Remember when Ghostbusters was a comedy? I do. Good times.

Well, here we are with another Ghostbusters sequel that doesn’t quite get it. The original two ghostbusters films took its supernatural backstories and villains seriously… it was the characters that didn’t. The new Ghostbusters films are full of characters who take everything too seriously, forgetting the slobs vs. snobs / we’re in it for a quick buck thing. These past two film idolize the Ghostbusters in a way that would make Venkman roll his eyes.

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire picks up with Egon’s family ghostbusting in New York. And then a lot of random stuff happens and keeps happenings and eventually the film stumbles on a plot. Something something ancient Sumerian ice ghost. Or something.

Man, this movie is one long drag. I mean, it drags because its 2 hours and barely has a plot but it also drags because it doesn’t know what it wants to be, has rare poorly timed and unfunny jokes, and because it can’t find the plot amongst far too many characters. You can see them magicking up subplots for characters who don’t have enough to do while also cramming other characters into the main plot in ways not germane to the story. It’s a hell of a mess.

And yes, we get the surviving Ghostbusters and a bunch of other cameos… some from very funny people who aren’t funny in this flick. How can you cram Patton Oswalt into a Ghostbusters movie and make him boring? Dude was pre-programmed at birth to be a sci-fi / horror geek who would IMBIBE this shit.

I was very bored and tired of this flick… but it does have a few good sub-plots like one of the characters making friends with a ghost. I liked that bit. And the finale isn’t great and barely qualifies for good but at least they found the plot and filmed it well.

Unlike most people, I really hated Ghostbusters: Afterlife. It bored me silly and it regurgitated jokes left and right. This one does too but it didn’t bore me quite as much. That’s not a huge compliment though. My point being, most people liked Afterlife so its very possible I’m just Hot Take McGee here and everyone else will love it.

Score: 71