Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, Directed by Gil Kenan, and written by Jason Reitman, is a sequel to 2021’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife and the fourth installment in the Ghostbusters franchise. This movie contains characters from both generations of Ghostbusters, starring Mckenna Grace, Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, and Finn Wolfhard alongside our original Ghostbusters Ernie Hudson, Dan Aykroyd, and of course Bill Murray. This movie has everything that a good Ghostbusters movie should have: humor, action, cool effects, and (of course) ghosts. But is it just as good as the others, or does it fall short?

Let’s start with the staple of the Ghostbusters franchise– the humor. Throughout the movie, nearly every joke landed. The comedic timing was on point, especially in the case of Marvel alums Kumail Ali Nanjiani and Paul Rudd. The humor in this movie fits the dry sarcasm that Ghostbusters is known for and is a true testament to Jason Reitman’s ability to carry his father’s legacy (the director of the OG Ghostbusters). However, there were a few things that felt a little lacking in this area. A very memorable part of the first movie was Pheobe, played by Mckenna Grace, and her deadpan Dad jokes. This movie didn’t include those as much, and I wish they had given us a little more because it was a great quirk for her character.

I think the second most important part of a Ghostbusters movie is the ghosts themselves and how they look. This movie definitely has some of the best designs for ghosts out of the entire series, but the rendering is where it really stands out. In a sub plot of the movie, everyone’s favorite ghost with an appetite returns and Slimer makes his appearance on the big screen once again. I really enjoyed the way he’s animated in this movie, as it is most faithful to his original design.  Unlike his appearance in 2016’s Ghostbusters (starring Kristen Wig), Slimer feels much more authentic and puppet-like. While he doesn’t necessarily look more like how a ghost would, he feels more nostalgic in his design that is reminiscent of the practical-effect puppet used to portray Slimer in the original movie. This nostalgic feeling carries through to all of the effects in this movie. The one I noticed the most was probably the proton packs, which looked slightly flatter, yet more vibrant than in its predecessor, Ghostbusters: Afterlife. In this movie, I think they tried to rein the designs and effects in a little to closer match those of the original, and it was done very effectively in a way that fans new and old will appreciate.

The action in this movie, however, felt a little lackluster. The movie opens with a car chase that is (by far) the best action sequence in the movie. The finale had some good use of proton packs and a fun incorporation of the new elements introduced in this movie, but it didn’t feel as climactic as its predecessors. I think that’s mostly due to the villain of this movie, Garraka. The ice effect that surrounds him is very cool and definitely helps to make the movie unique, but is really his only defining characteristic. More of the movie was spent explaining that Garraka was dangerous, instead of actually showing it. This is a common flaw in modern movies– doing more telling than showing– and unfortunately, this movie also falls into that trap.

Aside from the issue with Garraka, this movie suffers one more fault: the amount of characters. This movie includes all of the characters introduced in the Ghostbusters franchise so far. Because of this, there’s no consistent set of characters. The only people who can be defined as main characters are Phoebe, who admittedly has a good character arc, alongside Paul Rudd as Mr. Gooberson. Aside from them, there isn’t enough time to properly grow each character and give them time to shine. As a result, some of the characters are just there and don’t really have a lot to do with the plot.

All in all, his movie was a fun family movie full of Ghostbusters nostalgia. I’d probably rank it as third of the four Ghostbusters movies, with Ghostbusters: Afterlife and the original Ghostbusters before it. Overall, I’d score it a 3.5\5 and would recommend going to see it with friends or family over spring break, especially if you’re a fan of the previous films!