After four decades of cosplay, merchandise, animated series, video games, and comic books propelling the Ghostbuster brand into the twenty-first century, the fifth installment is now ready for its cinematic debut. Gil Kenan’s “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” captures action, excitement, and chaos with a diverse cast of actors. However, the attempt to understand the characters without delving into their stories results in a superficial franchise that primarily focuses on entertainment.
Although there are several problems with the storyline, “Ghostbuster: Frozen Empire” does have some privileged qualities of its own. McKenna Grace’s depiction of Phoebe presents a challenge to the concept of being a ghost, as well as the thoughts and feelings that an immaterial phenomenon might experience. Her relationships with her mother Callie (Carrie Coon), Mr. Grooberson (Paul Rudd), and the ghost Melody (Emily Alyn Lind) are there to portray different dimensions of genuine Phoebe. However, the family’s inherent warmth and love counterbalance the ghastly apparition’s chilling terror.
To circumvent Ray’s (Dan Aykroyd) prediction of the second ice age, the ghostbusters unite to decipher a mysterious key that was abandoned on a metal globe. But the globe is the home of the freezing ghost, and to access the domain of fire, the ghostbusters must have extraordinary power. Leveraging strong visual effects, cinematography, and suspense, they captivate the audience, offering a glimpse of something peculiar and formidable that could potentially challenge the ghostbuster’s dominance. Despite their passing heyday, they continue to demonstrate their vital role in promoting global peace and harmony.
The film has taken a long journey since the members of a team of scientists (Harold Ramis, Dan Aykroyd, and Bill Murray) lost their cushy positions at a university in New York City and decided to become “ghostbusters” to wage a high-tech battle with the supernatural for money. Kenan remains faithful to the genre’s conventions with suspense-filled scenes, jump scares, and eerie atmospherics. The conceptual inception of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire may hook the audience, but it fails in execution, reduced to a snow globe of spectral activity. We should hold the ability to entertain the audience paramount; everything else in the film is auxiliary, but sacrificing the tale to meet the sole need can debilitate the value of the narratives. The previous Ghostbusters movies were successful because they were innovative and surprising; but Kenan’s “Frozen Empire” mimics these elements rather clumsily, only managing to dish out lukewarm tributes that lack originality.
However, the film’s visual aesthetics could potentially rescue it by offering an immersive experience, especially through its portrayal of the spectre’s icy mayhem. The depictions of frost-laden cityscapes, icicles suspended in mid-air, and human figurines frozen in time all contribute to realism, enriching the audience’s experience and placing them, appropriately petrified yet thrilled, at the edge of their seats. Kenan carefully arranges these visual elements, melting them seamlessly into the narrative, rather than allowing them to appear as gimmicks.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire tries to pay homage to the film’s 40-year journey, with its highs and lows, and wants to do its best. However, the issue with franchises lies in their once-revealed narratives, leaving viewers eager to discover something more profound than their initial experiences. This highlights the significance of storytelling in comparison to cinematic visual art.
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