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Film reviews

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Review

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Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is one which crosses the line into mediocrity, yet somehow manages to nostalgia alive. A follow-up from Ghostbusters: Afterlife, this installment steps up the game of evil lurking through artifacts by employing loads of CGI. The characters loved by fans are back, and include Callie (played by Carrie Coon), Grooberson (played by Paul Rudd), Trevor (played by Finn Wolfhard), Phoebe (played by Mckenna Grace), and Lucky (played by Celeste O’Connor). These characters arenow considered alumnus of the franchise since their appearance in Ghostbusters: Afterlife. The old-school alumnus (who add much necessary humor and quirks to the experience) are Peter Venkman (played by Bill Murray), Ray Stantz (played by Dan Aykroyd), Winston Zeddemore (played by Ernie Hudson) and Dana Barrett (played by Sigourney Weaver). Surprisingly, even with a cast this impressive, the movie has flaws which make it difficult for it to be memorable.

The film consisted of four writers including the director, Jason Reitman.  Joining him as contributors were his father, Ivan Reitman, Gil Kenan, Dan Aykroyd, and Harold Ramis. I guess the compilation of writing is why the film is not as straightforward and nostalgic as I would have expected. The film begins in 1904 in New York. This introduction is familiar to the films in this franchise. It then jumps to the present where the family hunting ghosts returns. The team of Grooberson, Callie, Trevor, and Phoebe are all ghost hunters which causes some misbelief with their reputation due to their dynamics as a team.The newest trend with the ghosts features ice and snow. When an old artifact is discovered, it’s time to call Ghostbusters! With Peter, Ray, and Winston making appearances, the team has grown, but is skillful enough to take on the monsters of the snow? The film lacks in establishing a quality foundation, but manages to finds a way to detail the situation moderately well.

Philosopher Dr. Hubert Wartzki (played by Patton Oswalt) is part of a backstory which explains how the new monsters of ice and snow have come into the city of New York. Also, a third-party seller, Nadeem Razmaadi (played by Kumail Nanjiani), is also part of the puzzle. Many of his collectables are artifacts, but much of his collection hold secrets related to ghosts as well. Ray’s character and his experience with ghosts does help add to the story. The various moving parts are fascinating but tend to drag the movie down and cause boredom before the excitement of ghost hunting swerves into the picture.

The scenes with quirky humor boost the nostalgic feel of this film. The CGI also adds more in-depth visual interest to the film’s adventure of stopping one giant ghost. Truly, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is not amazing…partly because the lines of understanding seem unnecessarily blurred. The nostalgia provided by Murray, Aykroyd, and Hudson is where the film has its most memorable moments. As always, the ghost hunting is when this franchise shines. Two-and-a-half out of four stars for Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire.

Film reviews

Thanksgiving Review

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A holiday title with a horror vibe in November is like an extension of the Halloween season (even though the holiday has passed). Thanksgiving is a film that takes some of the real nightmares of the holidays and multiplies them by ten. Director Eli Roth is known for frequent grotesque scenes in his movies, yet with Thanksgiving he takes this to a new level. However, it is unfortunately one riddled with redundancies and inconsistencies. The film is set in Plymouth Massachusetts where the Thanksgiving holiday is a big deal for this small town. The intimate sense of community heightens the horror of what is about to take place. Although it takes place on Black Friday, it still feels like a Halloween slasher made with the bloody violence as the main form of entertainment with little story content. However, in this instance, it is not so enticing for the moviegoer. It ends up feeling more disgusting than inviting. Imagine the Scream franchise with its additional ingredients being Black Friday terrors and aftermaths. That is what the Thanksgiving experience is under the direction of Roth feels like and it is nothing more than mediocre.

Plymouth, Massachusetts is the supposed birthplace of the Thanksgiving holiday, as the first pilgrims were said to have landed and established their colony there. Ironically, now Black Friday sales are in full swing there at a store called Straight Market. The frenzy of the sale causes a riot where people end up dead or severely injured. A night of holiday shopping that turns into extreme violence as people get killed over silly items for sale. The many horrors of Black Friday spiral downhill in Thanksgiving. After the events at the Straight Market, a killer who wears a John Carver mask and is dressed as a pilgrim starts killing individuals one-by-one. Those who are killed are ones associated with the riots at the store. Teenagers are targeted and must figure out the pattern to halt the killer’s next victim. Those teens are Ryan (played by Milo Manheim), Gabby (played by Addison Rae), Jessica (played by Nell Verlaque), Evan (played by Tomaso Sanelli) and Bobby (played by Jalen Thomas Brooks). There are others involved but these individuals seem to be most important to the pattern of the killer. The town law officer is Sheriff Newton (played by Patrick Dempsey). As the slaughter continues with the masked killer in bizarre places at bizarre moments a link forms to the riot from the previous year of the Black Friday sale. A sale that went awry and stirs the pot for new terror, danger and deaths. This becomes an experience of repetitiveness of grotesqueness that is not so appealing and leaves the viewer unimpressed.

Roth is a director who likes to push the limits of violence, but more attention needs to be given to an engaging storyline over simply tossing around scenes of pure gore. The brutality of Thanksgiving is just a bore. It is not new, it is not much of an amazing experience, and it is poorly written and directed. It does perhaps give one pause to give into the urge of Black Friday shopping this holiday season. The addition of a killer to the holiday shopping spree was not scripted well to the extent that it did not lend an aura of excitement. It simply delivered graphic kills, unexpected discoveries, and continued to lack in the qualities of what a horror film should be—a eerily joyful experience. The mind of Roth has got some clever ideas, but it is focused too much on grossing his audiences out rather than inviting them into a world of amazement.

One of my least favorite films with the slasher vibe this year. With too many moments of stupidity and poor approaches, Thanksgiving is not much of a fun holiday experience. It is not funny or even astonishing, it is most unfortunately disappointing. Two out of four stars for this one.