According to Lauren Chen, the new “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” hits the “sweet spot” but not in a good way.
“Here, we have a movie that is just gay enough that Westerners will applaud it for being diverse and inclusive, but it’s not so gay that it would potentially be censored in overseas markets,” she says.
The film is the sequel to “Ghostbusters: Afterlife,” which Lauren says “wasn’t amazing” but also “wasn’t terrible.”
“So, going into ‘Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire,’ I guess my expectations were pretty mid,” she says, adding that she doesn’t “think that this film is unwatchable,” but it’s nonetheless “very messy.”
“The writing is all over the place, the structure of the film is very questionable, and I’m sorry, but they have managed to deliver one of the most unlikable female protagonists I have seen in a very long time.”
Without giving spoilers (although Lauren’s review has plenty), the conflict is “cliche” in that the Ghostbusters’ work, which “objectively helps the city,” is halted when the mayor decides it’s “causing too much collateral damage.”
“It’s so formulaic,” sighs Lauren.
Further, one of the main characters – Phoebe, a 15-year-old girl who Lauren says is “very much embracing the angsty teenage archetype” – engages in a “pseudo gay love story” with a ghost.
While their relationship is “not explicitly romantic,” Lauren is “99% sure that the writers behind this movie absolutely intended this to be a romantic storyline.”
At one point, Phoebe even “decides to use some experimental tech to separate her spirit from her body” so that “[she] and Melody can be on the same plane.”
As for the plot, “This movie really is everywhere,” says Lauren, adding that “there are so many characters in this film who are included for seemingly no reason, [as] they don’t contribute anything but have a considerable amount of screen time.”
“Removing Paul Rudd,” who plays Mr. Grooberson, “does not change things at all,” and “the same goes with Finn Wolfhard,” who stars in the role of Trevor Spengler.
“It’s almost like in their contracts, [Finn Wolfhard] and Paul Rudd had minimum screen time guarantees that they were trying to meet, even though the writers basically just wanted to tell the pseudo-gay love story,” says Lauren.
Further, “The characters who are from the original ‘Ghostbusters’ film,” including Dr. Stantz and Zeddemore, could have been given more important roles in the plot, which “would have made the inclusion of their characters feel a lot more substantial.”
“The one character who they really do give a lot of screen time to is Phoebe, and she’s the worst character,” laments Lauren. “I cannot overstate how annoying she is in this movie; she is angsty and scowling and awkward the entire film.”
To hear more of Lauren’s review (spoilers included), watch the clip below.
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