Notwithstanding the episodic approach to the story — and a climax that screams that the film either ran out of, or didn’t have the luxury of the budget to pull off a grand finale — Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is a swell movie and a fine continuation of a film series that is neither a remake nor a reboot of the beloved franchise.

Director Gill Kenan, who has a thing for making movies that go bump in the night, is in his element. He had previously written and directed the animated film Monster House and the live-action remake of Poltergeist, and co-wrote Ghostbusters: Afterlife.

Frozen Empire’s screenplay is co-written by Kenan and Jason Reitman, who directed the last film, and the plot concerns an ancient orb that had served as a prison for an ice demon, put there by people who had mastered the magical use of fire in times that predated Sanskrit as a language (for those who are wondering, the era would be before 400 BC).

The present-day heir to the powers of fire is Nadeem Raazmaadi (Kumail Nanjiani) — a loser who sells his dead grandmother’s ancient wares for cheap. While Nadeem hawks the mystical orb to Ray Stantz (Dan Akyroyd, reprising his role), Phoebe (Mckenna Grace) the granddaughter of Egon Spengler (the late Harold Ramis), finds a friend in a wandering ghost and makes an enemy of New York’s mayor (Emily Alyn Lind, William Atherton, respectively).

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is a fun film that needs more fun films to follow

Connected to the main plot are minor subplots about the somewhat rocky relationship between Phoebe and her science teacher-turned-mother’s boyfriend (played by Paul Rudd and Carrie Coon, respectively).

Bill Murray’s Peter Venkman — the lead of the first two Ghostbusters films from the 1980s — Phoebe’s brother Trevor, his love interest and ghostbusting friend Lucky Domingo, and their other buddy named Podcast (actors Finn Wolfhard, Celeste O’Connor and Logan Kim, respectively), get the short end of the stick as far as screen time goes.

The screenplay, one feels, is forced to choose between telling a complete and coherent one-off story or set-up events that would lead to future instalments of the franchise. Thankfully, Kenan and Reitman, son of Ivan Reitman who helmed the 1980s movies, didn’t succumb to pressures.

Frozen Empire functions well as a standalone film but also, at the same time, one knows that it hasn’t fully embraced the connotation its title brings to mind. The words “Frozen Empire” sound grander than the movie itself, and there are visible signs that the climax and scenes around it have been extensively reshot (there are publicity stills and shots in trailers that are not in the final film).

Still, Frozen Empire is a fun film that needs more fun films to follow in its wake.

Released by HKC Films in Pakistan and Sony Pictures internationally, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is rated PG and is suitable for kids and families who like non-horror kiddie fare about things that go BOOOO!!! in the night.

Published in Dawn, ICON, April 28th, 2024