#20: GHOSTBUSTERS: FROZEN EMPIRE

Starring Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace, Kumail Nanjiani, Patton Oswalt, Alyn Lind, Celeste O'Connor, Logan Kim, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts and William Atherton. Written by Gil Kenan and Jason Reitman, directed by Gil Kenan. Budget $100 million. Running time 115 minutes. 

In a film that achieves the impressive double feat of feeling twice as long as it is while at the same time feeling devoid of content or any connectivity between the  cast numbering well over 10 characters and that's quite an impressive achievement.

Welcome to the fifth in the series, a film that sort of arrived luke warm on the heels of the last film, which this is a sequel to. It continues the 'hilarious' adventures of the Splenger family who've taken over the legacy of the Ghostbusters.

This latest instalment in the unneeded franchise features a rambling, vacuous plot that sees three generations of the Ghostbusters mildly bicker, fall out yet come together in the third act when all looks lost. In the old camp we have Murray, Aykroyd, Hudson and Potts, in the hip adult category we have Rudd and Coon aided by James Acaster and Patton Oswalt and in the young wacky, crazy, fun, camp we have the yoof lead by Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace, Celeste O'Connor and Logan Kim. Naturally the kids are the fun ones and constantly outshine their old as fuck elders. 

The by-the-numbers generic off the peg 'plot', which takes a very long time to get up and running sees various random separate plots come together all leading to a bland, generic showdown with a poorly defined demon level boss. McKenna Grace as the emo 15 year old meets a teenage ghost, Emily in an incredibly ridiculous manner when she walks into Central Park with a chessboard and starts playing a game on her own, only for Emily (Alyn Lind) to materialise and play against her. This leads to a relationship that smacks of unrequited love and feels bizarre to say the least. Meanwhile the nu Ghostbusters encounter everyday family issues, like the kids wanting to be treated as adults, and Paul Rudd wanting to be accepted as their father, meanwhile Dan Aykroyd gets a mysterious metal globe that's needed to get the plot or ball moving, then some low level ghosts get busted, a replacement for the Gate Keeper turns up in the guise of Kumail Nanjiani's Fire Master, and a big granite lion statue  replaces the devil dogs from the first film. Added to that the bewildering return of the 'hilarious' Stay Puff marshmallow men and Slimer and you have all the ingredients that made the first film so much fun, so this one will be equally fun, but with a capital F.

But it isn't.

It's a dull greatest hits album performed by a third-rate tribute band. The plot is so dull and predictable that even playing 'guess the plot' bingo feels lazy, the huge cast means there's no time for any nuance or subtly, and the shoehorning in of the old gang just feels like a deeply lazy and cynical ploy. The plot is packed with ridiculous coincidences and each set up is paid off with an action beat, and at no point is there ever any doubt that our vast band of heroes will lose. Added to which, no one dies, so there is simply no jeopardy or sense of drama. 

The big bad monster villain is a total damp squib and the multiple nods to the original film just feels cheap and exploitative. And it says a lot that actors with the charisma of Paul Rudd can do nothing to elevate this dull outing. Nor, for that matter, can Bill Murray who arrives in time for the third act showdown and does absolutely nothing. Watch him during the crowd scene at the very end and you can actually watch him try to think of something to do. The film seems most interested in the least interesting and most irritating character of Phoebe, the 15 year-old know-it-all daughter who wants to be treated as an adult, giving over a large portion of the films' running time to her moping about.

The trailer made this look good and boy did it deceive.  

With a hit rate of 1/5, the future isn't looking good for another one of these film no one wants or cares about. 

4/10