210) Mouse Trap (2024) - NEW TO HORROR

"You cannot trap me." 

Director
Jamie Bailey

Cast
Simon Phillips - Mickey Mouse / Tim Collins
Sophie McIntosh - Alex
Madeline Kelman - Jayna

Ben Harris - Ryan
Callum Sywyk - Marcus
Mireille Gagné - Gemma
James Laurin - Paul
Kayleigh Styles - Jackie
Mackenzie Mills - Rebecca
Jesse Nasmith - Danny
Allegra Nocita - Marie
Damir Kovic - Det. Cole
Nick Biskupek - Det. Marsh

With "horrorized" re-imaginings of popular children's properties began popping up within the last five years, such as "Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey" and "The Mean One" (a horror version of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" by Dr. Seuss) it seems clear this is going to be the new trend in the movie genre. It's the most gimmicky of horror subgenres. I think it's a fad that'll die off sooner than later. I highly doubt mainstream audiences want to see their favorited cartoon characters "reimagined" as killers going on blood drenched murder sprees. 

At the time I write this, a horror version of the famed cartoon character Popeye, called, "Popeye the Slayer Man" is set for release in 2025. These older properties falling into public domain account for this new gimmick in the horror genre. The other half of the trend likely stems from unknown directors trying to quickly make some sort of name for themselves, grabbing these properties for themselves and greedily squeezing out all the innocence and whatever money these old properties might still have. Soiling up or simply destroying innocence seems to be the thing to do in modern society. 

When the 1928 Mickey Mouse cartoon "Steamboat Willie," considered to be Mickey Mouse's debut, became public domain in January of this year, it took no time for some shlubs out there to follow this horror trend and turn the early version of Mickey into a horror movie psychopath. However, the producers of the recent horror movie "Mouse Trap" seemed so eager to do this that they forgot to write a worthwhile movie and just threw something together haphazardly.

By the way, here's some trivia for those who don't know this. "Steamboat Willie" is actually a satire of a silent movie popular at the time called "Steamboat Bill, Jr." staring silent film comedian, Buster Keaton. The iconic tune whistled by Mickey Mouse in the cartoon is the same as the movie's opening score.
"Mouse Trap" was released in Aug. 2024. However, it's worth mention that there are some old Mickey Mouse comic strips that depict Mickey in a less-than-savory way. The Disney Company would prefer these comic strips be forgotten about. Here, I recommend the 1989 comic book "The Uncensored Mouse" published by Malibu Graphics' Eternity Comics. It's a collection of Mickey Mouse comic strips from the 1930s, most if not all drawn by American cartoonist Floyd Gottfredson, which depict such things as Mickey unsuccessfully attempting suicide, racial stereotypes, and so on. 

Simon Phillips as "Mickey Mouse."

Anyways, "Mouse Trap" is a pointless and unnecessary movie about a group of lame and forgettable teens who are trapped in an arcade. 

A guy in a Mickey Mouse mask, with some sort of supernatural ability to teleport (I'm not exaggerating) goes around killing each of them one by one for unclear, unspecified reasons. 

The movie begins as two of movie history's most commonplace good cop/bad cop police detectives interrogate a gothic girl named Rebecca (Mackenzie Mills) about several murders that took place at the arcade. She tries as hard as she can to be an intimidating, callous bad ass, unaware of how much of a joke she really comes across as. 

The story cuts to the arcade where two young girls, Alex (Sophie McIntosh) and Jayna (Madeline Kelman), as they work their shifts at the arcade. Alex seems to take her job seriously while Jayna is just there to collect the paychecks. 

Their supervisor, Tim Collins (Simon Phillips) who also owns the arcade, tells them they need to work an extra shift that night as someone booked the arcade for the night at the last minute. 

Alex stays on but Jayna ditches work to hang out with some boys, begging Alex to cover for her until she gets back which Alex agrees to.

Meanwhile, Tim sneaks off to watch "Steamboat Willie" because the writers had to force the connection to the public domain cartoon somehow. He watches it in a small theater adorned with some vintage Disney posters and memorabilia including a rubber Mickey mask locked in a curio cabinet. 

Tim begins hearing some ethereal voice in the room with him. It seems to come from this Mickey mask. What it is, or why it's coming from the mask is unknown. He eventually goes into a hypnotic state due to some ethereal presence, and puts the mask on. It's never revealed why this is all happening. 

While Alex is working alone, she catches the masked guy in the back of the arcade chaining the door. She panics and tries to flee when she bumps into her friends who have arrived to throw her a surprise birthday party. She completely forgets about the stranger in the Mickey mask sneaking around the back chaining the door, in order to party. 

As the party begins, and these characters do a lot of nothing but recite their lines, some with hardly any emotion, the Mickey killer starts murdering each teenager with a knife. He doesn't talk. His motives are never revealed. He just stares at his victims, holds his knife out like a show-n'-tell session without a word, and then kills. 

The movie feebly attempts to portray panic and fear. Everyone runs around while the audience waits for each one to die. None of the characters emote. None of them are memorable or express any depth that entices the audience to care what'll happen to them. 

The only memorable character is the guy in the Mickey Mouse mask only because he's wearing a Mickey Mouse mask. None of the other characters are interesting nor memorable. So, there's hardly (if any) any sympathy when they die. 

With all the doors chained, no one has the brilliant idea to break the front glass doors or any of the windows and escape.  

What's weird is that this killer somehow has the power to teleport. At first I thought it was bad continuity. Once the movie establishes his ability to teleport, it comes across as a lame solution to bad continuity. It's as if the producers weren't interested in putting in the work of going back and reshooting or making necessary edits to improve continuity. 

However, when he gets caught in strobe lights, he can't teleport. It's random as hell, stupidly predictable, and thankfully forgettable.

There's nothing original, scary or even semi-worthwhile about this bitterly mundane bore-fest. 

Sophie McIntosh as "Alex."

There's a side story that made no sense to me. I couldn't follow what was happening within this side story, so I won't even bother trying to explain it. 

The movie relies solely on Mickey Mouse's face being used in a horror movie. Everything else is unoriginal, uninspired, and terribly banal. And even Mickey's image adds nothing. It's not scary. It's not unsettling. The only thing Mickey's image, and the entire story in general, can produce is a yawn and an eyeroll. Cliché is not a big enough word.

The acting is horrible. The lines are embarrassingly scripted. The story is non-sensical. The characters are poorly established. Nothing about them is convincing. I didn't even know who was who. This movie doesn't deserve any significance, regardless of what it dares to do with Mickey's image. And what's most frustrating is how proud this movie is of itself for trying to turn Mickey Mouse into a horror movie villain. 

It's one big gimmick of a movie. It's almost like a gag gift to horror fans, but certainly not to Disney fans. It feels as though as the writers knew they could take Mickey Mouse from "Steamboat Willie" and work him into a horror flick, they made this movie as quickly as they could to beat anyone else who might do the same just so they could be the first to say, "look what we did with Mickey!" 

It's certainly proud of itself for doing just that. 

It's a big, conceited flop. As soon as the Star Wars screen crawl explaining that neither the production company nor the movie are affiliated with Disney and its subsidiaries, the producers surely wanted to get through the pesky dialogue and writing just to get to the Mickey and horror. They even had to steal a line from the 1996 far better horror movie "Scream." 

"Mouse Trap" feels like a college freshman film class project produced haphazardly with no time for creativity or thought. I'd ask if the movie has some underlying social commentary about Disney as a global entertainment giant, and how it has influenced the world, but that would involve the writers actually writing something interesting, even if by accident. The movie strikes me as too stupid and lazy to work something like that in. "Mouse Trap" is a disgrace to Mickey Mouse whom the movie claims to love. It's one poor mess of a gimmick.  

195) Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice (2024) - NEW TO HORROR

"I've spent so much time talking to the dead, it's time I started living. I want to make memories with people I love, rather than be haunted by them later."

Director

Tim Burton

Cast
Michael Keaton - Betelgeuse
Winona Ryder - Lydia Deetz
Catherine O'Hara - Delia Deetz
Jenna Ortega - Astrid Deetz
Justin Theroux - Rory
Monica Bellucci - Delores
Willem Dafoe - Wolf Jackson
Arthur Conti - Jeremy Frazier
Danny DeVito - The Janitor

Spoilers ahead!

I can't say I'm a major fan of the 1988 supernatural comedy "Beetlejuice", but I enjoy it primarily thanks to its unusual style, and Michael Keaton's performance as the titular character. And it's a stand-out film in director Tim Burton's filmography. Now, after 36 years, "Beetlejuice" gets a sequel. That's the trend these days in Hollywood. Sequels to movies made over 20 to 30 years ago are all the rage now. I previously mentioned my thoughts about the first "Beetlejuice" in a post on my reaction to the "Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice" trailer back in May. 

In recent years, Keaton has taken on more dramatic roles in movies such as "Spotlight," "The Founder," and "Dopesick" among other titles. The first dramatic role I saw Keaton in was the 2005 horror thriller film, "White Noise." All I remember about it was Keaton's performance. The movie was terrible, but Keaton nailed the role. 

He's also stepped back into some of his more popular previous roles - namely Batman as seen in "The Flash" (2023) whom he stars as in Tim Burton's 1989 movie "Batman" and its 1992 sequel, "Batman Returns." 

Keaton, true to his comedic form, returns as Beetlejuice - the "ghost with the most."  

Anyways, a Beetlejuice sequel has been an idea tossed around since the period right after the 1988 movie. 

One of those ideas sequel ideas bore the title "Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian." I believe deep, deep down that this actual sequel, released Sept. 6, is better than whatever the story idea was for "Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian." It's an assumption I think is safe to make.

In this sequel, Winona Ryder, Catherine O'Hara, and Michael Keaton reprise their roles from the first film.

Thirty-six years after the events of the first movie, Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder) is suddenly seeing glimpses of the ghost, Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton) who tormented her family back in 1988 when they moved from New York to the small town of Winter River, Conn. Since her first encounter with the ghost "Betelgeuse," she says she has always felt his presence. Now, he's appearing to her.  

She has since moved out of Winter River and hosts a paranormal show called "Ghost House." 

Her boyfriend, Rory (Justin Theroux) is the show's producer. During a taping of the show, she has a glimpse of Beetlejuice sitting in the audience which causes her to panic during the show. 

Soon after, she goes to see her mother, Delia (Catherine O'Hara) at her art exhibit somewhere in Manhattan where Delia just received news that her husband, Lydia's father, Charles Deetz died in a plane crash.

So, they head back to Winter River, picking up Lydia's daughter, Astrid (Jenna Ortega) from boarding school along the way. 

Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder return in Tim Burton's "Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice"
after starring in the first film 36 years ago. 

Back at the old house that once belonged to Adam and Barbara Maitland from the first movie, Delia makes funeral arrangements for Charles. Lydia tries to strengthen her relationship with Astrid, who's still angry and mourning for her father, Richard (Santiago Cabrera), who died during a trip to South America. 

Meanwhile, from the afterlife, Beetlejuice, who works at a recruitment desk job, is still trying to pursue Lydia and marry which he almost did in the first film. 

Beetlejuice is also informed by an afterlife police investigator, Wolf Jackson (Willem Defoe), who was a B-Hollywood actor during his life, that his ex-wife Delores (Monica Bellucci) from the mortal world is on the loose in the netherworld trying to find him. During her lifetime during the black plague, at which time she met Beetlejuice and married him, Delores belonged to a soul sucking cult and is now sucking the souls out of random ghosts as she wanders the afterlife looking for her late husband and seek revenge on him.

There's a lot going on in this movie. 

After Rory proposes awkwardly to Lydia during the funeral reception, Astrid rides off on her bike in anger. She doesn't care for Rory and deep down, wants her mother's attention instead of watching her chase ghosts.

While riding through town, Astrid meets a boy named Jeremy (Arthur Conti) who's friendly at first but isn't quite the person Astrid thinks he is. He reveals later that he's a ghost and wants to take Astrid to the afterlife so that he can return to earth. "The Handbook for the Recently Deceased" has a whole chapter on how to make that happen. He convinces Astrid to enter the afterlife by promising that she can see her dad again. 

So, despite her better judgement, Lydia feels the only way she can find Astrid in the afterlife and bring her home is by summoning Beetlejuice for help. All she has to do is say his name three times. 

When she does, Beetlejuice agrees to help only if Lydia will sign a contract agreeing to marry him. 

Like the first, the story is really centered on the Deetz family. This time it focuses on the relationship between Astrid and Lydia, as well as Lydia and Delia. 

Beetlejuice remains a side character despite being the titular character. Beetlejuice is certainly not overused in part two.  

(L to R): Catherine O'Hara, Jenna Ortega, Winona Ryder, and
Justin Theroux in "Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice."

"Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice" relies more on its story than it does on its surreal depictions of the afterlife though it delivers in that regard because the afterlife is a crucial part of the story. 

There are multiple plot points going on at the same time. Thankfully, it's not confusing and it all ties well enough together. 

The sequel captures the same atmosphere and style as part one without straying too far into trying to be something all on its own. It's a story continuation and it doesn't try to be anything but a continuing story. 

It gives a few more glimpses into the story's version of the afterlife, and the audience gets some backstory about Beetlejuice while he was alive during the black plague. In the first movie, Beetlejuice already reveals he lived through the black plague during the scene when first meets with Barbara and Adam Maitland. It follows it by claiming, "And I had a pretty good time during that." In part two, we can see just what he meant by this actually sarcastic remark. 

Like the original, Tim Burton pulls a lot of inspiration from early German expressionist films such as "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" to create the movie's atmosphere. This is true for many Burton movies, and it's just as true for "Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice."  

Monica Bellucci's character is rather underused. She serves as an antagonist, and the only thing that makes her memorable to any degree is that she's Beetlejuice's ex. She's not used much, and when she finally confronts Beetlejuice, she's taken out by a sandworm. Delores should have been explored more as a character and as an avenue to explore Beetlejuice a bit more as well. 

In fact, a lot of the afterlife might have been explored more as it leaves the imagination wanting to know and see more about how things work in this depiction of the afterlife. Then again, I supposed it leaves the rest up to the audience's imagination. 

While Michael Keaton is truly back to form, his energy levels have slowed down just a tad. He is back to his classic comedic self, like the class clown at a high school reunion. His personality is the same, more or less, but his age isn't. 

Keaton doesn't give quite the lively performance he did in 1988. For a dead guy, Beetlejuice has certainly gotten older. That's not to say Keaton isn't entertaining and hilarious to watch. Though some jokes and gags are call-backs to the first movie, there's plenty of fresh material that got a lot of laughs which make up for the 36-year span. Keaton really picks up right where he left off. This is still very much classic Michael Keaton!

The character Lydia received some criticism from Beetlejuice fans for not being the angsty self-absorbed teenager Winona Ryder portrayed her as in the first film. Evidently, characters are not allowed to change within a 30+ year span. 

Monica Bellucci as Delores.

I appreciate her going from what I just described, to being a mom trying to be responsible and supportive of her daughter after suffering a terrible loss before the story begins, and still grieving over it. Astrid is angry at her mother because, well, she needs her mother and feels she isn't getting that motherly support. There's some good character development in there.  

Meanwhile, Astrid isn't the goth type like her mother was, but she is as morose and bitter as her mother was in her teenage years. 

Lydia had to cope with the loss of a parent who's replaced by someone else. Astrid deals with the same. So, like her mother was, Astrid has that angsty characteristic, too. She's an updated version of Lydia. And Jenna Ortega puts on a deadpan frustrated look making her a great fit for the role of Lydia's daughter. No doubt she borrows a little from Wednesday Addams, whom she plays in Tim Burton's mystery series, "Wednesday." 

Her presence in "Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice" seems to also work as a means to pull younger audiences in and introduce them to the world of Beetlejuice. Seeing as how Ortega is popular among Gen Z audiences, it's only logical to cast her in the movie. 

I think I caught a slight reference to "Batman Returns" in Danny DeVito's cameo as an afterlife janitor as in one instance, he make a few grunts that sound similar to Penguin, whom he plays in "Batman Returns." 

Also, Rory seems a bit similar to the character Otho from the first film, played by the late Glenn Shadix. Both are similarly eccentric with clueless and awkward personalities. 

In this film, there's a few sequences that involve a "soul train" which takes souls from the afterlife to "the great beyond" whether it be the pearly gates or eternal damnation. 

Those waiting on the platform to board the soul train constantly engage in a song and dance routine. As unusual as it sounds, this part of the movie was, well, the most unusual. It felt contrived and out of place. Go figure.

The colorful vibrancy, the style, the comedy and the imaginative creativity is still there. Tim Burton is back to his roots with his style of fantasy, even down the stop motion animation like that used in "Beetlejuice." 

I think the September release and limited competition helped score the Beetlejuice sequel success with its number one spot at the box office, topping the domestic box office with its $51.6 million in ticket sales, according to the AP. International sales brought in an additional $28.7 million, giving "Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice" a total of $264.3 million.

Tim Burton's latest sequel, even after so many years, does entertain and leaves the audience with memorable elements. It's a respectable enough follow-up to a story from 36 years ago. It has its own laughs and a good number of them! Maybe if they do a third movie, perhaps Beetlejuice should take that trip to Hawaii. They could take the franchise in a whole new direction. 

188) Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024) - NEW TO HORROR

"Kong can't stop this on his own."

Director
Adam Wingard

Cast
Rebecca Hall - Dr. Ilene Andrews
Brian Tyree Henry - Bernie Hayes
Dan Stevens - Trapper
Kaylee Hottle - Jia
Alex Ferns - Mikael
Fala Chen - Iwi Queen
Rachel House - Hampton

🦎Some minor spoilers ahead 🐵

I really regret seeing "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire," currently playing in theaters, before 2023's "Godzilla Minus One" from Japan. I haven't heard anything bad about the latter. And I'm very anxious to see it.
"Godzilla x Kong" is a sequel to the 2021 film "Godzilla vs. Kong" which is a sequel to "Kong: Skull Island" (2017) and "Godzilla: King of the Monsters" (2019). This is the fourth movie in what's being called the "MosterVerse" which starts with the 2014 film "Godzilla." 

It's also the 37th Godzilla film ever. 

I can't write about another Godzilla flick without mentioning my reviews of the first 15 Godzilla flicks which I sat through, one by one, back around Halloween of 2022. That was fun, and I plan to review the next movies during some future Halloween. 

I did enjoy watching the previous "Godzilla vs. Kong." So much so that I completely forgot all the characters who return in this new movie. In my review of "Godzilla vs. Kong" which I wrote for a local paper, I called it a "fight worth waiting for." 

This new movie takes place three years after the events of the previous movie. 

Kong has established himself quite comfortably in Hollow Earth, which is where scientists put Kong in the last movie. But even giant apes get lonely, especially when there's a lack of a female presence. 

Up on the Earth's surface, Godzilla is still boss keeping an eye on humanity, and making sure no new titans are coming around to cause trouble. 

After defeating Scylla in Rome back in the first movie, Godzilla has turned the Coliseum in Rome into his own personal bunk bed. 

Observers at Monarch, the organization that kept Kong in the last movie, are keeping an eye on him. They realize they have to bring Kong up to the surface of Earth because he has an infected tooth. Thankfully, Monarch has a dentist on hand who specializes in big gorillas. Trapper (Dan Stevens) manages to sedate Kong, pull out his infected tooth, and replace it with an artificial one. 

They've also picked up an unusual signal from Hollow Earth. 

Up on Earth, Jia (Kaylee Hottle) the last survivor of the Iwi tribe from Skull Island, is also mentally picking up on this signal. It's causing her to have hallucinations.
Her adopted mother, Dr. Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall) is concerned, naturally. 

And guess who else is catching this signal. Godzilla! 

This leads him to go attack a nuclear power plant over in France and absorb all the nuclear energy in preparation for an upcoming fight. 

I had no idea why he took any interest in everything that comes next, but my guess is he's protecting humanity from any threat brought about by another titan or titans. 

From there, Godzilla makes a B-line for the secret lair of Tiamat, another monster titan, up in the Arctic. 

These two monsters fight with Godzilla winning effortlessly of course. He steals Tiamat's radiation supply which continues to give him a generous surplus of power.  

The brainiacs at Monarch think Godzilla is preparing as much as he can for a major fight. 

Kong, meanwhile, finds a sinkhole which takes him to an unchartered portion of Hollow Earth where other giant apes have survived. 

A little giant ape named Suko finds Kong and alerts other giant apes. These apes don't take kindly to him. 

After Kong beats up the other apes, he forces Suko to take him to the whereabouts of more giant apes. 

Suko takes Kong to a secret liar were other apes serve a tyrant leader known as Skar King. 

He sees Kong as a threat and fights him with a crystal that controls an ice breathing monster lizard called Shimo. 

As Kong and Shimo duke it out, Shimo gives Kong frost bite on his arm after breathing on it. 

Ilene Andrews gets the help of podcaster and conspiracy theorist, Bernie Hayes (Brian Tyree Henry) because he was in the last movie and has to be in this movie, too. 

Together with Kong's dentist, they all travel into Hollow Earth. Down there, they discover hieroglyphics telling the tale of how Skar King once attempted to ascend to our part of the Earth, conquer it, and battle Godzilla and his species. Godzilla defeated him and kicked him back to Hollow Earth. 

These carvings also indicate how Jia and the Iwi tribe will one day awaken Mothra. So, there's that exposition of what's to come later in the movie. 

The explorers find members of the lost Iwi tribe who help Jia awaken Mothra. 

Kong manages to ascend back to the Earth's surface, emerging in Cairo, Egypt. He calls out for Godzilla for help, but Godzilla is anything but thrilled to see him. He attacks Kong despite Kong's efforts to talk and explain the situation. I mean, that's basically what happens. 

Thankfully, Jia and Mothra arrive and manage to explain things to Godzilla who relents and agrees to help Kong in his own Godzilla way. 

They all head back to Hollow Earth to take on Skar King and Shimo. The name 'Shimo' sounds like one of the three stooges, or the 6th Marx Brother. 

Anyways, they all fight down there and eventually drag their fight to Rio De Janeiro. This is Skar King's chance to conquer the Earth and take down Godzilla and Kong.

Unlike the previous movie, Godzilla and King Kong don't really fight each other. They do have a little scuffle in the middle of Cairo. Otherwise, it's all about getting Godzilla on board to fight a battle for a purpose which he has absolutely no role in or use for. Still, he's completely gung-ho for this fight on Kong's behalf.

Mothra's presence is a welcomed plot point for me. Her presence gives the movie that giant monsters all-out attack atmosphere. It's giant ape and lizard against...another giant ape and lizard. 

With all this check-your-brain-at-the-door cheesiness, the movie still manages to have all the Godzilla movie feels. For instance, the dentist/ scientist just happens to have an artificial giant ape tooth on hand once he extracts Kong's bum tooth. 

Later, when Kong's arm is frostbitten, the scientists happen to have a left-over robotic exoskeleton arm brace that just happens to be there in Hollow Earth right when it's needed. And it happens to have all the green glowing stuff necessary to heal Kong's arm. 

Again, check your brain at the door. 

It's the monsters versus monsters, and the Godzilla movie feels I enjoyed the most. That's what audiences want in a Godzilla movie. So, it had what I came for which is always worth the price of a matinee ticket and bucket of popcorn. 

Some Godzilla films have the King of the Monsters being the good guy. Others have him as a bad guy. He's a good guy in this one. 

After recently watching "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire" which has a scene where a beach freezes over, I was treated yet again to another scene of a beach freezing over in "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire." Purely coincidental, I think. 

Otherwise, the characters and story in "Godzilla x Kong" are forgettable. And the primitive giant apes carry one with a sudden intellect that wasn't there before is lame. It's all about those monster feels, and not much more. 

After watching this movie, I am all the more anxious to see "Godzilla Minus One."

We've come a long way since the first fight back in '62...

186) Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024) - NEW TO HORROR

"Golden years!"

Director

Gil Kenan

Cast
Paul Rudd - Gary Grooberson
Carrie Coon - Callie Spengler
Finn Wolfhard - Trevor Spengler
Mckenna Grace - Phoebe Spengler
Kumail Nanjiani - Nadeem Razmaadi
Patton Oswalt - Dr. Hubert Wartzki
Celeste O'Connor - Lucky Domingo
Logan Kim - Podcast
Emily Alyn Lind - Melody
James Acaster - Dr. Lars Pinfield
Bill Murray - Dr. Peter Venkman
Dan Aykroyd - Dr. Ray Stantz
Ernie Hudson - Winston Zeddemore
Annie Potts - Janine Melnitz
William Atherton - Walter Peck

👻  Minor spoilers ahead!  👻

In my other blog, dontfastforward.blogspot.com, I occasionally post commentary I call "My thoughts real quick."

In these posts, I simply slap my thoughts down about movies without going into much detail about the story. I try to keep them short, but I don't always succeed. 

This post is going to be something like that. These are my quick thoughts about the newly released "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire."

It's the fourth movie in the Ghostbusters line-up. I admit that I'm a little biased since I consider myself a "Ghost-head." Even so, I have mixed feelings about this new movie.

The story pulled me in right from the beginning with the introductory back story.  

I initially anticipated a ton of call-backs and cameos. There was a little of that, but not as many as I thought there'd be. There was a lot of nods to the first and second Ghostbusters movies scattered throughout. 

The cameos are scarce outside of the original Ghostbusters along with William Atherton as Walter Peck as seen in the trailer. I had a few characters from parts one and two I was hoping to see, but maybe that's for the better. The movie doesn't then rely too much on stuff from the first two movies. It's an original story with new characters making the picture not heavily dependent on the original film.  

The story feels like an episode from "The Real Ghostbusters" cartoon and does carry a bit of the original movie's feel. The entire flow of the story seemed like something I would have seen in the animated series.

While the film is entertaining, it's full of plot points that take up too much space. I wanted to see more ghost busting, especially from the original crew.  

There's some busting, but not much. Instead, there's a lot more talking, explaining, and jumping between plot points.

The final climax is where the movie delivers the most.  

Some of the characters are rather useless, especially Finn Wolfhard's character, Trevor. But at least his character makes sense. He's a Spengler so obviously he'd be in New York City with his family. 

Celeste O'Connor's character, Lucky, is completely useless. She's Trevor's love interest in the previous movie, "Ghostbusters: Afterlife." In this movie, whatever purpose she has is completely forced. She's just there because she was in the last movie, and adds nothing at all to the movie save for filling in one extra ghostbuster jumpsuit. 

The same is goes for Logan Kim's character, Podcast. He does add a little comic relief, but he wouldn't be missed if he wasn't a part of this. 

Kumail Nanjiani's character and purpose, Nadeem Razmaadi, is clearly a play on the Gatekeeper and Keymaster from the original movie and repeated in "Ghostbusters: Afterlife." In this case, it's flipped around. He's meant to conquer the evil rather than channel it into our world. Nanjiani's comedy would fit in well as a Ghostbuster alongside Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson, and Dan Aykroyd. 

He has just enough chemistry with the original Ghostbusters, especially with Bill Murray who reprises his role as Peter Venkman. Nanjiani and Dan Aykroyd (Ray Stantz) seem to be having the most fun in their roles. Everyone else for the most part seem to be acting on repeat. In other words, much of the cast could use a little more enthusiasm. 

Still, I suppose after playing the same role for the fourth time, that enthusiasm tends to fade. 

William Atherton returns as Walter Peck from the original, though now in a new political capacity. His concerns about 15-year-old Phoebe carrying a proton pack and catching ghosts are legit, but his animosity towards the Ghostbusters now seems unwarranted. It's as though he still holds a grudge because of how he was treated nearly 40 years ago. With the events of "Ghostbusters" and "Ghostbusters 2" referenced in this new movie, it doesn't make sense that he still thinks they're frauds. But he's an antagonist and those antagonists just keep on antagonizing.

What makes the original "Ghostbusters" movie a brilliant comedy is that the four scientists who go into business for themselves as paranormal eliminators really have no idea what they're doing. It's like a Marx Brothers movie. And, yet they figure out how to save New York City in such an outlandish way. 

The same is pretty much true here, but to a lesser degree. In this story, Winston (Ernie Hudson) as established a paranormal research center with a bigger containment unit, testing area, and the ability to observe and study ghosts. 

They can also extract paranormal entities from possessed objects. When they're up against an evil godlike entity named Garakka who's turning New York City into a frozen hellscape, all the cast (the new and the old ghostbusters) aren't sure what to do outside of shooting their proton packs at it. It's Phoebe Spengler, played wonderfully yet again by McKenna Grace, who has the tools and the talent.

I appreciate how the final act isn't long winded. Garakka doesn't show up and freeze over New York until more than half way through the movie. Then again, Gozer didn't show up in the original movie until the final act. Like the first movie, all the events buildup to the coming of Gozer.

The setup and resolution is styled really similar to the original "Ghostbusters." And it works the second time around. Instead of "Spook Central" being the conduit or portal, it's a brass orb with Garakka trapped inside. And the "Fire Master," as it's referred to in the movie, is the good guy who fights the icy monster. In that regard, this movie has the feel of a Ghostbusters movie. Or, it's just retooling those old elements that worked the first time, and hoping they can still deliver to new audiences under a different look.   

I thought the movie would start preaching about climate change and all that. Thankfully, it didn't go anywhere near that topic. I also hoped it would be a family-friendly flick, which it is. 

While "Ghostbusters: Afterlife" is a tool to set the Ghostbusters back up with new content, characters, and adventures, "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire" comes up with something new. 

"Afterlife" takes its time setting up a scenario and placing its elements where they need to be, "Frozen Empire" is constantly on the move with all its various subplots to keep the audience engaged despite the exposition.  

I got some much-needed laughs from the movie and walked out of the theater happy overall. Again, maybe I'm a little biased.

The movie doesn't overstay its welcome. It feels like it plays out in right amount of time. 

I think "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire" deserves another view. But, as much as it pains me to say, I think it's time for the original Ghostbusters to retire. Their best days are behind them. If any new movies come about in the future, the business needs to be completely handed over to a new crew.