Ghostbusters II (1989)

2 1/2 Stars (out of 4)

Busting Again

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

This sequel, made five years after the hit original, feels forced and obligatory -- even the old "Ghostbusters" logo has changed to a ghost holding up two fingers -- although some of the old camaraderie between the co-stars still comes out from time to time. Dana (Sigourney Weaver) is now a single mom, and ghosts attack her baby, invisibly stealing the carriage and pushing it through the Manhattan streets. At the museum where she works, a curator (Peter MacNicol) prepares for the coming of Lord Vigo, and plans to use her baby as part of the ritual.

Meanwhile, the ghostbusters (Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, and Ernie Hudson) are disgraced and must re-form to tackle the new threat, which materializes as a river of slime flowing beneath the New York City streets, made up of all the negative emotions swirling around the city. It ends with a walking Statue of Liberty helping to save the day. Poor Ernie Hudson still doesn't have much to do, but the movie cooks up a little romance between Rick Moranis and Annie Potts.

Ghostbusters II takes place over the Christmas and New Year's season, and even though there are few overt references to the holiday, decorations and the atmosphere are there. It's enough to make it a perennial classic for some viewers. Ivan Reitman directs, again. As late as 2014, thirty years after the original, talk of a third film still continues.