GHOSTBUSTERS: FROZEN EMPIRE
New on 4K, Blu-Ray, and DVD this week is Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire from Sony Pictures Entertainment. When writer/director Jason Reitman relaunched the Ghostbusters franchise with Ghostbusters: Afterlife, it became a big hit introducing a whole new audience to these iconic characters. Both the original cast and the new additions are back for more adventure with the fifth film in the franchise, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire.
It feels great to have the Ghostbusters back in New York City saving the day. Carrie Coon stars as Callie Spengler, the daughter of original Ghostbuster, Egon. She, along with her kids Phoebe (Grace) and Trevor (Wolfhard) and former teacher Gary (Rudd), have set up shop in the Ghostbusters old stomping grounds at the Hook and Ladder 8 fire station in New York City. Their work is messy and causes city destruction leaving Phoebe without a job after it’s determined that as a minor she shouldn’t be a Ghostbuster. Meanwhile, Dan Akroyd is back again as Ray Stantz whose gift shop for supernatural artifacts if given an ancient orb that seems to possess strong telekinetic energy. Ernie Hudson’s Winston is running a secret paranormal research facility where they all gather and figure out the true history of this ancient orb that has the power to turn the planet into ice.
Frozen Empire is a fun new addition to the franchise that should please Ghostbusters fans or anyone new coming in. It’s a great family film that speaks to different generations of fans. The New York City setting gives the film that classic Ghostbusters feel. As you can tell, this film has a pretty large cast, and I felt writer/director Gil Kenan struggling with trying to give them all something to do. There’s a few different subplots working together here, and I did wonder where the story was going. I do feel like the heart of the film sits with McKenna Grace as Phoebe who is feeling a bit lost in her place as a Ghostbuster and member of the Egan family. The whole “frozen empire” concept is saved for the climax, but it takes time to get there. The climax has both generations of Ghostbusters saving the day, which is pretty fun to witness these characters coming together with some classic Bill Murray-isms thrown in there as Peter Venkman.
SPECIAL FEATURES – over an hour!
-Deleted & Extended Scenes
-Easter Eggs Unleashed
-Return to the Firehouse: Making Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
-Busted: Capturing the Ghosts of Frozen Empire
-Manifesting Garraka
-New York, New Gear
-Welcome to the Paranormal Discovery Center
-Knowing the Score
-Commentary with Director, Co-Writer Gil Kenan
Here’s a video I made for TikTok
And here’s my original review of the movie
