Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

They’re back on familiar ground in this one—maybe too familiar. The temptation to walk across previously trodden territory proved too much to resist for this flick's cast and crew; a lot of the running time is dedicated to retracing steps from earlier entries, and not always successfully. That decision seems to have discouraged everyone from breaking off in fresh, new directions, as we saw in this film’s immediate predecessor, and that probably contributed to many of the jokes in this latest outing falling flat. That’s not to say there are no laughs to be had here, just that they are fewer and further between, and more gentle chuckles than laugh-out-loud moments. Indeed, this movie actually plays a bit better if you take its story a bit more seriously, as a supernatural action adventure pic rather than the straight-up comedy the ancestral movie was. The real star here and source of the movie’s heart and soul, as she was in the previous film, is McKenna Grace; her precocious  Phoebe Spengler carries much of the story’s weight while the grownups around her are mostly goofing around. I guess I may be grading on a curve here, when this flick's antecedents achieved genius status, but while this latest in the series is not quite what it could have been, it still delivers more than enough entertainment to make it worth a look. You just have to get in the spirit, as it were, to get the most out of your viewing experience.

The Addams Family (2019)

I was worried that this version of the longtime satirical weirdos would be defanged by being a film made with a children’s audience in mind. I need not have been worried. This animated installment of the franchise doesn’t rise to the levels of the earlier, live-action films from the early ‘90s—still classics of the dark humor genre to my mind—but it delivers enough genuine laughs that anyone can feel comfortable with this version of the characters. The standout, as usual, is Wednesday; she seems to be the character the whole concept revolves around, and as such all the best moments belong to her and her story. There are some faults; the humor could be a bit more dry and droll in places, and a few musical choices could be better. (Honestly, does every even vaguely creative work now need to be drenched in rap music?) Plus, the denouement is a bit timid, probably due to the family nature of the target audience; you’d like to see the villain hit a little harder in the end, but ... you know, the kids. Still, there’s enough to like here that the flaws can be overlooked. It may not be a total snap, but this is at least a song that’s catchy enough.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife

Shockingly good. If this had been the only sequel to the first flick, even with the tremendous separation in time, the sequence would be perfect. In fact, the passage of time actually works to this film’s advantage; it makes the storyline of no one remembering the past events, of those happenings being completely outside the knowledge of the youngsters who are the backbone of the cast, make much more sense; it gives the whole concept an overall internal consistency. This plot works almost seamlessly with what came before, and presents its story with equal amounts of funny and creepy, all served up with the same panache as the original. And those aforementioned youngsters? They’re terrific, particularly McKenna Grace in the pivotal role. If there is to be a next chapter with them—strongly hinted in the ending here—I’d be on board with it. All in all, this may be the biggest surprise I’ve seen in cinema in a long time: a re-imagined take on a classic that I would not have guessed was advisable, but that now seems absolutely necessary. From not a ghost of a chance to totally alive and well—that’s some paranormally good moviemaking right there. Who you gonna call indeed!