It may help to remember that Frozen Empire was preceded by Ghostbusters: Afterlife. That film surprised me by having some signs of [after] life. It was made like a good ol' 80s kids adventure movie, that happened to have a Ghostbusting theme. The fact that it took place in the absolute middle of nowhere, USA instead of bustling New York City should have been a detriment, but it turned out to be a differentiator.
Most importantly, that film leaned heavily on its secret weapon, McKenna Grace as Phoebe Spengler. I don't think the film would have worked nearly as well without her, but she gave a remarkably assured performance. (And she was almost unrecognizable as Phoebe, if you'd ever seen her in anything else.) Yes, the film had some major shortcomings, but like I said it sort of dodged those pitfalls by being an adventure movie first, and a Ghostbusters movie second.
So, based on the mild accomplishment of that film (not being a complete disaster), moving the sequel back to New York should have been a slam dunk. But somehow, moving to one of the most lively cities on the planet somehow resulted in a movie that was largely devoid of life. There was no spark to it. As Nathan's review said, the movie wasn't bad enough to count as a disaster, the disaster was how "meh" it was. Pretty much the only laughs I got were from Kumail Nanjiani. Paul Rudd was promoted from side character to main character, essentially switching places with McKenna Grace, and it did not work.
Like dads everywhere, I think the most scathing thing I can say about Frozen Empire is, "I'm not mad, I'm disappointed."
Underwhelmed by the choices of movies on my long flight home, against my better judgement, as well as NR's lonely single star, I'm going to finally watch this latest, and hopefully last, GBs installment out of morbid curiosity.
I hope to jebus it's not so bad I have to walk out on it....
It wasn't just internet trolls that didn't care for the lady Ghostbusters reboot, it was pretty much everyone.
The film was a failure. Full stop. Sure, it was an ok movie, but this is not what was desired when a new Ghostbusters movie was announced. Nobody was interested in the contemporary lady SNL cast members doing this, they wanted the original Ghostbusters. It bombed. It was a dud. Here's a great picture that captures the moment in time and gives you a visual representation of what happened.
Afterlife was much better and filled the void. While not perfect, it hung its premise on the death of Egan/Harold Ramis and gave it an emotional hook we could all relate to. In addition, Paul Rudd was a character more exemplary of a true Ghostbusters fan, excited at the possibility of all this being real and totally engaged in the premise. As usual, he was fun and enthusiastic, sorta a everyman character who might find that the supernatural is something we can interact with.
The climactic scene where the old Ghostbusters show up and save the day was what we were waiting for.
All that being said, yes "Frozen Empire" was also a dud.
It comes across as shrill, desperate and adopting a "kitchen sink" mode where more is better and lets just stuff the movie with funny people supposedly doing funny things and we will be fine.
It was completely unnecessary and did not satisfy at all. It was definitely not necessary to bring back William Athertons character back. The return of Winston was more organic and satisfying.
It felt like a Netflix movie that got a theatrical release. Shoulda stayed on a streaming network, that would have informed us all how seriously to take the product.
The moment James Acaster appeared to tour the lab I felt like we’d made the pivot from film screen to tv screen, ala Stargate, and then felt sad that isn’t the case, as a series could find its own voice and chemistry, like Stargate did, or I’d agree the Ghostbusters cartoon did. Rewatching that as an adult, some really smart writing, ghosts of the week, and self-referential call backs as the episodes piled up and the animation stylings settled down some. I agree, the film felt like a pilot, and one with too many play it safe on a leash voices holding the reigns of creative control.
Otherwise, though, I left opening night more excited about my gaping maw mouthed Slimer plastic popcorn container than the film. And I saw it opening night, technically midnight the Thursday before actual opening day, with a crew of folks from the games and FX industries, two dressed in their Ghostbusters getups looking spiffy. Really telling that we all left saying farewell and aside from complimenting some of the FX and new casting, no one was punching the air or wanting to have a slash, turn around and drop cash to immediately see the flick again.
Tell me more about your watching all of the original SNL seasons. Speaking of that and Jason Reitman, just watched Saturday Night. Look forward to reading anything you have to say about that or the OG seasons.
I sort of liked GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE, even if they did end up creating Force Ghost Harold Ramis for the climactic assist. Murray didn't seem checked out for the climax—and to my shock, he and Sigourney Weaver have an easy, flirtatious chemistry that broke through my normal dislike of Bill Murray as a star. Ernie Hudson finally had something to do as Winston becoming his best self, and I think that, if you have to replace Ramis, Mckenna Grace's Phoebe Spengler did a really good job of playing Egon reincarnated as a preteen(?) girl.
::Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire...feels like an underwhelming pilot for an HBO Max Ghostbusters limited series.::
It might have been better if it had been, because then it would have time to develop the story.
I admit, still not having seen it, that "Mayor Dickless" gives me a chuckle even now.
It may help to remember that Frozen Empire was preceded by Ghostbusters: Afterlife. That film surprised me by having some signs of [after] life. It was made like a good ol' 80s kids adventure movie, that happened to have a Ghostbusting theme. The fact that it took place in the absolute middle of nowhere, USA instead of bustling New York City should have been a detriment, but it turned out to be a differentiator.
Most importantly, that film leaned heavily on its secret weapon, McKenna Grace as Phoebe Spengler. I don't think the film would have worked nearly as well without her, but she gave a remarkably assured performance. (And she was almost unrecognizable as Phoebe, if you'd ever seen her in anything else.) Yes, the film had some major shortcomings, but like I said it sort of dodged those pitfalls by being an adventure movie first, and a Ghostbusters movie second.
So, based on the mild accomplishment of that film (not being a complete disaster), moving the sequel back to New York should have been a slam dunk. But somehow, moving to one of the most lively cities on the planet somehow resulted in a movie that was largely devoid of life. There was no spark to it. As Nathan's review said, the movie wasn't bad enough to count as a disaster, the disaster was how "meh" it was. Pretty much the only laughs I got were from Kumail Nanjiani. Paul Rudd was promoted from side character to main character, essentially switching places with McKenna Grace, and it did not work.
Like dads everywhere, I think the most scathing thing I can say about Frozen Empire is, "I'm not mad, I'm disappointed."
I did not like Ghostbusters: Afterlife so I skipped this.
This review pleases me. I'm still chuckling over the thought of the RPX system also not liking the movie.
Underwhelmed by the choices of movies on my long flight home, against my better judgement, as well as NR's lonely single star, I'm going to finally watch this latest, and hopefully last, GBs installment out of morbid curiosity.
I hope to jebus it's not so bad I have to walk out on it....
It wasn't just internet trolls that didn't care for the lady Ghostbusters reboot, it was pretty much everyone.
The film was a failure. Full stop. Sure, it was an ok movie, but this is not what was desired when a new Ghostbusters movie was announced. Nobody was interested in the contemporary lady SNL cast members doing this, they wanted the original Ghostbusters. It bombed. It was a dud. Here's a great picture that captures the moment in time and gives you a visual representation of what happened.
https://images.foxtv.com/static.fox5ny.com/www.fox5ny.com/content/uploads/2019/09/1280/720/29691914_8466265_G_77977_ver1.0.jpg?ve=1&tl=1
Afterlife was much better and filled the void. While not perfect, it hung its premise on the death of Egan/Harold Ramis and gave it an emotional hook we could all relate to. In addition, Paul Rudd was a character more exemplary of a true Ghostbusters fan, excited at the possibility of all this being real and totally engaged in the premise. As usual, he was fun and enthusiastic, sorta a everyman character who might find that the supernatural is something we can interact with.
The climactic scene where the old Ghostbusters show up and save the day was what we were waiting for.
All that being said, yes "Frozen Empire" was also a dud.
It comes across as shrill, desperate and adopting a "kitchen sink" mode where more is better and lets just stuff the movie with funny people supposedly doing funny things and we will be fine.
It was completely unnecessary and did not satisfy at all. It was definitely not necessary to bring back William Athertons character back. The return of Winston was more organic and satisfying.
It felt like a Netflix movie that got a theatrical release. Shoulda stayed on a streaming network, that would have informed us all how seriously to take the product.
The moment James Acaster appeared to tour the lab I felt like we’d made the pivot from film screen to tv screen, ala Stargate, and then felt sad that isn’t the case, as a series could find its own voice and chemistry, like Stargate did, or I’d agree the Ghostbusters cartoon did. Rewatching that as an adult, some really smart writing, ghosts of the week, and self-referential call backs as the episodes piled up and the animation stylings settled down some. I agree, the film felt like a pilot, and one with too many play it safe on a leash voices holding the reigns of creative control.
Otherwise, though, I left opening night more excited about my gaping maw mouthed Slimer plastic popcorn container than the film. And I saw it opening night, technically midnight the Thursday before actual opening day, with a crew of folks from the games and FX industries, two dressed in their Ghostbusters getups looking spiffy. Really telling that we all left saying farewell and aside from complimenting some of the FX and new casting, no one was punching the air or wanting to have a slash, turn around and drop cash to immediately see the flick again.
Tell me more about your watching all of the original SNL seasons. Speaking of that and Jason Reitman, just watched Saturday Night. Look forward to reading anything you have to say about that or the OG seasons.
I sort of liked GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE, even if they did end up creating Force Ghost Harold Ramis for the climactic assist. Murray didn't seem checked out for the climax—and to my shock, he and Sigourney Weaver have an easy, flirtatious chemistry that broke through my normal dislike of Bill Murray as a star. Ernie Hudson finally had something to do as Winston becoming his best self, and I think that, if you have to replace Ramis, Mckenna Grace's Phoebe Spengler did a really good job of playing Egon reincarnated as a preteen(?) girl.
::Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire...feels like an underwhelming pilot for an HBO Max Ghostbusters limited series.::
It might have been better if it had been, because then it would have time to develop the story.
I admit, still not having seen it, that "Mayor Dickless" gives me a chuckle even now.