I grew up on Ghostbusters lore. Born the same month that the first movie premiered, I was just the right age to receive a series 1 Peter Venkman action figure from Kenner's Real Ghostbusters line. My brother an I would watch VHS recordings of the Real Ghostbusters, and video rentals from Blockbuster. With imaginations filled with "were-chickens", copycats, valkyrie ghosts, and the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man, my best friend and I would make "slime" from diluted magic marker ink, and geek out over proton packs and PKE meters.
For me at least, that passion continued with re-watches of the original movies, the Real Ghostbusters, the Slimer shorts, and the "Extreme Ghostbusters" TV show. Admittedly, my passion for the franchise went dormant for a few years during my teens. It felt like neither Sony or DIC seemed be doing much with the brand until 2008. Time Life released a Real Ghostbusters DVD boxset, and I don't know how they could've compiled so much material. Video Commentaries. Concept Art. Documentaries. Cast Interviews. Every episode of the Real Ghostbusters, and every "Slimer!" short. Like hearing a "neutrona wand" hum to life, I could feel that love get rekindled. The next year, Atari released a hit Ghostbusters video game on Playstation 2, and several other video game platforms. Between the writers, the cast, and the PS2 rendering, it felt like a long-lost Ghostbusters 3 in some demension between that of the Sony films and DIC animation. Aside from Pokemon and Minesweeper, I don't consider myself much of a gamer anymore, but it was thrilling to role-play as a rookie Ghostbuster. (Binarily, speaking,) I was even allowed to present myself as a female rookie. It was through this game that I got the practical understanding of what it's like to look for psychokinetic energy ("PKE") with goggles or a handheld meter. I finally realized that you don't shoot a proton stream as a means of blasting a ghost. They're more like snares used to weaken and wrangle a spectral entity toward an awaiting containment device. When that work is done, there's a satisfaction in seeing the residual smoke wafting out of the ghost trap.
Continuing this resurgence, Erik Burnham and Dan Schoening created a successful Ghostbusters comic series through IDW publishing. In the vein of the 2009 video game, they gave these characters a look that felt like a slightly cartoony version of the 1984 characters. It was also a likely homage to early Real Ghostbusters concept art where they weren't in color coded jumpsuits and hairstyles. The duo were able to pay tribute to old Kenner ghost designs and give each incarnation of the Ghostbusters IP a space in one canonical timeline.
In 2015, Sony announced that a new Ghostbusters movie was being made, but with an all female ghost busting team. I could see the validity in that decision, I started to brainstorm how this could all fit together while providing enough fan service to tie up loose threads and honor the IP (intellectual property). Just as how the original cast came from a variety of acting backgrounds, so did my trio of Aisha Tyler, Krysten Ritter, and Cecily Strong. Ritter would theoretically play the original female Ghostbuster (Kylie Griffin being the occultist goth from the Extreme series). In that creative brainstorm, I even created a fan comic where Gozer was played by Gonzo from the Muppets.
It's the comic writer in me. It's the fanfic writer in me. It's the blogger in me. When Paul Feig announced that his production was going non-canon, and just using the brand name, the logo, Slimer, and rebooted Ecto-1. With an exasperated sigh, I was working on a new movie plot that could fit these new parameters. I felt like Homer Simpson trying desperately to remain optimistic about a runaway roasted pig. I was like "Fine. Rasputin rises from the dead at the site of a Pussy Riot protest in Russia. The McCarthy cast of Ghostbusters have to take on a ghost in overseas." It's feminism, the band protests are very of the moment, and the Ghostbusters would be trying to get proton accelerators on an international commercial flight. What I hold so dear about the Ghostbusters brand is that comedy is not the top priority. It's firstly about about fringe science, mysticism, and hauntings. Then, you include off-beat humor. Like the elevator cockroach scene, the dancing toaster, or Egon whimsically using a Twinkie snack cake to demonstrate a global threat's potential. As Feig, his cast, and crew started taking polarizing stances against any and all skeptical fans, I became more worried. Not about a female cast, but a film hijacking an established IP only to be a work of spite against most of that property's fanbase. The movie lost me at "ghost-chipper". The IDW comic has specifically explained how breaking ghosts up into some type of ghost chum makes a bigger problem. When I eventually watched Fieg's budget-busters movie (I'm criticizing the filmmakers and not the stars), I thought that it wasn't a bad movie. It was just a bad "Ghostbusters" movie. A thinly veiled spoof being promoted as a reboot makes this movie not unlike the Columbia Pictures take on James Bond from 1967. Given that this was a Feig movie, I felt that it was more a spoof of Ghostbusters. Like how "Spy" felt like a spoof of Chevy Chase and Dan Ackroyd's "Spies Like Us"
It was finally with "Ghostbusters: Afterlife" that Jason Reitman (son of Ghostbusters co-creator Ivan Reitman) resurrected the property correctly. Shandor Mines, Ecto-1's distinct siren, and Egon's heirs in some small town in Oklahoma. "Mini-Puft" chaos in a Walmart reminds me of Ubisoft's "Rabbids" cartoons. The old stars returned, and I honestly got teary-eyed during all of the Egon ghost scenes. Winston got a big line with "Okay, Playtime's over. Let's toast this muffin." "Afterlife" is one of the most satisfying movies that I've seen in years.
"Frozen Empire" continues that resurrection of the Ghostbusters brand. I visited Hook & Ladder Company 8 in NYC's Tribeca borough in June 2023. Jason Reitman and his crew were shooting scenes in New York, and being able to touch the official Ghostbusters firehouse was a dream come true. I had no idea that a stunt driver was drifting the Ecto-1 into New York intersections a few blocks away. Anticipation continued to build as the movie known as "Ghostbusters: Firehouse" shed its working title and fans saw the trailers for "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire". I continued to psyche up for the movie, and just last week watched Melissa Joan Hart interview Annie Potts for the podcast "What Women Binge". I preordered my ticket for opening weekend, and wore a ghostbusters tee shirt to AMC Boston Common 19.
I don't want to spoil the movie, but at the same time, I want to tell you what to expect. Don't take this as discouragement, but watch "Ghostbusters: Afterlife" beforehand. The new movie includes many original characters, but you will want to know who these characters are. The events in "Afterlife" very much set the stage for the new movie. I would describe the "Frozen Empire" writing as "nonlinear". It's unconventional, and not something that you'd typically see in some MCU movie, but it's an accepted technique. Think about "Love Actually" or Pulp Fiction". In contrast, the storylines in "Frozen Empire" are more closely connected. Broadly speaking, the movie is about transitions from one stage of life to the next. New generations taking up mantles and responsibilities. Older generations accepting and learning to embrace new roles in the world.
The movie has a great combination of mysticism and engineering. Given the whole expanded cast, I think that Logan Kim's "Podcast" character is the only one whose inclusion seems a little forced. It's just that he's still a high school student and not part of the Spengler family. The "summer internship" makes it just a little bit more believable. Especially when he could interact with kindred spirit (no pun intended) Ray Stantz through the internet instead. Another important part of the large cast is the ambitious "world-building". Whether it's the MCU or the NCIS/JAG universe, interconnecting properties that share a canonical universe expand what type of future projects can be created. As a big fan of the Ghostbusters canon, I really enjoyed this movie, and can't wait to see what the Reitman/Aykroyd "Ghost Corps" company has planned for young Phoebe Spengler, and the future of the franchise.
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