Capsule Reviews - 'Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire' & 'Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire'

by Philip Price

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

Photo: Columbia Pictures

“Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” is very much the third ‘Ghostbusters’ movie that would have been made in 1992 had they completed the trilogy as they probably should have. Instead, the 2024 version of this serialized sequel comes with about eight unnecessary characters which inevitably leads to two too many subplots and not enough bandwidth for any individual character to matter or enough time for any of the "super secret underground ghost busting stuff" to genuinely resonate. Kumail Nanjiani really makes the most of his time though, especially in his scene with Bill Murray. I could have watched 10 more minutes of that. 

---

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire 

Photo: Warner Bros.

To follow up on my previous review, this movie has King Kong ripping a mutant wolf in half and then bathing in its green blood. What more could you ask for?

​Other notable observations/questions:

Kong beats up other giant gorillas with a baby orangutan. Real Joe Jackson vibes.

Godzilla takes a nap in the coliseum and destroys the ancient pyramids with zero care or concern. What a boss.

Dan Stevens has great hair. Also, I’m curious how many folks now believe they saw Bradley Cooper in “Godzilla × Kong: The New Empire.”

What’s the air quality like in Hollow Earth?

As a seasoned podcaster/vlogger Bernie knows he doesn’t have to provide live narration, right?

A bridge made from a backbone is a sick visual idea. Top-tier Wingard. I do wish there were more moments to emphasize the scale though a la the shot of the Scar King’s tooth flying into the street and it being bigger than a car.

The music supervisor absolutely killed it.

Ultimately, this would be a really fun two-episode story arc of a Saturday morning cartoon that has one too many subplots featuring irrelevant humans delivering unnecessary exposition to justify why we're all here in the first place - which isn't even that necessary.

The way Kong celebrated that win like he just scored a touchdown was quite possibly peak cinema.