people keep watching. I expect we will.