THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
Ghostbusters was one hell of a comedy when first released in 1984 and due to its box office success, a sequel was abound.
PLOT
The 1989 sequel takes place exactly five years after the titular team saved New York City from the shapeshifting god Gozer. However, they were sued for property damage and barred from investigating the paranormal, forcing them to go out of business. Ray Stantz owns a bookstore, while entertaining children on the sideline with Winston Zeddemore. Egon Spelding conducts experiments of human emotion at Columbia University. Peter Venkman began hosting a pseudo-psychic television show after breaking up with Dana Barrett. The latter would move on and have a baby boy, Oscar, with an unnamed ex husband. She now works as a restorer at the Manhattan Museum of Art. When her son's carriage pushed away by an unknown force, she worries that the two could be in more danger. So she goes to Egon for help, who offers to help as much as he can, with the assist of Ray. When Venkman finds out of their investigation, he chooses to join them, in hopes to reconnect with Dana. The next day, they investigate the street where the stroller stopped and find a strong signal underneath, resulting in them drilling a hole in the street. Ray goes through the new tunnel and discovers a river of slime flowing under New York. He does take a sample before he gets pulled back up. As this happens, Dana's colleague Janosz Poha is ordered by the ghost of Vigo the Carpathian to take a child, so he can possess it with evil power. By morning, the Ghostbusters are taken to trial for violating their restraining order. The judge decides to dismiss the charges and rescind the restraining order when a pair of ghosts attack the courtroom. When the team traps them, they reopen their business in which Janine (Annie Potts) returns as their receptionist and Louis Tully becomes their personal accountant & tax attorney. During this time, they discover that the slime reacts negatively to threats and positively to music. At night, the slime invades Dana's bathroom, resulting in her and Oscar to seek refuge at Venkman's apartment. When the two go out on a date, Louis and Janine babysit, whereas the rest of the Ghostbusters continue investigation. As they find it underground, they briefly become influenced by its negative energy. The team does explain this to the mayor, but his assistant Jack Hardenmeyer (Kurt Fuller) decides to commit all four men to a psychiatric hospital to protect personal interests. As they get committed, a ghost abducts Oscar and Dana pursues it to save her son. When the slime causes supernatural chaos, the mayor releases the Ghostbusters and fires Hardenmeyer for his selfishness. Needing something positive to weaken the slime, they animate and pilot the Statue of Liberty by slime charging with positive emotions. They would then use the statue's torch to break through a shell of slime surrounding the museum. The team finds the Barretts held captive and they rescue them by neutralizing Janosz with positive slime. When Vigo attempts to immobilize all of the protagonists, he becomes weakened by the citizens outside, who spread positive energy by singing 'Auld Lang Syne'. Outside, Louis suits up and shoots at the shell with a Proton Pack. Before he could fully possess, Egon hits him with more positive slime until it disappears, resulting in his painting being replaced by the likeness of the team surrounding Oscar. The film ends with the Ghostbusters being cheered on by the city once again, resulting in them being honored by the mayor the key to the city once the Statue of Liberty was returned to Liberty Island.
THOUGHTS
I do remember checking this out whenever I would finish the first film and I overall think that this was pretty good. Director Ivan Reitman was able to bring back the exciting energy that was known before and maintain it throughout. It’s not exactly eery but suspenseful, yet didn’t need that because that was part of wanting to be different, which I respect. What it does do better though was it’s use of practical effects because I thought Slimer looked more realistic whenever he appeared. While there were issues with the story, which I’ll get to later, the biggest takeaway is that this film’s villain is not as memorable as the last. Vigo may not be creepy like Gozer, but with the presence of Wilhelm von Homburg as the stand in and Max Von Sydow providing his voice, he is intimidating enough to keep me interested. While he’s fine enough of a character, I cannot say the same with the underling that was Janosz. Peter MacNicol was annoyingly creepy during his time onscreen and I don’t think that was the point. Since he was obsessively infatuated with Dana, it was easier to dislike him, which is why I thought it was even weird for him to be redeemed when he became a gentle person after exposure to positive slime. It’s very clear that the only true reason this movie remains watchable is the presence of the original cast because when the original team make their comeback, it does inspire people to not give up on what you believe in. Dan Aykroyd is just as enjoyable as before playing Ray Stantz. He is the most disappointed when things originally went south with Gozer, but when things went into motion again, he regains his ebullience. Harold Ramis is still memorable as Egon. While he may be socially awkward, he is more self aware, which only rose his intelligence even more for the better. Had that not happened, I don't think they would've been able to stop Vigo. Bill Murray remains as great as before playing Venkman, perfectly executing his dry sense of humor within each scene. It hits different this time because he felt like he lost it all, that is Dana and ghostbusting. He never married her at first because he was afraid of commitment. When he found out she was back in town, he didn't hesitate fixing his wrong, that is eliminating his apathy. As for Sigourney Weaver, she is just as likable last time she played Dana. She is just as confident, but this time, she is about as concerned as a mother would be when there are ghosts in the city. Although the Ghostbusters help her as much as they can, she shows off her own set of fearlessness when it comes to protecting her son. I still dig Ernie Hudson because he maintains Winston as the most realistic character: He doesn’t understand everything that’s happening, but he’s willing to do what he can to help. Last but not least, it is a big debate on whether or not Rick Moranis improves as Louis. That doesn't matter because the smiles he gave were the icing on the cake. When he met the Ghostbusters, he wanted to be a hero like them and luckily, he had that chance to shine. I may have a soft spot, but then again, it still has its issues that prevent it from being better. First off, how is Slimer driving the bus? If he is able to possess it, that should be a little clear because despite knowing movies bend reality, it doesn't excuse how illogical it is as when he gives Tully a ride. And how come Ray didn't re apply as a professor? I'm sure that if Egon could, so could he. Since you need a permit to drill in public, how did the Ghostbusters not get stopped by the cops until night? New York is a big place and I'm sure at least one other cop car could've passed by at day. And how did Janosz know where Dana lived? I know he has an obsessive crush over her, but it doesn't look like he followed her to figure it out. I also wonder how did Venkman's schedule look when he returned as a Ghostbuster since he had a talk show? Did he quit and cancel it? Because they don't bring it up if he did. Also, why was Louis the lawyer to the team when they are put on trial? I get that maybe Ray couldn't afford someone else, but I feel like Venkman would've due to his work on television. That situation is just as unrealistic as not having a jury for their case and the judge recognizing the Scoleri brothers when they didn't look like the way they were as humans. I then gotta ask why did the parents order for Ghostbusters to attend the kids' birthday party when they were clearly asking for He Man? If Masters of the Unvierse was that popular, there should've been at least one cosplayer around to do come down. That's more surprising than the team not getting ran over when first investigating the ooze. I'm even impressed the team got to go to the museum without being invited when it came to understand Vigo and the source of the ooze. And why didn't the group take the Proton Pack before they went underground? I mean that is their greatest weapon until they manufactured the slime, so that should've been a top priority before getting things done. I even think it's ridiculous for them to be sent to a psych ward when they've had of tracking ghosts. They destroyed a gigantic marshmallow man for crying out loud, so being institutionalized should not have been possible. On top of that, Dana doesn't even make a run for it when she finds her son in the museum. That's ridiculous of a decision because since she knows it's ghost related, she should've ran for it as soon as she could. I don't even understand how it was possible for the team to reach Lady Liberty within minutes when it probably should've taken a few hours to pull off. I know we gotta wrap up the story, but that's a random way to do it. Ignore all of this and you'll still have a good time. To wrap up, Ghostbusters II is a solid sequel that doesn't need to be better than the predecessor. If you have deep love for the first film, I assure you that you'll enjoy this one too.
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