Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire - The Worst Things Critic Reviews Are Saying
Who you gonna call? Apparently, an Uber driver to take you to a better movie. The reviews are in, and they've not been very kind to "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire." The film currently sits at a 45% critical approval score on Rotten Tomatoes, which means it's likely to miss a Fresh certification. And those students of cinema haven't held back their feelings about why it won't climb that mountain.
Many critics called "Frozen Empire" out for leaning hard on the nostalgia horn, eschewing somewhat bawdy comedy for sentiment. "This new series of "Ghostbusters" movies continues to stray far from the scrappy, anarchic vibe of the series' origins, instead offering weightier emotional stakes and a misplaced reverence for franchise lore," noted Christy Lemire of RogerEbert.com. Meagan Navarro of Bloody Disgusting said that the film overdoes the fan service to the point of awkwardly recycling old, iconic lines from the original duology. "It's still far too reliant on nostalgia to serve as the next step in the franchise's evolution, and that also includes the formula, right down to updated lines like "Are you the flame master?" she wrote.
Paste Magazine's Tara Bennett called the franchise out for indulging in numerous plot holes, concluding with a plea that the revival end here. "I don't think any of us can survive a trilogy," she remarked. Meanwhile, Empire Magazine's Alex Godfrey compared the fall of the "Ghostbusters" franchise with that of several other big-name movie dynasties, saying, "It is Jurassic Park: Dominion. It is The Rise Of Skywalker. It is a shame."
Those are some brutal reviews to chew on. But the news isn't entirely bad for "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire," as a few critics found something to like about the movie, be it someone's performance or an interesting new character.
Some critics were fond of Frozen Empire's villain and found its subplots interesting
Not all of the news surrounding the new "Ghostbusters" film is bad. Multiple critics praised "Frozen Empire" for concocting a truly creepy villain in the form of Garraka, who uses their powers to freeze human bodies and then smashes or melt them into nothingness.
Some of those movie critics also praised Phoebe Spengler's (Mckenna Grace) friendship with Melody (Emily Alyn Lind), a ghost who has some unfinished business that's keeping her from moving peacefully into the afterlife. But others — including Looper's Alistair Ryder, who also said that when it came to "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire," bustin' made him feel..meh — called out the movie for approaching the relationship with caution, leaning heavily on queer coding instead of allowing Phoebe a full-blooded romance. Critics also singled out Grace for giving a particularly praiseworthy performance.
Audiences will get to judge that performance for themselves — and find out if the film ranks among the best or the very worst of the "Ghostbusters" films — when "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire" opens on March 22.