Pop Culture Movies and More: Ghostbusters II (1989)

Five years after the events of the first film, the Ghostbusters have been; plagued by lawsuits and court orders, and their once-lucrative business is bankrupt. But when Dana has ghost problems again, the boys come out of retirement and are promptly arrested. The Ghostbusters discover that New York is, once again, headed for supernatural doom, with a river of ectoplasmic slime bubbling beneath the city and an ancient sorcerer attempting to possess Dana's baby and be reborn. Can the Ghostbusters quell the negative emotions feeding the otherworldly threat and stop the world from being slimed? This sequel to Ghostbusters (1984) returns the beloved team to the big screen to take on a whole new manner of spirits, spooks and spectres. I personally, really liked this movie although, it isn't without its flaws and missed opportunities. I tend to overlook these slight faults as quite frankly this sequel is hilarious and pure entertainment. The film opens with a scene of Ray and Winston who are called out to a birthday party celebration where they get constant abuse from the kids. This short sequence shows that the people of New York don't like them anymore, which is so strange considering how the last one ended with them saving the whole world and being cheered by all. Scenes like that set the tone for this film, as the gang try to get back into the good books of the public and reclaim their old jobs. It did feel odd having everyone hate them out of nowhere to start this film and each member of the team off doing their own thing. However, things pick when they are all brought back together, and the chemistry between them skyrockets, bringing smiles and laughter for the remainder of the adventure. I think my favourite scene was when the trio are put on trial in court. Seeing them attempt to clear their names after breaking some laws was hysterical. It later turns in their favour when the court is attacked by two ghosts that they must stop. After promptly attaining their equipment, Peter turns his proton pack on and begins singing the musical scales (DO, RE, ME, etc) to the hum of the machine. After Peter's DO, it (of course) leads to Ray saying RE, which sounds just like his name. However, instead of ME coming next, Egon sings his name, following Ray's 'name sound-alike' tune, only to give a cheeky look to Peter, which is just priceless. It will forever be cemented in my head. We are introduced to a new villain in this movie in the form of Vigo, who is a pretty cool addition. I liked how he appears as a haunted painting which can move and control people like Janosz, head of the Restoration department of the Manhattan Museum of Art, to do his bidding, who has such a unique funny accent and expressions. One of the other main aspects of the film is the mysterious slime river under the city that reacts to different emotions, mainly anger, which fuels it. I think this flick actually had scarier moments than the first one, especially during the scene where Egon, Ray and Winston go into the sewers in search of the slime river but end up on an abandoned train tunnel. They, and we (the audience), get jumped scared by decapitated heads on spikes, which was extremely gruesome and truly frightening. Alongside all the main members of the ghostbusting crew, other characters also return from the previous story, like Dana (who now has a child, Oscar), Janine and Louis. Louis gets even more screen time in this one from his role as the Ghostbuster's lawyer in the court to becoming an unofficial Ghostbuster for the final battle. I do love Dana and Peter's relationship again in this film but was a bit sad how they had split up. Thankfully, they do get back with one another at the end for good. Overall, I think this is a decent follow-up to the original, which had a lot of laughs, scares and amazing effects. I mean, who doesn't want to see the Ghostbusters ride in a living Statue of Liberty to go and fight the evil Vigo to save the world? Simply seeing the whole team back together, delivering their usual banter, is enough to check this one out. Also, check out the next instalment Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021), or if you want more 80s-style adventures, look up The Real Ghostbusters (TV Series 1986-1991).