Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024)

[Silver Nemesis]

Should the different Ghostbusters threads be merged into a single topic? Or would everyone prefer they be kept separate?

[thecolorsblend]

Seems like there's enough GB fandom to power multiple threads. And besides, does anybody actually want Girlbusters 2016 mingling with the real Ghostbusters?

Love the Frozen Empire trailer. I should probably get around to watching Afterlife at some point if I'm going to prioritize FE tho.

[The Dark Knight]

Looks as average as Afterlife. Lame title, lame special effects and I still can't work out if that kid is a boy or a girl. The franchise ended with Ghostbusters 2, with The Game being a tasteful tribute. This kiddy stuff is a joke. If it didn't have the Ghostbusters branding I doubt people would care all that much.

[The Joker]

Looks pretty good. Definitely kinda has that "Ghostbusters 2", and "The Real Ghostbusters" episodic vibe going where you know it's not going to have as many call-backs as "Afterlife." Plus, it was good seeing Bill Murray as Pete Venkman back right out of the gate with this. As I remember the question on if he was going to be in "Afterlife" seemed to be asked a lot. Right up until when the final trailer was released. More Ray and Winston is a good thing for sure!

Love the Frozen Empire trailer. I should probably get around to watching Afterlife at some point if I'm going to prioritize FE tho.

I think there's a good chance you will like "Afterlife". It's much more in line with, "Cobra Kai", where there is an obvious affection for the past, than say, "Star Wars: The Last Jedi". Which was essentially a middle finger.

[Silver Nemesis]

[The Joker]

[The Joker]

[Silver Nemesis]

Of the three Ghostbusters movies Sony has produced, Frozen Empire definitely looks closest to what I wanted from GB3. This is going to be make or break for the franchise. They need to prove they can tell compelling new stories without simply coasting on nostalgia like Afterlife did.

A few thoughts on the trailer.

It's cool seeing Janine suiting up as a Ghostbuster. She did so in the old cartoon, and I had an action figure of her in a Ghostbusters uniform when I was a kid, so it's nice to finally see her don the threads in live action.

Is that the ghost librarian? If so, they already caught her in the 2009 videogame.

Walter Peck still has no dick, but it's good to see William Atherton back.

I wasn't mad on the cutesy marshmallow men in Afterlife, and they have even less reason to be in this movie. I guess they're following the Disney Star Wars trend of small cute characters to sell merchandise.

I could also do without Patton Oswalt.

Slimer's back! He looks as adorably disgusting as ever.

It looks like the real Ghostbusters will have substantial lead roles in this and not just be glorified cameos.

[The Joker]

Is that the ghost librarian? If so, they already caught her in the 2009 videogame.

Looks like the 2009 Video Game has been effectively Legends out of continuity (discrepancies with the Gozer/Ivo Shandor story line between the '09 game and GBAL seem to point to this as well). Speaking of which, it seems like the current Ghostbusters timeline continues to keep GB2 in only the most vague of terms.

Walter Peck still has no dick,

Indeed.

but it's good to see William Atherton back.

Yeah. Dickless being (presumably) the Mayor of NY should be interesting to see play out.

I wasn't mad on the cutesy marshmallow men in Afterlife, and they have even less reason to be in this movie. I guess they're following the Disney Star Wars trend of small cute characters to sell merchandise.

It's that. Kinda like how Legendary's Godzilla colors tend to change from movie to movie due to the almighty dollar with toy sales, but I have to wonder if there's something else going on here? Could we be getting a quick cameo of the giant Stay Puft Marshmallow Man confronting the big bad in "Frozen Empire"? Is that what Paul Rudd was Ho-Ho-Hoing about in the first trailer from the building top? Course, since the mini Stay Pufts are only adjacent to Gozer, and not Gozer itself, I wouldn't expect much of a fight. If anything, it might just be a fun gag like how giant Krang appeared very briefly in the "Turtles Forever" crossover movie... 

I could also do without Patton Oswalt.

You and me both.

Slimer's back! He looks as adorably disgusting as ever.

Yeah, Slimer was sorely missed in GBAL, but it's good to see him here. Also, I like how it looks like practical effects were used with the Librarian Ghost. Good stuff!

It looks like the real Ghostbusters will have substantial lead roles in this and not just be glorified cameos.

It'll definitely help. For me, my biggest critique of GBAL is that it really needed a B or C subplot featuring Ray getting in contact with Winston, Peter, and Dana following his finding out about Egon's passing. I liked the Peter/Dana mid-end credits scene, and Winston's post-credit scene, but hey, the more OG Ghostbusters, the better.

[Silver Nemesis]

Looks like the 2009 Video Game has been effectively Legends out of continuity (discrepancies with the Gozer/Ivo Shandor story line between the '09 game and GBAL seem to point to this as well). Speaking of which, it seems like the current Ghostbusters timeline continues to keep GB2 in only the most vague of terms.

Right now, my Ghostbusters headcanon includes the original 1984 movie, The Real Ghostbusters cartoon show, Ghostbusters II and the 2009 videogame. Maybe Extreme Ghostbusters as well, although I haven't seen that since it first aired and can't really remember it. So far the Sony stuff hasn't impressed me enough to replace any of these things.

It's like Disney Star Wars. I was willing to accept it as a substitute for the Expanded Universe as long as it was good. But ultimately it was inferior to the EU, so I still regard the EU as canon and Disney-era SW as apocrypha. I thought Afterlife was ok, but if I had to choose between it and the 2009 videogame, I'd choose the game. I really want to like Frozen Empire, and it looks better than the previous two Sony Ghostbusters movies, so hopefully I'll enjoy this one more. But this is the last chance I'm giving Sony to get it right. After this, I'm done.

It'll definitely help. For me, my biggest critique of GBAL is that it really needed a B or C subplot featuring Ray getting in contact with Winston, Peter, and Dana following his finding out about Egon's passing. I liked the Peter/Dana mid-end credits scene, and Winston's post-credit scene, but hey, the more OG Ghostbusters, the better.

My biggest gripe with Afterlife is that I don't buy the premise of Egon distancing himself from the other Ghostsbusters and going up against Gozer alone, or of the other Ghostbusters giving up on Egon and abandoning him.

First of all, why would Egon choose to face Gozer alone? To protect his friends? Why? They've faced life and death together many times and always triumphed as a team. How did they defeat Gozer the first time? By working together and crossing the streams; something none of them could have done individually. But now he chooses to alienate his comrades and go it alone, even though doing so will maximise the probability of failure and further endanger his friends and family in the long run. Egon was intelligent and always calculated the odds of success. He wouldn't have done something so illogical.

And why did the other Ghostbusters not believe his theory that Gozer was returning? What happened to 'We're ready to believe you'? When was Egon ever wrong in the past? They spent much of the first two films trying to convince sceptics that supernatural threats exist, and now, after all those battles, the other three Ghostbusters suddenly become sceptics themselves. If it was some random kook appearing on Venkman's World of the Psychic TV show who predicted Gozer's return, then I might believe they'd disregard the warning. But this is Egon we're talking about. Ray would never have given up on him.

That whole plot point was inconsistent with the characterisation of the Ghostbusters in the earlier films and TV shows. It was only there to keep the original Ghostbusters out of the way and so Ray could deliver his 'burn in hell' line for cheap shock value. So that's my biggest criticism. I understand that the writers had to adapt the story for Ramis's death, but I thought they handled it poorly.