Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Religious Music & Entertainment
Who ya gonna call?

Who ya gonna call?

Last updated on: March 29, 2024 at 8:00 am by Coyle Neal

0 Comments

Who ya gonna call? 2024-03-23T16:03:22-06:00 Coyle Neal

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Image: IMDB

I started to write that the Ghostbusters franchise has had only mixed success–both Ghostbusters 2 and Ghostbusters: Answer the Call notoriously underperformed, while the original movie, video game, animated series, and Ghostbusters: Afterlife are all solid home runs. And yet, two not-so-great films set against two fantastic films and a solid video game (not to mention dozens of excellent animated episodes) can hardly be counted as “mixed.” So I think it’s better to say that the franchise is an artistic success. We have hundreds of hours of solid entertainment that is generally both family friendly (for the most part) and thoughtfully made, and stands up to multiple levels of analysis. The only real question is whether Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire will contribute to that success, or detract from it?

And the answer is: really kind-of neither. It’s an okay movie. Not great, not terrible, just okay. Really this would have made a good, solid, three-part Real Ghostbusters episode. As a movie it definitely has its strengths, but it also has its flaws–and the two kind-of balance each other out.

If you’ve not seen the trailer, the plot is pretty straight-forward [spoilers abound henceforth!] Ray Stantz has gotten his hands on an ancient version of a ghost trap containing within it an ancient god (because of course he has). He turns it over to Winston Zeddemore’s ghost busting compound [and can I throw in an aside here that is mostly irrelevant, but somehow Ernie Hudson is both the oldest of the original four Ghostbusters and the youngest looking. Seriously, if you told me he was in his late 40s or early 50s I wouldn’t argue with you…] who proceed to study it. But then! Phoebe, while undergoing a personal crisis over the difficulties of being a teenager and knowing where to fit in with the family and with society, befriends a ghost who tricks her into temporarily becoming a ghost herself and freeing said ancient god, who plans to empty the original ghost containment unit and form an army of ghosts to conquer the world. Only the Firemaster can stop him, with an assist from both the original Ghostbusters and the new generation.

Again, there’s the kernel of a great plot there, but given how difficult and convoluted even my one-paragraph summary is, you can see that there’s a problem with the plot. Frankly the movie tries to do too much. They wrangle the problem of the aging original Ghostbusters (at one point Winston berates Ray for investigating a ghost and endangering both himself and the kids–and at his age!), the problem of teenagers trying to fit in with the family and the world (but not really able to define their own terms), the problem of an ancient god trying to destroy the world, and several lesser threads left from earlier films (just how full is that containment unit anyway? is there a maximum capacity?).

One thing Frozen Empire has going for it: reflection on the afterlife generally, and what that means for us as individuals specifically. The previous series just ignores the question of the afterlife that incorporating (heh) ghosts into a plotline inherently raises. To its credit, Frozen Empire acknowledges the question, admits our general ignorance, mentions something about quantum physics (as if those two words are a talisman that can be used to answer the mysteries of the universe, rather than simply being a field of study that asks more questions), and then moves on with the plot. There were a lot of places for reflections on the afterlife to go wrong, and the movie doesn’t really go that route. Instead we get a touch of free will, but are largely left with ghosts as beings who face the same moral choices that you and I do and their destination still a matter of mystery to the majority of the world.

Which means that Frozen Empire is a great conversation starter for those of us whose faith offers truths (albeit limited and shadowy ones) about the afterlife. That it’s also an okay movie is that much the better, even if we can wish that it had lived up to the potential of its predecessor.

Dr. Coyle Neal is co-host of the City of Man Podcast an Amazon Associate (which is linked in this blog), and an Associate Professor of Political Science at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, MO

Previous Post

March 22, 2024

Almost Lovecraftian in the DCU

Next Post

April 5, 2024 Monsieur Spade doesn't solve the case

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"No disagreement with any of that--though I've not heard "Moments" and will have to look ..."

cneal

Top of the Country: Amen

"The song is quite bouncy, even upbeat, considering the subject matter. (His "pills" ran out ..."

TheOldMaid

Top of the Country: Amen

"One noteworthy series in this area is valuable lessons in law. This series helps young ..."

Thomas White

The Law

"The longevity of Parker's lectures and teachings after his death is no more surprising than ..."

reggiebannister

Proclaiming Christ Still

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Action AFI Top 100 Animation Best Picture Winner BFI Top 250 Biography Biopic Books Childrens Christian Classics Classics Comedy Crime Documentary Drama Editor's Choice Family Fantasy Fantasy Films Foreign Historical Historical Fiction History Horror Horror IMDB Top 250 Indie Memoir Modern Novel Musical Mystery Non-Fiction Oscars Philosophy Poetry Popular Literature Reading and Writing Reality Romance Science Fiction Science Fiction Silent Sports Thriller TV Show Uncategorized Western Westerns Young Adult

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 June 2017 January 2017 December 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What city is known as the birthplace of Jesus?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Bethlehem Nazareth Galilee Jerusalem