It is astounding how, five films in, no sequel or reboot has succeeded in capturing the magic of the original 1984 masterpiece that is “Ghostbusters.” A true lightning-in-a-bottle film, everything came together to create one of the all-time great film comedies with one of the all-time great casts. Unfortunately, Sony will not let the series rest, and they are once again trying to make “Ghostbusters” their new MCU with the new “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire.”

The Spengler Family (Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard and McKenna Grace) have taken up the family business of busting New York’s ghosts. Things are not easy though, with Mayor Walter Peck (William Atherton) cracking down on them, in particular Phoebe. However, things are about to get worse when an ancient artifact looks to unleash a powerful being that aims to end the world with a new ice age.

I will admit that “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” was not an awful movie until its third act. While it was heavily — and I do mean heavily — reliant on nostalgia, it was at least a new spin on the concept. Until literally becoming the first “Ghostbusters” in the final 25 minutes. Despite this, I was quite excited for “Frozen Empire” as it looked to be something new. Sadly, though, while the film fixes some of its predecessor’s errors, it leaves room for plenty of new ones that leave this latest installment incredibly underwhelming.

By far, the thing that holds the film back the most is the bloated cast. The film boasts an all-star cast, but sadly it fails to utilize just about all of them in any meaningful way. On top of the returning Spengler family and the original cast from the 1984 film, you also have Kumail Nanjiani, Patton Oswalt, James Acaster and Emily Alyn Lind. While these actors are all incredibly charming and could make for a great cast in a “Ghostbusters” movie, this one has simply too many cooks in the kitchen. Nanjiani and Lind, in particular, take up a large portion of the film’s running time but suffer from incredibly silly plotlines.

I will admit that some characters get satisfying arcs; Phoebe continues to be the best new character, and McKenna Grace just knows how to be an incredibly charming young actor. Dan Aykroyd is the only returning original member who feels like there’s a purpose for having him there. Although, I really don’t need to keep seeing the old team suit up to help the newbies, mainly because it makes me sad the same way Harrison Ford in “Dial of Destiny” made me sad. I will also admit that while I feel he felt incredibly underutilized in “Afterlife,” Paul Rudd was used to much greater effect this time around.

I feel that this film also suffers from what many other Sony films suffer from, and that’s the fact that they are clearly trying to make this an event film/cinematic universe. Underneath the mountain of characters and sequel set-ups, I feel there’s a much simpler and far better film that could be found. If this movie was just the Spengler family trying to work together as the new Ghostbusters team that would not only help flesh out the new characters who have now gone two movies with little to no development, but it also means we could stop comparing these new movies to the originals.

Like its predecessor, “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” suffers the most when clinging to callbacks and references to the original that made the first so iconic instead of making new iconic moments. While the film has some fun set pieces and a much less disrespectful ending than “Afterlife,” there is nothing for new viewers or fans to latch onto. The potential for a great “Ghostbusters” movie is there, but the refusal to take risks or go in completely new directions shows that this series should finally be put to rest.

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