Ghostbusters II exists and that’s about all it’ll ever be known for. It’s not as iconic, memorable, or even rewatchable like Ghostbusters is. Like I said in my Ghostbusters review, I watched Ghostbusters II as part of a 2 pack. Although I can’t recall whether or not I watched both movies back to back. I think I did, but that shows the problem with Ghostbusters II. By this point in 1989, Ghostbusters and the animated series The Real Ghostbusters were hugely successful. So the studio kept pressing the actors to make a sequel even though they didn’t want to. Eventually they relented and that’s how we ended up with Ghostbusters II. This time the threat is some kind of evil painting and slime that brings things to life. The Ghostbusters are now labeled frauds and are each doing their own thing. Also Dana has a baby named Oscar, Louis wants to join the team, and Janine is suddenly attracted to Louis. Unfortunately most of the jokes don’t land and the ones that do aren’t memorable. The same can be said about the villain whose name I can’t remember. This was of course after the animated series. So the adult humor is way toned down. No casual smoking, swearing, or sexual innuendos to be found. Slimer was meant to have a big role like in the series, but it would have been too expensive. Not that the movie is completely without merit. The Statue of Liberty scene is pretty great. Ghostbusters II is just an unremarkable sequel to an already perfect movie.
The Ghostbusters save the day
Preceded by: Ghostbusters
