Ghostbusters II
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 The Ghostbusters Are Back!
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This page is dedicated to the director of Ghostbusters Ivan Reitman, who tragically died in his sleep after he could see the film's legend. (October 27, 1946 - February 12, 2022)
Ghostbusters II is a 1989 American fantasy comedy film written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis and directed by Ivan Reitman. It stars Bill Murray, Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Ramis, Rick Moranis, Ernie Hudson, and Annie Potts. It is the sequel to the 1984 film Ghostbusters and the second film in the Ghostbusters franchise.
Development
Production on Ghostbusters II was fraught with its own set of issues and indirectly led to a series of stall-outs and delays that led the film series to be put on ice for more than two decades. At first, nearly all of the parties involved in the making of the first film had no interest in doing a sequel, as they thought the original should be considered a standalone work. After a meeting with CAA agent Michael Ovitz in Los Angeles, however, Ivan Reitman, Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, and Dan Aykroyd all realized they could do it. This was also the meeting in which a formative agreement, in which Aykroyd, Ramis, and Murray all needed to be on the same page to greenlight any further sequels, was signed, which would come into play in later years. Filming began in November 1988 in New York with a scant 67-day shooting schedule. While filming of the live-action material progressed, Industrial Light and Magic (the FX studio hired for the sequel) found itself running into significant problems with many of the effects. The design for the Scoleri Brothers had to be adapted several times when the concept changed. Vigo the Carpathian saw his design shift multiple times over the course of production, with his final look being worked on right up until the last minute. Much like the first film, ILM had nine units working overtime to try to get their original shots done, and eventually gave up and admitted that they couldn't do any more, and several planned scenes (including one where ghosts pour out of the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House) were scrapped. Not helping was the fact that 1989 also saw the release of The Abyss (where they created the Pseudopod), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, The 'Burbs, Field of Dreams, and Back to the Future Part II. While principal photography was completed on time, the production crew realized they needed to go back for additional re-shoots after test audiences complained that several of the concepts in the film (including "good and bad slime", Vigo, and some of the ghosts) needed better explanations. With only three months before the film was set to hit theaters, Reitman and the crew went back for additional location shooting. Not helping matters was a release date change to June 16th, 1989, a week before the hotly-anticipated Batman (1989) was set to premiere.
Plot
Five years after saving New York City from a ghost attack, the Ghostbusters -- a team of spirit exterminators -- is disbanded for demolishing parts of the city during the battle. But when Ghostbuster Peter Venkman (Bill Murray) learns that spirits have taken an interest in his ex-girlfriend's son, the men launch a rogue ghost-chasing mission. The quest quickly goes awry, landing them in court. But when the ghosts turn on the judge, he issues an order allowing the Ghostbusters to get back to work.
Good Qualities
- The concept of a slime that's able to manifests ghosts because of negative reactions is actually pretty interesting.
- The first part of the movie where we see where all the characters ended up after disbanding the Ghostbusters is actually pretty interesting and fits in well with their personalities.
- The acting is pretty decent, even for the new characters.
- The special effects for the ghosts, especially controlling the Statue of Liberty were arguably more impressive than the effects from the first film.
- Great action scenes, especially at the court scene where the Scoleri Brothers take action against the humans in the building.
- New awesome soundtrack that was performed by Randy Edelman, and best of which, the original Ghostbusters song is still there.
- While the film was toned down for kids, it still has a number of amusing moments.
- "Let's see what happens when we take away the puppy."
- "You know, I'm a voter! Aren't you supposed to lie to me and kiss my butt?"
- Vigo and Janosz are pretty decent villains that want to kidnap the baby named Oscar and gain Dana by force.
Bad Qualities
- The film dumps on the accomplishments made in the previous film:
- By the end of the first film, Peter and Dana were together. In this film, they're not.
- After their heroic efforts from the first film, the Ghostbusters are suddenly being sued.
- Some of the dark humor is meant to be more family-friendly, and some of the charm of the first film is absent.
- The film is basically a rehash of the first film with things like the montage of the characters catching ghosts, a giant figure walking down Manhattan, paranormal things happening to Dana Barrett, and etc.
- Plot Hole: Why do a number of people in the movie claim not to believe in the supernatural a mere five years after a prehistoric deity marched through downtown Manhattan?
- The movie tries to justify this claiming that Peck convinced everyone that the Stay Puft Man was a marketing ploy, and the explosion that closed the portal was the Ghostbusters misusing pyrotechnics, leaving them on the hook for all the damages caused by saving the world.
- Executive Meddling: According to Ernie Hudson, after executives saw how popular the first movie was with kids, they forced some changes onto the second movie to make it more appealing to a younger audience. Much like what happened to later seasons of The Real Ghostbusters, they tried to fix something that wasn't broken; thankfully, the movie didn't suffer too much from it, depending on who you ask.
Reception
Ghostbusters II received mixed reviews from critics, holding a 54% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It was received more favorably by fans of the original with a 61% rating on Audience score, while Metacritic holds a 56/100 rating, indicating "mixed or average reviews" with a 7.4/10 user score rating on that same website, and a 6.6/10 rating on IMDb. Prior to the release of Afterlife, and as well of the 2016 reboot, many fans were express interest in the third Ghostbusters film, and just after the critical disaster Ghostbusters reboot of 2016, many fans knew they found that the second film is still better than its reboot.