'Ghostbusters 2' Review
In 1984 Ghostbusters took the world by storm, and became a phenomena so it only makes sense that a sequel would be a great idea. And I'm sure it was from a business standpoint, but the execution falls flat. Ghostbusters 2 picks up five years after the original, the team are supposed phonies again and have gone their separate ways while remaining in contact with one another. After a series of events the team must again unite to protect the city from ghosts. and the plot is basically the same of that in Ghostbusters only sloppily executed.
The one strength of the film is it's effects, and even those are half as great as the effects in the original because at least those held up to a degree. The screenplay crafted by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis feels like a regurgitation of their writing for the original with less charm. The dialogue is cheesier, the stakes feel lower, and the plot is just ridiculous.
The entire film rides on purple ooze fueled by the hatred of New Yorkers so to defeat it the Ghostbusters must invoke a positive spirit across the city. Yes, it's that dumb. And it didn't help that the film wasn't very funny either as I hardly even chuckled throughout the one hour fifty minute runtime. I couldn't even rely on the "Ghostbusters" song to put a smile on my face as this film features a cover of it that was lacking compared to the original.
Ivan Reitman helms the sequel and unfortunate isn't able to recreate the magic that occurred in 1984. What saves the flick from being a true disaster is that they were able to reunite the cast of the original and even they are half-baked versions of their former selves. Bill Murray's charisma wasn't enough this time as he's merely a more arrogant version of Dr. Peter Venkman. Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis inject the same cowardly and geeky personas to Dr. Raymond Stantz and Dr. Egon Spengler respectively failing to bring anything different to their characters. Ernie Hudson is faintly seen or heard once again as Winson Zeddmore but he brings a few laughs with his limited dialogue.
Sigourney Weaver's Dana Barrett feels more flat as she's written to be a fairly one-dimensional over concerned mother as she passes the damsel in distress to Barrett's baby son for him to be the fellow in fear. Annie Potts is a more sexualized version of the catty secretary she brought in Ghostbusters while Rick Moranis is even more of a wimp and he brings the best moments in Ghostbusters 2.
Sequels rarely live up to the original and sadly Ghostbusters 2 doesn't either. What went wrong with Ghostbusters 2 is a mystery, but I can tell that in all departments the team responsible weren't spirited enough to even try to make a decent followup.
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