Kunmail Nanjiani

‘Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’ Makes Me Feel Good

Posted on by The Ultimate Rabbit

While “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” may have trafficked a bit too much in nostalgia and fan service, but it still proved to be a fun ride which introduced us to some fun new characters, and it reunited us with old friends we yearned to see again for many years. “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire,” however, is not burdened as heavily with those things as it hits the ground running with characters and situations which have since been introduced to us. What results is a follow-up which I very much enjoyed, and while there is an inevitable amount of nostalgia on display, it is not submerged by it.

Two years have passed since “Afterlife,” and the Spengler clan of Callie (Carrie Coon), 18-year-old Trevor (Finn Wolfhard) and the infinitely intelligent Phoebe (McKenna Grace) have since moved from Summerville, Oklahoma to the old Ghostbusters headquarters in New York City along with Gary Grooberson (Paul Rudd). They are busy busting ghosts, but as usual, they are making a lot of insurance companies go bankrupt. Whether or not they catch the latest paranormal entity running amuck in the Big Apple, there is a lot of collateral damage left in their wake. This brings about the endless ire of Walter Peck (William Atherton), who remains embittered about the Ghostbusters even after several decades, and regardless of how they did save the world back in 1984.

Peck seeks to curtail the activities of this new group of Ghostbusters, and the one who gets hurt the most from this is Phoebe as she is underage and not even getting paid for a job which deserves at least a healthy salary. As a result, she is benched by her mom and Gary to where she feels unfairly robbed of what she sees as her calling, and she ends up alone in Central Park where she befriends a teenage ghost named Phoebe (Emily Alyn Lind) who perished tragically in a fire to where you can still little flames coming off of her. But despite these two having their differences, one being alive and the other dead, they find a friendship which is clearly not an easy one for them to form.

When it comes to the myriad of characters we see in “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire,” the one I liked the most was Phoebe. Seeing her struggling through her teenage years and being denied to be a Ghostbuster gives this film the emotional grounding it needs and which the other characters build off of. McKenna Grace was perhaps the best new addition to this franchise, and she is terrific here as she makes Phoebe into a teenager who is incredibly bright but suffers through the pangs of adolescence like any other.

Speaking of ghostly spirits, the main one threatening our heroes and the world at large is an ancient one, and it is always an ancient one, isn’t it? Basically, it involves a golden orb which Ray Stanz (Dan Aykroyd) buys off of Nadeem Razmaadi (Kumail Nanjiani) for a mere fifty bucks. It turns out to be a centuries old artifact which has the power to bring about a second Ice Age where everything and anything can be frozen ever so quickly, and humans can be rendered into ice sculptures before any of them can cry out, “What’s this got to do with global warming?”

Gil Kenan takes over directing duties from Jason Reitman, but both also return to write the screenplay as they did on the previous installment. The two of them have a bit of a challenge here as they are forced to juggle many characters, old and new, and some actors make more of a cameo appearance here than anything else. Still, it is great to see so many familiar faces such as Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson who gets much more to do here as Winston Zeddemore than in the previous installments combined, Annie Potts who, as Janine Melnitz, finally gets to where one of the famous suits, and Bill Murray whom, as always, gets some of the best lines.

One actor I do have to single out is Dan Aykroyd who gives Ray Stanz a strong poignancy even as he tries to navigate the current world of podcasts, something which is not completely up to date on. When Aykroyd is not spouting an endless array of scientific or paranormal information, his face speaks volumes as he shows, just with a look, of how proud he is that the Ghostbusters are back in business, and of how much he misses being one.

All of this builds to a truly exciting and emotional climax as our heroes battle a “horny little devil,” as Jack Nicholson once uttered in “The Witches of Eastwick,” only this devil is not so little and proves to be the most fearsome nemesis the Ghostbusters have faced in a long time. Along the way, there are some nice little jabs made at the franchise and of how immensely popular it became back in the 1980’s. They even talk about the debacle the original team made with the Statue of Liberty back in 1989, a subtle little jab at the critical reception “Ghostbusters II” received back then.

And plus, you do have Paul Rudd on hand, and he is always fun to watch in everything and anything he does, and his character of Gary is forced to navigate some new personal territory as he becomes a parent of sorts to both Sophie and Trevor. I imagine Rudd is already busy promoting this film with clips from “Mac and Me,” and he makes such famous lines like “busting makes me feel good” sound so wonderfully goofy and fresh.

I know I will eventually revisit “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” in the future, and perhaps its flaws will become more glaringly apparent with each viewing. But whatever flaws it may have did not take away from my enjoyment of it. I came into this installment with no real expectations as expectations in general can be impossible to fulfill, and it is far too easy to be disappointed by this and that. What I can tell you is I had a really good time watching it, and I left the theater with a big smile on my face and found myself applauding once the end credits began. And when Ray Parker Jr.’s theme song started playing over the end credits, I honestly felt like a kid again.

The ”Ghostbusters” franchise has sputtered throughout the decades as sequels and reboots did not, and could not, capture the power of the original. After watching “Frozen Empire,” I can honestly say this franchise is now much stronger than ever, and I am excited to see where it can go from here.

* * * ½ out of * * * *

‘Stuber’ Has Its Moments, But Not Enough of Them

Posted on by The Ultimate Rabbit

Stuber movie poster

“Stuber” feels like an overdue return for me to action comedy genre. Seriously, it feels like I have been away from this particular genre for far too long. While there may have been many action comedies/buddy movies released in recent years, I cannot help but feel like the last one I bothered to watch was 2010’s “The Other Guys” with Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell. Watching “Stuber” brought to mind movies like that and also “Stakeout” in which Richard Dreyfuss and Emilio Estevez play Seattle detectives spying on Madeline Stowe, and it remains a classic I never get sick of watching. “Stuber,” however, doesn’t quite reach the greatness of “Stakeout” or “The Other Guys,” and watching it made me feel old as I begun to realize I have seen this type of movie so many times.

This movie starts off with a shockingly visceral action sequence as Los Angeles detective Victor Manning (Dave Bautista) relentlessly pursues ruthless drug trafficker Oka (“The Raid’s” Iko Uwais) inside a downtown hotel. This opening took me for a loop as the violence is not the least bit sugar coated as bullets inflect tremendous damage and the blood flows more freely than in the average comedy. Unfortunately, Oka escapes Victor’s grasp and mortally wounds his partner, Sarah (Karen Gillan), and this leads to a scene which has Victor more or less saying, “don’t you die on me!”

From there, the story moves to several months later where we meet Stu (Kumail Nanjiani) who, when he isn’t working his job at a corporate home improvement store, is out on the town as an Uber driver. Stu is also juggling his work life with his personal one as has deep feelings for his best friend Becca (Betty Gilpin) whom he is about to open a cycling exercise gym with. Then one day, while trying to maintain at least four-star rating on Uber so he can avoid deactivation, he gets a ride request from Victor who finds himself on the path of Oka yet again, and everyone’s life, career and Uber rating is on the line more than ever before.

The one thing which immediately stuck me about “Stuber” is how it reminded me of how the atmospheres of Uber and Lyft are completely different from one another. Whereas in “The Equalizer 2” where Denzel Washington got along with his passengers was only attacked by one but not because he was a Lyft driver, Stu invites trouble simply because Uber passengers are far too quick to give him a one-star rating for reasons which are not necessarily his fault. Seriously, Lyft has a better reputation than Uber, and this movie is a reminder of that.

“Stuber” is a movie aimed at entertaining its target audience and, as a result, employs an endless number of clichés which this genre is known for. Victor is a cop who is obsessed with bringing down the bad guy at any cost, and his endless pursuit has long since cost him the loving relationship he had with his daughter, Nicole (Natalie Morales). When these two men are forced into a situation brought about by circumstance, each wonders who is more manly than the other as they are forced to deal with issues which they have put off to the side for far too long.

On the upside, the pairing presented in “Stuber” is perfect as these two actors and their characters could not be further apart from one another if they tried. Bautista is a former wrestler who became an unforgettable presence in the Marvel Cinematic Universe when he played Drax in the “Guardians of the Galaxy” movies, and he has proven to be a memorable screen presence in “Blade Runner 2049,” “Spectre” and “The Man with the Iron Fists.” Nanjiani is a Pakistani-American stand-up comedian, actor, and podcast host who is best known for writing and staring in “The Big Sick,” a movie I should have already watched. This should be enough to inform you these two individuals are exact opposites from one another.

Bautista makes Vic Manning into the typically obsessed detective you are bound to find in a movie like this, and he makes this character an empathetic one as he tries to fix things with his daughter while bringing down an especially devious criminal. Nanjiani’s character is the more human of the two as he tries to survive a situation he has been unexpectedly thrust into while trying to be honest with Becca about his feelings for her. Together, these two actors make quite the pair as they race through Los Angeles in an electric car which is leased instead of owned.

Having said that, “Stuber” falls victim to playing far too often with clichés this genre has dealt with for far too long, and it gets to where we know the direction this story is heading in. Granted, I did not go into this movie expecting something original, but the filmmakers still had a chance to give us something both fresh and entertaining and they did not quite pull it off here.

The problem filmmakers have in making action comedies is balancing out the action with the comedy, and it is a balance which is harder to achieve than anyone initially thinks. “Stuber” was directed by Michael Dowse, a Canadian filmmaker who previously gave us the “FUBAR” movies which dealt with two lifelong friends and head bangers living out their lives, and also the sports comedy “Goon” which dealt with ice hockey. One of his movies I especially liked was “What If” which starred Daniel Radcliffe and Zoe Kazan in a romantic comedy that followed a well-established formula but still proved to be highly entertaining and absorbing nonetheless.

With “Stuber,” I couldn’t help but think Dowse would really freshen up the buddy comedy formula to great effect, but it only goes so far here. On one hand the action scenes are excellent and visceral, but on the other they seem too brutal for a movie which aims to keep us laughing hysterically. The shift from comedy to action is at times very jarring to where I wasn’t sure whether I should be laughing or clinging to the edge of my seat. And this movie doesn’t have the kind of action which could be seen as make believe. The bullets hit hard and leave a lot of damage, and the blood flows a lot more than it ever did in “Stakeout.”

When all is said and done, “Stuber” is not able to balance out the action and comedic elements with total success, and it is at times more violent than it needs to be. Also, I have seen this kind of movie so many times now to where it all feels routine, free of surprises and run of the mill despite a game cast that gives the material their all. Yes, it has its moments, and it is a reminder of why I would rather drive for Lyft instead of Uber, but for me this one is a near miss. I cannot say I didn’t enjoy it, but it is a movie which will not stay in the memory for very long after you depart the movie theater. Suffice to say, this is no “Stakeout” or “The Other Guys.”

Oh yeah, Mira Sorvino co-stars here as Vic’s boss, Captain Angie McHenry. It’s great to see her here. It’s great to see her in anything.

* * ½ out of * * * *