Ghostbusters II is a science-fiction comedy released in 1989 by Columbia Pictures. It stars Bill Murray as Peter Venkman, Dan Aykroyd as Ray Stantz, Sigourney Weaver as Dana Barrett, Harold Ramis as Egon Spengler, and Rick Moranis as Louis Tully. The writers are Harold Ramis (Groundhog Day) and Dan Aykroyd (The Blues Brothers). The director is Ivan Reitman (Fathers' Day).
The story picks up five years after the events of Ghostbusters. The Ghostbusters are out of business, having been issued a restraining order forbidding them to bust ghosts. New York City also showed their gratitude for the Ghostbusters' saving their city by suing them for property damage. Dana Barrett, Peter Venkman's ex-girlfriend, now has an eight-month old baby named Oscar. After his carriage rolls over some slime, a supernatural force causes it to run amok until it finally stops in the middle of the street. Dana asks the Ghostbusters to help. They track the slime to the underground and are arrested after having dug a hole in the middle of First Avenue. Louis Tully tries to defend them in court but does a horrible job. The judge finds them guilty but, before he can complete the sentence, two ghosts come out of the slime sample they had brought into court. The judge lifts the restraining order so the Ghostbusters can trap the ghosts destroying his courtroom. They are successful and the Ghostbusters are officially back in business. One night, as Dana and Oscar are preparing for a bath, some of the slime comes out of the drain and tries to grab little Oscar. They escape and go to Peter's apartment where he lets them stay there until everything is straightened out. Ray and Egon learn that the slime is actually created by the negativity of New Yorkers. The Ghostbusters also are investigating an unusual painting that Dana believes is staring at her. They takes some pictures and discover that the same slime that they had found earlier was in that painting with Vigo the Carpathian tyrant. Winston, Ray, and Egon go to investigate the mysterious river of slime underground. After accidentally falling in, they find out that the river of slime flows right to the Manhattan Museum of Art where the Vigo painting is. Later on, a ghost resembling Dana's boss, Janosz, from the museum kidnaps Oscar and takes him to the painting where Vigo will use him to come back to Earth and wreak havoc.
After the first Ghostbusters film, a television cartoon series was developed. It was a huge success, which is why Columbia Pictures practically forced the producers to make Ghostbusters II. Many will have you believe that this film is a simple rehashing of the first film. While that is true in some areas, the sequel does come into its own. It has a great story that could only be set up in New York City. The stereotypical New Yorker, in this particular movie, is miserable and treats everyone else as such. So the storywriters decided to make negative mood slime out of all the bad feelings and have it become strong enough to bring back a cruel Moldavian tyrant named Vigo, who had died at the age of 105 back in the 17th century due to extreme torture and not old age.
During this movie, we can see an incredible historical coincidence. One scene specifically comes to mind: when the Titanic arrives at Pier 34 in New York City. Vigo is a Carpathian tyrant and, as most of us know, it was the Carpathia that picked up the survivors of the Titanic disaster back in 1912. This time instead of picking up survivors, Vigo from Carpathia brought back those that lost their lives on that fateful ship that night. In this scene, one of the men at the dock looks at the other and says, "Well, better late than never." This is unbelievable, though it is doubtful that this was intentional on the part of the writers.
There is another interesting fact about Ghostbusters and Garfield. In Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II, the character of Peter Venkman is portrayed by comedian Bill Murray, who also was the voice of Garfield the cat in the new Garfield movies. In the cartoon The Real Ghostbusters, Peter Venkman's voice comes from the late Lorenzo Music. Music also voiced Garfield in the old Garfield cartoons.
To wrap, Ghostbusters II is a fun and humorous ride from beginning to end!
Written by Kevin Dillehay
http://www.moviefilmreview.com/author/Kmonk10
Kevin T. Dillehay has written nearly a hundred movie reviews from all genres. He provides a unique perspective on the movies you see all the time but may not stop and think about in depth. You are invited to check out his work at http://www.moviefilmreview.com/author/kmonk10.
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