Rating of
3/4
An almost perfect, yet very slimy, seqyel
The M.O.W. - wrote on 08/03/08
Five years ago, New York City was saved by the worst paranormal incident the world has ever seen up to that point by a group of "Ghostbusters" (Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson). However, things went down hill for the group after just about every department in the city government sued them and put them out of business. The team splits up thanks to a judicial restraining order, but still keep in touch.
The crew gets back together to investigate some strange happenings which seems to be centered around "Oscar" (William and Henry Deutschendorf in their only movie role), the infant son of "Dana Barrett" (Sigourney Weaver), who broke up with "Dr. Peter Venkmen" (Murray) sometime between this and the original movie.
What they find is a very large ammount of a kind of ectoplasm under the city that they eventually discover, during a trial against them, that this slime reacts to strong emotions.
And to make things worse, a portrait at the museum "Dana", who now restores paintings in the museum for the living, holds the evil spirit of "Vigo the Carpathian" (the late Wilhelm von Homburg), who needs a child so that he might live again. "Vigo" seduces "Dana's" highly annoying boss, "Dr. Janosz Poha" (Peter MacNicol) with paranormal powers to find a child. "Dr. Poha" targets "Oscar".
Now, the reinstated "Ghostbusters" have to battle the slime and "Vigo", which may have a connection with one another.
First of all, the story is only slightly weaker than the original. However, the cast is still good and have not missed a beat. The chemistry between the "Ghostbusters" is close to perfect as they can get. We also get to see a bit more of "Louis" (Rick Moranis) and the "Ghostbuster's" secretary "Janine" (Annie Potts), who get together in this film while the two babysit "Oscar" as "Dr. Venkmen" tries to rekindle his romance with "Dana".
If you ask me, "Vigo" is a limited character. For a good chunk of the movie, he is stuck within the portrait. von Homburg is pretty evil in this role, but he must rely on special effects to help expand his character.
Other characters, including two new characters introduced in this movie, is not really developed in this role. We get some development with "Janine", who is in a slightly larger role in this film, and "Louis", who has become a lawyer. One character we get to see more of, who probably was added in due to the success of the syndicated cartoon television series "The Real Ghostbusters", is "Slimer". "Slimer" is only seen in only a few scenes and is not on camera very long. And, the only interaction he has with the main cast is when he picks up "Louis" while driving a public bus.
There are some good laughs in this film. Yet, there seems to be more chuckles than laughs. Most of the best laughs comes from Murray, who carried a good chunk of the laughs in the first movie as well. One of the best comedic scenes is when "Dr. Venkman" first meets "Oscar" and has some quality time with the infant, while trying to avoid getting a stool sample from the boy for "Dr. Egon Spengler" (Ramis) to study.
For the most part, the special effects have held up all these years pretty well. It's pretty obvious that the Statue of Liberty, which the "Ghostbusters" soak with the slime in an attempt to save New York City from Vigo.
In the language department, I don't recall hearing anything too strong unlike the first film. So, parents will probably not have to worry about that.
