Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

pixelburp

Honestly I didn't think Afterlife did so well it justified a sequel; though IIRC CoVid had its own effect, but here we are.

Looks like they have returned to New York this time, and hard to know if the original cast are getting another "walk on" cheque or will be a larger aspect of the film / story.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFNK_KEmcWs

buried

Fair play to Rick Moranis for staying well out of these regurgitated omnishambles.

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121342605#Comment_121342605

In fairness, he's coming out of retirement to work in a Honey I Shrunk the Kids legacy sequel, so maybe his judgement isn't that amazing either 😂

johnny_ultimate

Afterlife was perhaps the most putrid of all the 'legacy sequels' - a joyless, mechanical slog. I have little hope for this one as a result, but you'd hope at least they've gotten the more inane nostalgia-peddling out of the way the first time around. But in a world where 'somehow, Palpatine returned', there is the fear there are always new empty nostalgia depths for Hollywood to frack.

silverharp

looks like the cast for a Nickelodeon show, I dont see any Ghostbuster magic, and I get the sense that the script will be bloated and dull, hard pass

Acosta

I thought Afterlife was watchable/serviceable. It didn't deserve a sequel.

AMKC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121342673#Comment_121342673

I thought it was a great film and I throughly enjoyed it and I will this one too.

I would call this a nice surprise. There has only been one bad Ghostbusters movie so far and it was not afterlife.

buried

The fact they've had to shoehorn the city of New York into the regurgitated omni-shambles just makes this thing look utterly desperate for the member berries.

You can almost hear the chief executives around the mediocrity table

"why wasn't the first regurgitation more successful?"

"I dunno, it definitely wasn't the p!ss poor story, maybe it's because we didn't set it in the iconic city of New York like the original film, y'know the one with the actual good story?"

"We didn't set it in New York, you're right, set the next one in New York, and add some extreme weather climate $hite to it too, the kids are mad for that craic these days"

JP Liz V1

In Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, the Spengler family returns to where it all started – the iconic New York City firehouse – to team up with the original Ghostbusters, who’ve developed a top-secret research lab to take busting ghosts to the next level. But when the discovery of an ancient artifact unleashes an evil force, Ghostbusters new and old must join forces to protect their home and save the world from a second Ice Age

JP Liz V1

Is Jason Reitman involved in this?

McFly85

Ugh.

Sick of these sequels that are so heavily dependent on nostalgia and just how iconic they think everything in the originals is.

I loved the old ghostbusters vibe that these guys were Rentokil but for ghosts, but this looks to be putting them firmly in the heroes bracket. Pass.

expectationlost

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058321730/ghostbusters-frozen-empire

they showed us things freezing etc and hen describe being scared to death, blood freezing, isn't that contradictory, those people died from cold not fright. this seems like 2012 climate change parable not a ghostbusters movie...

pixelburp

New trailer up for this; looks like the original crew have more involvement than the glorifed cameo last time.

https://youtu.be/HpOBXh02rVc

Big Gerry

There reviews for the new Ghostbusters are not great.

johnny_ultimate

I wouldn’t have thought it could be much worse than Afterlife - a miserable little slice of joyless nostalgia bait - but several reviews I’ve seen have suggested that it very much is.

El Duda

https://twitter.com/TheMovieBadger/status/1770439831299981572

Oh dear

El Gato De Negocios

Nostalgia bait or not, I thoroughly enjoyed Afterlife so I'll be going to see this.🤷‍♂️

pixelburp

At least it seems like they bothered to write the original crew into the story this time, and not just have them turning up in a blatant "clap for your childhood you monkeys" appearance.

rovers_runner

Lot of woke critics have their LGBT hats on here, the backlash to the 2016 shakedown hasn't been forgotten.

Just go and enjoy the film for what it is, a throwback to a comedy classic from 40 years ago.

Big Gerry

Ghostbusters is getting like the predator franchise.

Only one of the films in the franchise is considered to be good and then you have endless sequels.

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121922583#Comment_121922583

Huh: what are you talking about? Literally nobody mentioned any of that, or the 2016 film, 'til you did.

rovers_runner

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121922683#Comment_121922683

I mean the professional film critics. Majority of them are LGBT or got the memo. They have regrouped after the Afterlife sequel showed up the 2016 **** show.

eightieschewbaccy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121922583#Comment_121922583

I didn't remember LGBT or whatever relating to the last one. I just thought it was pretty bad and failed at being remotely funny. So nothing to do with being woke.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121922608#Comment_121922608

The last predator movie is genuinely great and I've watched it twice. This is more playing on nostalgia and offering nothing interesting/unique to define it.

johnny_ultimate

Mod note: Enough of the culture war conspiracy theories please. Let’s stick to the film itself.

gmisk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121922608#Comment_121922608

The Predator franchise has had some dross in it but apart from the original some of the others are decent (I really enjoyed Prey). I also really like Ghostbusters 2 as well.

silliussoddius

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121922583#Comment_121922583

Oh god, it looks like there is another outbreak of woke tourette syndrome.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121923284#Comment_121923284

Just seen mod note

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121923335#Comment_121923335

Thing about something like Predator 2, it was born from an era when there was a less ... polished approach to sequels; it was mostly powered by cocaine mania mind you, but for all Predator 2's flaws it has energy and identity.

It was also from a time when nobody gave a shït about canon, legacy sequels, or nostalgic regurgitation for cheap dopamine hits and Funko Pop sales. Mainstream blockbuster Hollywood has completely ossified.

silverharp

the Gen Z'ers ruin for me , changes the dynamics from the originals too much, but given how unreliable critic reviews are, wait for the audience one to roll in, trash critic review and decent audience score means could be fun

Big Gerry

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121923335#Comment_121923335

There is no reason for Ghostbusters 2 to exist it's just a rehash of the first film but nowhere near as good.

gmisk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121923825#Comment_121923825

Ah still lots to enjoy, yeah it is a bit of a rehash, but it is fun Peter MacNicol and Moranis are great value too.

Oh and this section.

https://youtu.be/GFPt4S2Zw0w?si=a25YqrvGSPgZQcP2

pixelburp

I thought Kermode had lost some of his vibe since he left the BBC, but his review here is entertaining in the fashion of those movies that rubbed him up the wrong way.

"Boring boring boring BILL MURRAY!"

And not to ignore the warning about off-topic comments, I did chuckle at a note about the cast's make-up

"... because it's equal opportunities in its attitudes towards gender and sexuality and everything; great! What it means is now ... a diverse range of people now have rubbish movies to enjoy just like everybody else."

https://youtu.be/v92-ivBI_HA?si=pb5rqBVn6gMzBclg

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121923825#Comment_121923825

There is no reason for Ghostbusters 2 to exist

Money money money money. Or to quote Kermode form the above:

They're shaking the can and they think there's more money to fall out of it.

JustAPoorDreamer

Well I went and seen this today. All I can say is its like a film of two half's. The first half is just terrible but then it gets half decent but still not great. There is far to much forced bad dry humour in it that just does not work at all but saying that there is the odd funny moment.

I would only rate it a 4 out of 10.

It's not as good or as funny as the last film but it's better than the film before that the 2016 one I think.

Big Gerry

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121928007#Comment_121928007

How much screen time does Bill Murray have in it ?

JustAPoorDreamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121928432#Comment_121928432

He has a good bit actually. Is in it a lot.

Big Gerry

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121929219#Comment_121929219

It can't be that bad if Murray has a lot of screen time.

JustAPoorDreamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121929353#Comment_121929353

It's terrible for the first half. Honestly I really wanted to like it but there is all these dull annoying characters that just add nothing tge story is a mess as well. But tge second half and tge last 30 mins I think are good. Still uts aimed at children I think. I am not sure which Generation they were aiming it at but the main bad guy is most definitely aimed at a group. It reminded me of some cartoon just can not place it. Could have been so much better.

Still st least

Spoiler Warning

The cute mini marshmallow men are still in it :)

santana75

Its hard to articulate just how truly awful this movie is. Afterwards I was trying to pin down why its so bad and the answer, I believe, is: Kids. The ghostbusters are kids, well two of them, and one of them, the teenage girl is promoted as the "Hero" of the story. Its just doesnt work, the Ghostbusters should be grown men. Not trans, not non-binary, not women, not children, but actual men. The film is woke, they even managed to slip a strongly hinted at teenage lesbian subplot in there. I didnt think anything could be as bad as Ghostbusters afterlife but this makes that movie look like The Godfather.

rovers_runner

Was light hearted enough aside from the ploy to push this young actress to the forefront with a daft *snip* subplot.

Was a disappointing direction to take things which probably lead to other bits being left out to keep on point for the narrative.

Good to see Ackroyd and Murray on screen together again as there won't be many more rodeos for either you'd assume.

Scripts and plots were never the point of this franchise so not sure why they felt this needed to take over from basic slapstick.

johnny_ultimate

Mod note: Goes without saying: homophobic slurs are not acceptable in this forum.

Sudden Valley

I enjoyed it more than the first rebooted movie but perhaps only because they were back in new York. I suppose they had to give the young girl a plot of her own to make her do something other than whine, but they did tie that plot back to the main plot so I don't see the problem. I think possibly on a par or above ghostbusters 2

KkomradeWarrior

I can't take these new films. How many of them have there already been? They are all kind of soulless.

murpho999

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121922583#Comment_121922583

Sorry but that's the problem the bar is being set very low if the original is being regarded as a comedy classic.

It's the only have decent movie from the entire franchise selection but that does not mean it's a classic.

LambshankRedemption

Realized I'd not yet seen afterlife so put it on on Friday night. Switched it off after about an hour. My bar had not been set high to begin with. I didn't find it terrible, just dull really and a bit dumb. Of basically anywhere on the planet, why did Gozer the Sumarian pick Summerville, Oregon to be re-incarnated. It seemed forced.

Paul Rudd's character who was a big Ghostbusters fan, wonders what would happen if you open a ghost trap. Gee, I wonder...

The 2016 movie I turned off after about 20 minutes because I really do not enjoy that kind of humour.

My bar is set fairly low for Frozen Empire.

I really hate when movies try to pass the torch, James Bond has been doing that for years, almost suggesting that this will be the last one. (oh no!)

I really dont care about the gender of the next generation, but Phoebe was 12 in Afterlife, so will be 14 in Frozen Empire. It reminds me of the terrible Thunderbirds movie from about 2004(?) where the main characters were not the original characters, but their kids. It seems to be a common trope nowadays, to attract a younger audience, add in a couple of kids. Completely ignoring the fact that the much loved blockbusters we watched as kids mostly had adults as the main characters.

loyatemu

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121936272#Comment_121936272

yeah the original is somewhat overrated and relies heavily on the charm of it's actors (not just Murray and Ackroyd but also Weaver and Moranis). Compared to other 80s supernatural comedies, it's not as good as Gremlins or Beetlejuice.

pixelburp

Also, it's worth noting that a big part of Ghostbusters' lingering appeal was the fact it had distinct iconography appealing to children, and a whole bunch of kids' cartoons. It is both simultaneously a film about schluby guys running a business while ALSO being a kid-friendly cartoon about busting ghosts with cool gizmos. I daresay a lot of "fans" came to the franchise through the 1980s cartoon as much as they did through the film.

I still think the 2016 had the potential to recapture the comedy styling but they picked the entirely wrong comedians, helmed by a director-writer who couldn't tease decent ad-lib out of any them - yet insisted on filming the thing with a tonne of ad-lib. It needed to be a dry script with some actors who knew how to be thus as well - someone like Julia Louis-Dreyfus would have killed it.

None of the cast was on the same wavelength as each other, it was bizarre to watch, especially Chris Hemsworth's completely oddball & "too stupid to live" performance.

Sudden Valley

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121936740#Comment_121936740

I think the imdb ratings for the three movies reflect my views of each with Gremlins, 7.3, Beetlejuice 7.5, and ghostbusters 7.8. None are classics but I still think Ghostbusters are the best of the bunch. Saw Beetlejuice last year and found although it looked great and inventive the story was quite slight and a lot of the jokes didnt land.

LambshankRedemption

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121937045#Comment_121937045

I never got the love for Beetlejuice, despite loving the cartoon. The story is very dull, despite having great material to work with.

As Pixelburp said above, I became a GB fan mostly via the cartoons. The first time I saw the movie, naïve 8 year old me didn't realise it was primarily a comedy movie. As an adult I enjoy it for what it is. GB2 less so. The less said about 2016 the better.

Sudden Valley

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121937139#Comment_121937139

I think gb2 is half a good movie the set up is realy good a bit like this latest movie but the payoff in both is very disappointing.

Its sad that bill Murray elevated the first two movies but has been pretty terrible in the three rebooted movies. Dan Aykroyd really tries his best as does Hudson in the latest movie compared to Murray.

Opens number 1 at the weekend. Ernie is looking great here too considering he is pushing 80!

https://twitter.com/Edmontonsun/status/1772052095862002004?t=9HEBhoynUejCLfggDdXbOQ&s=19

johnny_ultimate

Ghostbusters is a silly studio comedy film featuring a bunch of SNL alumni. It just happens to have iconography that’s also extremely appealing to children. But the film itself is just a big budget, enjoyably disposable studio comedy - a good one, mind you, but nothing that really ever needed nor justified any follow ups or spin offs.

I haven’t seen Frozen Empire so can’t comment on that, but where Afterlife failed was trying to retroactively change that silly studio comedy into some grand piece of Spielbergian wonder machine with deathly serious lore and callbacks. Ghostbusters isn’t about lore - it’s about a bunch of likeable idiots and funny arseholes busting ghosts! Yes, kids like the proton packs, but you can’t just change it into some grand familial epic about destiny and bloodlines and think it’s going to work. It tries to elevate the likes of the Stay Puft marshmallow man and Slimer to iconic, epic legends worthy of constant callbacks instead of just the wacky visual gags they were. I’m not saying a different type of Ghostbusters films aimed at kids or families couldn’t work in the right hands (Jason Reitman is no Ivan Reitman), but the problem is trying to do it within the framework and story of the original film. Ghostbusters 2016 has plenty of problems unworthy of re-litigation, but it at least has the basic understanding that Ghostbusters is a silly, irreverent comedy. Afterlife falls flat at the very first hurdle.

But, let’s be honest, if the series was a one-and-done film back in the 1980s, the world would be none the worse for it (well, maybe kids can still enjoy the Saturday morning cartoons and toys). Let good things rest.