It's been a year since Frozen Empire's release, but to this stay I still have conflicting opinions on it. I really want to absolutely love it (and I do in some aspects), but there's a lot of things that drive me up the wall about it.
For starters, and this is probably my biggest gripe with it, the new equipment never got the time to shine it so desperately deserved. Nobody except Pheobe, Lucky, and Lars wore the Red Parkas, the HASP Packs and compact Throwers played next to zero part in the plot (they weren't even used to catch/eliminate a ghost!), and the Ecto Z was kind of a let down in terms of design. This is not to say that I hate the new equipment, far from it, as I'm actually in the process of making a HASP Pack myself, and I have an Alexgear Parka. Deleted scenes seem to suggest that they would've been utilized more, and if that were the case, then I'd be very curious as to what earlier versions of the film would've looked like.
The Containment Unit subplot was an extremely disappointment. Firstly, I HATE how Garraka was able to breach it open, once again destroying the firehouse and unleashing his army of ghosts that was warned about in the trailers. It makes the ending super bittersweet for obvious reasons. Who's to say that there weren't some entities in the ECU that were just as/if not more dangerously powerful and malevolent as Garraka? What if Gozer and the the Terror Dogs were inside it? (Though I have a theory that the new Containment Unit in the Engineering Lab was specifically designed so that the Traps from Egon's house could be simultaneously emptied, hence why it has so many bays and cartridge slots). I know that they did this solely to set up sequels, but come on man!
The whole "Pheobe's too young to be a Ghostbuster" subplot is also extremely dumb. Not because I think Peck should've never barred her from being one, but that he's entirely right. Ghostbusting can be an extremely hazardous job, as we all know, and that minors probably shouldn't be the ones doing it. And when she finally is allowed to do so once again, what kind of message is that supposed to tell to the audience? That child labor laws don't apply as long as you're passionate enough for the job? What part of that makes sense?
Finally, there's Garraka's (faulty) plot armor. Garraka himself as to be one of my favorite Ghostbusters villans to date. I've always wondered what a snow/Christmas themed entity and/or plot would look like, and he almost completely scratches that itch... this his Cardi B sized fingernails and all that... Anyways, I think he's super intriguing, since he not only wields the ability to freeze people to nearly absolute 0 degrees kelvin, plunge the world around him into artic weathe, but can also forcefully control other ghosts and paranormal entities into doing his bidding. BUT... and this is a big but, his plot armor is his downfall. This mainly stems from the fact that he can freeze standard Proton Streams. The effect and idea is cool, but that instantly rendered the new Packs useless, and if you weren't going to have them play a big role in the plot, why did you go through all of that effort to redesign them??? (Unless they will finally get their time to shine in whatever sequels come after this. Only when Pheobe brass plates the Cyclotron components (and booster tube I think? It's not stated) does the Proton Stream do anything, but even then, Garraka was able to overpower her, causing her to be frozen too (sidenote, how has nobody who's been frozen by him managed to survive? Besides the vape store guy, of course.) But then of course, Melody comes in and gives Nadeem some fire, and then he proceeds to roast Garraka. That's another point... HOW DOES FIRE CAUSE HARM TO GARRAKA, BUT NOT A PROTON STREAM THAT SHOULD IN THEORY HAVE A LOT MORE ENERGY AND POWER THEN FIRE?!?!?!?!? That's why I call his plot armor "faulty". Basically, the final battle scene just showed that the Ghostbusters didn't need to handle this, as if Nadeem has any relatives with him who also had the Firemaster gene, they could've easily kicked his male donkey. Yeah... just the kind of stuff I want to see in my GHOSTBUSTERS MOVIE. What's next, the revelation that you could beat Garraka up with a pair of brass knuckles?
With all of that out of the way? Do I hate Frozen Empire? Absolutely not. For one thing, I don't hate any Ghostbusters movie (yes, that includes 2016), but also I feel as though it could've been something much better. So, how would I rewrite it?
For starters, I think that Pheobe should not have been the main character, due to the aforementioned "Pheobe's too young to be a Ghostbuster" subplot. She could still be helping around the Firehouse, doing odd jobs like helping Janine, cleaning out Ecto-1, or maybe even emptying Traps into the Containment Unit. Meanwhile, she may also be balancing stuff like summer school, college prep, etc. Of course, I'd still want her to play a role in the final battle, but not the main good-guy. In her place, I'd want Trevor to be the main character. After all, Pheobe got her time in the spotlight, now I think it should be Trevor's turn. For example, that if he was the one in the Gunner-Seat in the beginning of the film, while somebody else controlled the R.T.V.? (Maybe Pheobe, Idk). What if Trevor was the one being stalked by an (aged-up) Melody. Maybe he'd go to Lucky for help, and they'd both try to confront her, but end up causing some big calamity like how Pheobe and Podcast did at the diner. I'm not entirely sure how the whole "Garraka being released" part would play out with him, but either way, I think having him as the main character would be a huge upgrade.
Secondly, I'd get rid of the whole Containment Unit subplot of it having a limit as to how many ghosts could be stuffed inside it. I forgot to mention this earlier, but that was also one of my big gripes with this film. It makes Egon look like an incredibly short-sighted, dimwitted guy, which they clearly showed in Afterlife not to be anywhere near close to the case. Instead, I think a better explanation for its design would be something more akin to The Real Ghostbusters, where the inside of it was basically a different dimension that was either an infinite, or extremely large, capacity (i.e. the Sun would explode before the Containment Unit would get full). Also, Garraka would not be able to breach it open in a way that all the entities inside it would be able to escape, rather only enough so that he'd be able to be sucked inside it once they reversed the polarity.
Finally, both Garraka and the final battle would be heavily reworked. Garraka would retain most of his abilities with the exception of his Proton Stream immunity, but that wouldn't come into play until the end. At first, Garraka would be able to freeze Lucky's Proton Stream as he did in the film, and during the beginning of the battle. However, when he's about to bust open the ECU completely, Trevor walks up the basement stairs, and flips his Proton Pack into Composite Particle System mode. That's right, instead of a brass-plated Pack, he'd be wielding a TVG Pack! Much like the brass Pack, I'd wanted it to be hinted at throughout the film. In this case, I'm thinking that when Lars is showing off the blueprints for the Containment Unit and other Ghostbusters equipment, Trevor or Pheobe spots a blueprint for a pack labeled "rejected". Upon furthermore investigation, it turns out to be blueprints for various Proton Pack upgrades Egon had thought up and designed, but were rejected for potentially being too dangerous. Whoever, someone (Maybe Pheobe) takes interest in these, and decides to add them on to a spare Pack. Somehow, this upgraded Pack ends up in Trevor's hands right before Garraka shows up, and he proceeds to March up the stairs to kick Garraka's honey, in this case, with the Meson Collider/Overload Pulse. By some miracle, it does some damage, causing him to be distracted from breaching open the ECU. The blast of Meson particles is hot enough to crack Garraka's layer of ice that coats his body, which Proton Streams simply can't. Then of course, Garraka hits Trevor with his ice breath, freezing him in place, yadayadayada, Melody and Nadeem come in to help, but in this case, Nadeem's firepower also caused Garraka's ice layer to melt, and once the other Ghostbusters are unfrozen, he's completely vulnerable to Proton Stream attacks. Then it becomes a huge curfuffle of Nadeem, Trevor, the rest of the Spenglers, and Gary zapping and capping Garraka. Meanwhile, the OGs rush down to the basement to reverse the polarity of the Containment Unit, sucking Garraka into it, and sealing itself shut. Light is green, the whole world's clean, Melody apologizes to Trevor for manipulating him and bringing about the apocalypse, she crosses over, and everyone does the Whip and Nae Nae. The end.
Is my little fanfic perfect? No. I could say and add more to this, but I've been writing for the past hour, and I'm tired. I hope somebody likes it.
For starters, and this is probably my biggest gripe with it, the new equipment never got the time to shine it so desperately deserved. Nobody except Pheobe, Lucky, and Lars wore the Red Parkas, the HASP Packs and compact Throwers played next to zero part in the plot (they weren't even used to catch/eliminate a ghost!), and the Ecto Z was kind of a let down in terms of design. This is not to say that I hate the new equipment, far from it, as I'm actually in the process of making a HASP Pack myself, and I have an Alexgear Parka. Deleted scenes seem to suggest that they would've been utilized more, and if that were the case, then I'd be very curious as to what earlier versions of the film would've looked like.
The Containment Unit subplot was an extremely disappointment. Firstly, I HATE how Garraka was able to breach it open, once again destroying the firehouse and unleashing his army of ghosts that was warned about in the trailers. It makes the ending super bittersweet for obvious reasons. Who's to say that there weren't some entities in the ECU that were just as/if not more dangerously powerful and malevolent as Garraka? What if Gozer and the the Terror Dogs were inside it? (Though I have a theory that the new Containment Unit in the Engineering Lab was specifically designed so that the Traps from Egon's house could be simultaneously emptied, hence why it has so many bays and cartridge slots). I know that they did this solely to set up sequels, but come on man!
The whole "Pheobe's too young to be a Ghostbuster" subplot is also extremely dumb. Not because I think Peck should've never barred her from being one, but that he's entirely right. Ghostbusting can be an extremely hazardous job, as we all know, and that minors probably shouldn't be the ones doing it. And when she finally is allowed to do so once again, what kind of message is that supposed to tell to the audience? That child labor laws don't apply as long as you're passionate enough for the job? What part of that makes sense?
Finally, there's Garraka's (faulty) plot armor. Garraka himself as to be one of my favorite Ghostbusters villans to date. I've always wondered what a snow/Christmas themed entity and/or plot would look like, and he almost completely scratches that itch... this his Cardi B sized fingernails and all that... Anyways, I think he's super intriguing, since he not only wields the ability to freeze people to nearly absolute 0 degrees kelvin, plunge the world around him into artic weathe, but can also forcefully control other ghosts and paranormal entities into doing his bidding. BUT... and this is a big but, his plot armor is his downfall. This mainly stems from the fact that he can freeze standard Proton Streams. The effect and idea is cool, but that instantly rendered the new Packs useless, and if you weren't going to have them play a big role in the plot, why did you go through all of that effort to redesign them??? (Unless they will finally get their time to shine in whatever sequels come after this. Only when Pheobe brass plates the Cyclotron components (and booster tube I think? It's not stated) does the Proton Stream do anything, but even then, Garraka was able to overpower her, causing her to be frozen too (sidenote, how has nobody who's been frozen by him managed to survive? Besides the vape store guy, of course.) But then of course, Melody comes in and gives Nadeem some fire, and then he proceeds to roast Garraka. That's another point... HOW DOES FIRE CAUSE HARM TO GARRAKA, BUT NOT A PROTON STREAM THAT SHOULD IN THEORY HAVE A LOT MORE ENERGY AND POWER THEN FIRE?!?!?!?!? That's why I call his plot armor "faulty". Basically, the final battle scene just showed that the Ghostbusters didn't need to handle this, as if Nadeem has any relatives with him who also had the Firemaster gene, they could've easily kicked his male donkey. Yeah... just the kind of stuff I want to see in my GHOSTBUSTERS MOVIE. What's next, the revelation that you could beat Garraka up with a pair of brass knuckles?
With all of that out of the way? Do I hate Frozen Empire? Absolutely not. For one thing, I don't hate any Ghostbusters movie (yes, that includes 2016), but also I feel as though it could've been something much better. So, how would I rewrite it?
For starters, I think that Pheobe should not have been the main character, due to the aforementioned "Pheobe's too young to be a Ghostbuster" subplot. She could still be helping around the Firehouse, doing odd jobs like helping Janine, cleaning out Ecto-1, or maybe even emptying Traps into the Containment Unit. Meanwhile, she may also be balancing stuff like summer school, college prep, etc. Of course, I'd still want her to play a role in the final battle, but not the main good-guy. In her place, I'd want Trevor to be the main character. After all, Pheobe got her time in the spotlight, now I think it should be Trevor's turn. For example, that if he was the one in the Gunner-Seat in the beginning of the film, while somebody else controlled the R.T.V.? (Maybe Pheobe, Idk). What if Trevor was the one being stalked by an (aged-up) Melody. Maybe he'd go to Lucky for help, and they'd both try to confront her, but end up causing some big calamity like how Pheobe and Podcast did at the diner. I'm not entirely sure how the whole "Garraka being released" part would play out with him, but either way, I think having him as the main character would be a huge upgrade.
Secondly, I'd get rid of the whole Containment Unit subplot of it having a limit as to how many ghosts could be stuffed inside it. I forgot to mention this earlier, but that was also one of my big gripes with this film. It makes Egon look like an incredibly short-sighted, dimwitted guy, which they clearly showed in Afterlife not to be anywhere near close to the case. Instead, I think a better explanation for its design would be something more akin to The Real Ghostbusters, where the inside of it was basically a different dimension that was either an infinite, or extremely large, capacity (i.e. the Sun would explode before the Containment Unit would get full). Also, Garraka would not be able to breach it open in a way that all the entities inside it would be able to escape, rather only enough so that he'd be able to be sucked inside it once they reversed the polarity.
Finally, both Garraka and the final battle would be heavily reworked. Garraka would retain most of his abilities with the exception of his Proton Stream immunity, but that wouldn't come into play until the end. At first, Garraka would be able to freeze Lucky's Proton Stream as he did in the film, and during the beginning of the battle. However, when he's about to bust open the ECU completely, Trevor walks up the basement stairs, and flips his Proton Pack into Composite Particle System mode. That's right, instead of a brass-plated Pack, he'd be wielding a TVG Pack! Much like the brass Pack, I'd wanted it to be hinted at throughout the film. In this case, I'm thinking that when Lars is showing off the blueprints for the Containment Unit and other Ghostbusters equipment, Trevor or Pheobe spots a blueprint for a pack labeled "rejected". Upon furthermore investigation, it turns out to be blueprints for various Proton Pack upgrades Egon had thought up and designed, but were rejected for potentially being too dangerous. Whoever, someone (Maybe Pheobe) takes interest in these, and decides to add them on to a spare Pack. Somehow, this upgraded Pack ends up in Trevor's hands right before Garraka shows up, and he proceeds to March up the stairs to kick Garraka's honey, in this case, with the Meson Collider/Overload Pulse. By some miracle, it does some damage, causing him to be distracted from breaching open the ECU. The blast of Meson particles is hot enough to crack Garraka's layer of ice that coats his body, which Proton Streams simply can't. Then of course, Garraka hits Trevor with his ice breath, freezing him in place, yadayadayada, Melody and Nadeem come in to help, but in this case, Nadeem's firepower also caused Garraka's ice layer to melt, and once the other Ghostbusters are unfrozen, he's completely vulnerable to Proton Stream attacks. Then it becomes a huge curfuffle of Nadeem, Trevor, the rest of the Spenglers, and Gary zapping and capping Garraka. Meanwhile, the OGs rush down to the basement to reverse the polarity of the Containment Unit, sucking Garraka into it, and sealing itself shut. Light is green, the whole world's clean, Melody apologizes to Trevor for manipulating him and bringing about the apocalypse, she crosses over, and everyone does the Whip and Nae Nae. The end.
Is my little fanfic perfect? No. I could say and add more to this, but I've been writing for the past hour, and I'm tired. I hope somebody likes it.
Statistics: Posted by TriBumperTroglodyte — August 20th, 2025, 10:59 pm