This sequel makes me feel good.

“Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” is a jolly and free spirited sequel to “Ghostbusters: Afterlife,” which continued and honored the franchise that began successfully in 1984. That’s 40 years ago.

Now, we’re in 2024, we have the late Egan Spengler’s family honoring his work on the Ghostbusters team, which consists of his daughter (Carrie Coon), her boyfriend Gary Grooberson (Paul Rudd), and her two kids: the 15-year-old brainiac daughter Phoebe (Mckenna Grace), and the whiny 17-year-old son Trevor (Finn Wolfhard).

It would take the right kind of ghosts to make a “Ghostbusters” that’s better than the original. Maybe in some parallel universe or something. But I still think these two latest additions honor the franchise. Not at all like the 2016 female version.

As the film begins, the Ghostbusters’ old enemy-Mayor Walter Peck (William Atherton) deems Phoebe being unable to participate on the Ghostbusters team until she turns 18. Her mother tells her to do teenage things and make mistakes, so why not go to the park and play chess with the dead teenager Melody (Emily Alyn Lind), who maybe involved with something sinister?

Ray (Dan Aykroyd) and the youngster Podcast (Logan Kim) both have a YouTube show dedicated to smashing watches that maybe possessed because of how it beeps. The old man also runs a pawn shop, whose latest seller Nadeem Razmaadi (Kumail Nanjiani) sells him his family heirlooms, one of which features a dangerous orb.

This orb contains a ghost whose powers can literally make you scared to death. A chill down your spine, and that’s no exaggeration. That’s what the librarian Dr. Hubert Wartzki (Patton Oswalt) explains to Phoebe, Podcast, and Ray. And it’s July. Think of it like the early stages of “Frozen” when Elsa was depicted as a villain, except deadlier and more adult oriented. And not even it could survive the ghost zoo Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson) has endorsed.

This ghost zoo, as I like to call it, has the British scientist Lars Pinfield (James Acaster) and his young intern Lucky Domingo (Celeste O’Connor trying to get “Madame Webb” out of her system), as well as a variety of spirits, one of them vomits and one of them can occupy folding chairs and drinking glasses.

And don’t worry, neither I nor the movie has forgotten about Bill Murray as Peter Venkman or Annie Potts as the wisecracking secretary Janine Melnitz. They’re still in for some action. Sorry guys, no Sigourney Weaver or Rick Moranis.

I’ve grown weary of the whiny Trevor, although it is fun to see him get slimed by Slimer. And the pouty faces Phoebe makes at her opposers is typical, even though the next scene cuts to a joke. But what makes “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” enjoyable is the way it honors the late Ivan Reitman, and the original movie. It’s a funny and goodhearted ride that continues the story in the 2020s without degrading itself like Vacation in 2015 or Home Sweet Home Alone 3 years ago.

Ivan’s son Jason, who directed the last entry, is still a producer and co-writer with Gil Kenan, who takes over the director’s chair. I like the way it shows us the patience of Phoebe and Melody within their would-be friendship of differences, which isn’t mean-spirited like the krakens and mermaids in “Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken,” and I like how the mini Stay Puft Marshmallow Men continue to follow a Minions meets Gremlins comic relief tradition.

Even though the film is rated PG-13, it might frighten small children, especially if it’s preceded by trailers for “Tarot” and “The First Omen.” But if they’re old enough for any “Ghostbusters” movie and you take them to see “Frozen Empire,” I would suggest you wait 15-20 minutes for the previews to be over.