Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire opened in theaters on March 22 and, despite mixed reviews, quickly became that weekend’s box office champ with a $45 million profit. To date, it’s garnered $78.5 million domestically, bringing collective franchise revenue over the billion-dollar threshold and proving that the 40-year-old brand is still a crowd-pleaser after five successful films. Frozen Empire not only reunites the Ghostbusters franchise with the Reitman family — Jason Reitman, whose late father, Ivan, directed the original 1984 film and Ghostbusters II, co-wrote Frozen Empire’s script with director Gil Kenan — but also brings back most of the characters introduced in the first film: Peter Venkman (Bill Murray), Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd), Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson), Janine Melnitz (Annie Potts), and Walter Peck (William Atherton). The film also reintroduces the family members of Egon Spengler (the character played by the late Harold Ramis in the flagship film) who were first seen in Ghostbusters: Afterlife, including Egon’s daughter, Callie (Carrie Coon); Callie’s romantic interest, Gary Grooberson (Paul Rudd); and Callie’s children, Phoebe (Mckenna Grace) and Trevor (Finn Wolfhard).

Frozen Empire is enjoying success at the box office because it targets two distinct audiences. Gen Xers and young boomers who were fans of the original film and Ray Parker Jr.’s catchy theme song are drawn to the theaters from a sense of nostalgia, while the presence of young ghostbusters like Phoebe and Trevor appeals to families and young adults. The film’s marketing team went after both of these groups with an $80 million global campaign that partnered with brands like Liberty Mutual, Mercedes-Benz, Cheetos, Hasbro, and Timberland, among others. The marketing even targeted young gamers by teaming up with a company to create a version of a game in which characters who follow a “themed course” can “morph” into a ghostbuster. The efforts to expand beyond a Gen X audience were clearly successful. Deadline reports that, according to EntTelligence, a telecommunication company that tracks film attendance, 54 percent of the ticket purchases on Saturday, March 23, were for shows before 5 p.m. — an indicator of family attendance — with 56 percent of the audience under the age of 35.

The Ghostbusters reboot resonates with the movie-watching public because it has a moral compass, reinforces family values, and remains devoid of wokeness. That the Spengler family continues the work of Egon sends a message about the importance of knowing our family history and contributing to its future legacy. Like its predecessors, Frozen Empire illustrates the triumph of good over evil with the ghostbusters defeating the nefarious creatures who threaten New York City and the human race at large.

Seventeen-year-old McKenna Grace delivers the film’s standout performance. The young actress, who received a Critics’ Choice Movie Award for her role as a 7-year-old child prodigy in Gifted (2017), has successfully bridged the screen transition from child to young adult with her sensitive, nuanced portrayal of Phoebe Spengler. Sporting the glasses that Harold Ramis’ Egon wore 40 years ago and a short dark curly wig to hide her blonde hair, Phoebe is the keeper of flame, the scientist of the future. Grace delivers a performance that is a mélange of meticulous researcher and awkward insecure adolescent. We witness Phoebe’s moral dilemma when she befriends the ghost of a teenage girl named Melody (Emily Alyn Lind) and is faced with the decision of assisting or extinguishing her. We also experience her proverbial journey from innocence to maturity when she realizes that Melody has tricked her into committing an action with potentially lethal consequences. Reitman and Kenan are to be commended for imbuing Phoebe with the complicated emotions of an adolescent who is intellectually light years ahead of her peers but emotionally still a child. It is refreshing that the two writers did not bow to present-day social warriors by labeling the bookish, tomboyish young character as “genderfluid.”

In addition to its nuanced portrayal of a teenager, Frozen Empire addresses the archetypical passing of the mantle from the elder statesmen to the next generation. The film includes a touching exchange between Ray (Aykroyd) and Winston (Hudson) in which Winston tells Ray that the time has come for him to hang up his proton pack and leave the ghostbusting to the next cohort of scientists. To that point, much has been made of Bill Murray’s brief screen time in his role as Peter Venkman, with reviewers speculating that the actor wanted limited involvement with the production. From a plot perspective, however, the diminished role of the character makes sense: Peter realizes that he is no longer an action hero, and so does Bill Murray. 

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is not only a nostalgic exploration but also an upbeat, funny, action-packed film that salutes traditional values, punishes the villains, and celebrates the citizen heroes who defend and protect our civilization. It’s well worth the watch.

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