Ghostbusters 2

I, like many people my age, love the Ghostbusters. Unlike many people, I actually highly enjoyed the sequel. It's always seemed to have gotten a bad reputation, Bill Murray himself has even said how weak he thought the second film was; despite this, I always maintained that the sequel was not as bad as everybody make it out to be. I used to watch both Ghostbusters films all the time when I was younger, but as I've gotten older I stopped watching it as frequently. I must admit, it had been a few years since I had watched either movie, until recently when both films were FINALLY released on blu-ray. The original movie had actually been released on blu-ray back in 2009 (along with a videogame), to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the film. Despite the fact that Ghostbusters 2 was also celebrating it's 20th anniversary that same year, a blu-ray was not released for it at that time; so I was relegated to watching the DVD version of the sequel, which was probably the last time I saw it before it's blu-ray release this year.

With the 30th anniversary of the original Ghostbusters - and 25th anniversary of the sequel - occurring this year, BOTH films were released and blu-ray, and I immediately went out and bought them. Having watched the re-release of the original in theaters over the summer, I decided to go straight to Ghostbusters 2 when I bought the blu-rays. As I sat and watched the sequel I started thinking to myself, "this isn't as good as I remember it being." Overall I still don't think it was terrible, but I did feel a sense of disappointment while watching it. Maybe my nostalgia for the film had over compensated my memories of the film. Perhaps the fact that I had just seen the original on the big screen, and I was watching the sequel at home on my TV is what led to the letdown. Maybe I had heard and read so many negative reviews of the sequel over the years, that they clouded my enjoyment of the movie. I don't know what it was, but I just didn't have the same love for Ghostbusters 2 as I did when I was younger.

The movie was ok, the acting was good, the story was decent, but there just felt like something was missing. I think it was the feeling that they weren't catching any ghosts, the story completely centered around the slime and Vigo (the villain). Outside two short montages, there was really no other mention of the Ghostbusters actually catching ghosts. At least in the original film, in addition to the final fight with Gozer, the Ghostbusters also caught Slimer and there were scenes of them bringing back the traps and emptying them into the containment unit.

A few days ago I was reading an Entertainment Weekly interview with Ernie Hudson. In the interview, Mr. Hudson mentions what little role his character, Winston, actually played in the movies. In the first movie, he comes in as a new recruit about halfway through, so Winston playing a small role in that film made sense with the story line. However, it wasn't until I read this interview, and then thought about it, that I realized how little of a role Winston has in the second movie as well. Although there are some scenes where all 4 Ghostbusters are together, a lot of the time it'll just be 3 of them together; and most of the time the missing person is Winston. When the Ghostbusters initially dig a hole in the middle of a street and discover the slime, it's Ray, Egon, And Peter - no Winston. When they go to Dana's apartment at the beginning of the movie to examine baby Oscar, again it's just Peter, Ray, and Egon. I, like I think most people, think of the Ghostbusters as a foursome, but a lot of the time there's just 3 of them together while 1 other person is missing - and usually, that person is Winston.

As I previously stated, although I still think Ghostbusters 2 is better than most people give it credit for, it's not as good as I had remembered. If you asked me 5 years ago when I last watched it what rating I would give, I'd easily give it 4/5. However, after my recent re-watching of it, I'm giving it a 3/5.





Other Titles You Might Like: