Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.5

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

"Are you the Firemaster?"

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown June 26, 2024

Was Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire meant to be primarily positioned as part of the Ghostbusters franchise relaunch? Is it a sequel to Afterlife? The groundwork for a further move away from the OG cast? More Ghostbusters 3 than Afterlife 2? A callback to the original films? What exactly does Frozen Empire want to be? Unfortunately, it tries to be all these things and more, but only ends up being less than anything mentioned above. It has its charms, limited though they may be, and it has a few good ideas rattling under the hood. But it's a requel of too many moving pieces, too many characters, too many subplots and, somehow, too little action and, well, ghost-busting. Downright dull at times, it stumbles more than it runs, fizzles more than it delivers, and cowers more often than it strikes. It's a film in search of purpose and direction, eager to please anyone and everyone but never quite living up to its potential or the promise of previous franchise entries.

Largely skewered by critics, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire finds the Spengler family and their cohorts -- Egon's tough as nails, no-nonsense daughter Callie (Carrie Coon), his genius granddaughter Phoebe (Mckenna Grace, the reboot series' greatest asset), slacker grandson Trevor (Finn Wolfhard), Callie's boyfriend and former science teacher Gary Gooberson (Paul Rudd playing Paul Rudd), Phoebe's best friend Podcast (Logan Kim, looking especially older than before) and Trevor's girlfriend Lucky (Celeste O'Connor) -- working out of the iconic Ghostbusters firehouse in good ol' New York City, siren-blaring ECTO-1 and all. But when wear-n-tear threatens the viability of the Ghostbusters' containment unit, something strange starts icing up the neighborhood, and a dangerous relic comes into the possession of a team of researchers funded by philanthropist and original GB Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson), all hell threatens to break loose. Specifically, a hell that's already frozen over.

Enter a slew of additional characters: Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd) and Peter Venkman (Bill Murray) of course, Janine Melnitz (Annie Potts), lore expert Dr. Hubert Wartzki (Patton Oswalt), reluctant cheapskate and possible pyrokinetic Nadeem (Kumail Nanjiani), a friendly ghost named Melody (Emily Alyn Lind) who befriends Phoebe, old foe and newly elected mayor Walter Peck (William Atherton), and lead researcher Lars (James Acaster). Even Slimer's back. And that's without listing off the cameos. Will the original actors do much more than phone it in? Will Walter Peck finally find a way to tear apart the firehouse, brick by brick? Will we ever be rid of those friggin' baby Stay-Pufts? Will any of it actually surprise you? Move you? Leave you cheering? Can the Ghostbusters, rookie and veteran alike, prevent the rise of a demon god who wants to destroy the world with ice? Sigh. You'd almost think it didn't matter, considering how terribly long it takes to actually get to the part of the film where the Big Bad rises from his icy tomb.

I knew I was in trouble when Frozen Empire kept beating the dead horse of how literally hot New York City is as the film opens. An ice-powered demigod can't possibly rise to apocalyptic power in the winter, right? No, we gotta be far more obvious. From there, cliche was heaped atop cliche, every horror-comedy trope imaginable started to spill out of a dimension ruled by manufactured chaos and predictably penned flame, and jokes began falling flatter and flatter. And flatter. Ooph. Gone is the humor of the first Ghostbusters. Exorcised is the ambition of Ghostbusters II. MIA is the heart and soul of Afterlife. In their place, weirdly, are the bright CG beasties, lame gags, and tired over-plotting and wink-wink-nudge-nudge of the ill-begotten 2016 Paul Feig bomb (that everyone including the studio seems to pretend never happened). But, God help me for saying this, I had a better time with the cheesy, female-led 2016 misfire than I did with Frozen Empire. Actors from the original films are out in force yet act as if it's all for the paycheck (and not a paycheck that amounts to all that much). Take one look at Bill Murray's face on the cover art for Frozen Empire's home releases. That about captures it. The performances are stocky, sometimes downright bland, and only Grace and Lind held my attention and kept me invested. (Phoebe and Melody's storyline runs an all-too-expected course but it at least made me feel something.)

Worse, after a snazzy opening vignette, the first two acts of the film drag, and draaaaag badly. Lots of aimless chit-chat posing as comedy (and I mean lots). Too much meandering and beating around the proverbial bush. Characters piecing together clues the audience has already figured out the answers to long before. B and C-plots that fill screentime but add next to nothing to the film. Bafflingly stupid decisions and leaps in logic. Sure, it could all be much worse, but this is meant to be a return to form; a continued rebirth of proper Ghostbusting. Instead, it's limp and tiresome. Oh, and the ice god? As one-note and uninteresting as a world-ending super-entity gets. Afterlife played like a personal story that needed to be told -- had to be told -- and the passion baked into its core was tangible. Frozen Empire plays like a studio- sanctioned sequel; a necessary evil constructed solely to make money and capitalize on the potential of the long-gestating reboot series. It doesn't help that you can sense the screenwriters pulling the audience around on a leash, leading them from plot point to plot point, not because everything makes sense, but because A has to lead to B which has to lead C. Damn the plot holes. Is it offensive? Nah, it's harmless pseudo-fun. Some people will even enjoy it. I just genuinely loved Afterlife and this... this? This isn't that.

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

But does it ever look good in 4K! Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire boasts a virtually flawless native 4K image that offers all the crisp, colorful Ghostbusting and sinister shenanigans the film itself sometimes struggles to deliver. Bursting with ectoplasmic greens and blues, vivid I ain't fraid of no ghosts logo reds, eerily deep black levels, and lovely fleshtones (or ghost-tones as it were) -- despite a slight sepia toning -- Empire's palette is every bit as lively as it was in high-end theaters. Shadows reveal only as much or as little as they're meant to, and contrast is dialed in beautifully, packing enough vibrancy and punch to leave younger viewers "ooh"ing and "ahh"ing. The HDR boost is noticeable too. The standard Blu-ray's colors are as impactful as they can be, but the HDR-enhanced hues are stunning, particularly when Slimer, rando-spirits and New York's resident ice god attacks. And just wait till you get a load of the team's proton beams cutting a swath across the screen, bursting, twisting and flickering with pinks, purples and greens. All the while, detail is perfectly on point, and again, represents an obvious uptick from the standard 1080p presentation. Edge definition is razor sharp, fine textures are resolved wonderfully, delineation is excellent, and there isn't a hint of softness to be had. The image lacks any notable grain, serving up a more digital, glossy aesthetic, but there's still enough of a filmic vibe and verve to look the cinematic part. Moreover, banding, blocking and other issues are entirely absent, rounding out the already top tier encode with striking proficiency. You can argue about the quality of the film all you want, but there's no denying Frozen Empire's visual prowess.

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

And then there's Frozen Empire's Dolby Atmos audio, to which I wish I could simply say "whoa" and leave it there. It's that good. The standard Blu-ray's lossless audio track is fantastic too, but when you hear all of the heavy lifting the Atmos mix pulls off, get drawn into the far-too-convincing New York streets alongside the ECTO-1, hear proton packs erupt in a cramped space, or listen to ice creak and crackle as it spreads across a concrete floor and up the legs of an endangered Ghostbuster, you'll be whispering "whoa" too. Dialogue is as clear and intelligible as it gets, yet is never overwhelmed or underwhelmed by the ever-active, always-involving soundscape. Empire's sound design is bursting with surround elements and directional effects, which the Atmos speakers are more than eager to reproduce all around the listener. Channel pans are seamless to the point of being downright ghostly, the soundfield is as immersive and enveloping as they come, and hardly a scene goes by without some bit of subtle witchy wonder sneaking into the mix. This is a track that rewards anyone who takes a moment to close their eyes and focus on the sonics. And oh man, listen to that LFE support kick. Low-end output is aggressive and suitably scary, lending a welcome growl to the ECTO-1, a surge of nuclear oomph to proton beams, weight to otherwise weightless apparitions, and a real sense of danger to looming spirit storms, rending containment unit metals, and concrete-splitting tremors. Paired with the disc's video presentation, Sony's Dolby Atmos track is a stand-up standout. I can't imagine anyone will be disappointed in the least.

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

All of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire's special features are found on its standard Blu-ray disc. The 4K disc only includes a carryover of the film's audio commentary and a selection of current Sony previews and trailers.

• Audio Commentary - With director/co-writer Gil Kenan.

• Return to the Firehouse (HD, 22 minutes) - A highly nostalgic take on the behind-the-scenes featurette, with cast and crew discussing everything from the titular firehouse to following in the footsteps of the original films.

• Busting: Capturing the Ghosts of Frozen Empire (HD, 11 minutes) - Creature design, compositing and fx for the ghosts, gods and possessed objects of the film.

• Easter Eggs Unleashed (HD, 7 minutes) - A roundup of nods to previous films.

• Manifesting Garraka (HD, 4 minutes) - Bringing the film's Big Bad to life.

• New York, New Gear (HD, 7 minutes) - Frozen Empire weaponry.

• Welcome to the Paranormal Discovery Center (HD, 4 minutes) - Zeddemore's research lab.

• Knowing the Score (HD, 7 minutes) - The film's music, old and new.

• Deleted Scenes (HD, 9 minutes) - Six cut scenes round out the package.

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I'm still iffy about Frozen Empire and expect to remain that way, although I enjoyed Afterlife enough that I should give Empire a second chance sometime. Fortunately, there's nothing iffy about Sony's 4K Blu-ray release. Striking video, jaw-dropping Atmos audio and plenty of special features make for an excellent release no matter how you look at it.