I was looking forward to this new “Ghostbusters” adventure after really enjoying 2021’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife, which I felt was a wonderfully fresh, nostalgic and emotionally powerful re-introduction to that story.  This new movie tries to conjure the same type of nostalgia, even bringing back crusty Mr. Peck (William Atherton) in a key role, but it foolishly squeezes far too many characters into a story too small — or a running time too short — to make things work effectively.  The result is surprisingly dull and listless.

Gil Kenan’s film has the Spengler family (Carrie Coon, Mckenna Grace, Finn Wolfhard) and their Oklahoman friends (Paul Rudd, Celeste O’Connor, Logan Kim) taking over the old New York City firehouse and running the Ghostbusters business, despite objections from the new Mayor (Atherton).  A new threat from the occult world brings back the original gang (Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Bill Murray, Annie Potts) while also involving some fresh faces (Kumail Nanjiami, Patton Oswalt, Emily Alyn Lind).  Can these motley mortals prevent the Big Apple from becoming the portal for an evil force to freeze our world for eternity?  Of course they can; they’re the Ghostbusters.

With all those characters, and a fairly complicated plot line to establish, this looked to be a difficult story to tell.  It doesn’t help that the first hour is so deliberately (and often delicately) told that ennui is inevitable.  It seems inevitable that a few of the characters are shortchanged; Finn Wolfhard/s has one minor story hook (the ghost in the attic), while Bill Murray’s pops in for just one scene before the final confrontation.  For every amusing image (the mini Stay Puft marshmallow men creating havoc) or interesting development (the ghost character who befriends Mckenna Grace) the film devotes ten more minutes of creaky exposition surrounding the impending evil that takes forever to threaten NYC.

I dislike criticizing a movie for actually taking the time to tell its chosen story because so many of them rush through their plots to get to action sequences and big explosions.  This movie attempts to construct its path so the payoff, imperiling those characters with whom we are familiar, will be more impactful.  Sadly, this is not the case.  The film is tedious and unexciting throughout and the final confrontation, spectacular as it is, remains underwhelming and not particularly believable (the containment vault heals itself?).  Perhaps it is time for the franchise to return to retirement and allow the talented cast to move on to other, more rewarding, projects.  ☆ ☆.  17 April 2024.