Ghostbusters 2 should have been amazing. The whole team is back, from the actors to the director to the screenwriters. Sure, five years between movies is a tad long so most of the hype had died down, but this could still have worked.
And there are good things in this movie. The world is still eminently intriguing and as cool as frozen hell. It's no wonder that this franchise is still alive and kicking. There's just something viscerally and effortlessly appealing about it.
Furthermore, all the main actors are back, from Murray to Weaver to Ramis and so on. And they're still great actors who give us great performances. Okay, Murray is clearly not bringing his A-game this time around, but he's passable even at 60 percent.
The special effects look amazing, the score is nice and there are cool scenes to be had.
So what went wrong? Well, unfortunately the script and the directing, which seems ludicrous because it's the same guys that struck gold the last time around. But there's just no denying that this is very much what a sequel shouldn't be. It's pretty much the exact same story with the outer layer swapped to create an illusion of difference. None of the characters have grown since the events of the original and in some cases they have backslid right to where they started. Like Venkman (Murray) and Barrett (Weaver). Why these sequels believe we want to see the exact same romance all over again, I have no idea, but it's very annoying. Why can't people just be a couple if they got together in the first film? There's jokes to be had in that as well.
The pacing is also all over the place and it's just not as tight as the first film where pretty much every scene was iconic. This meanders around, wastes a lot of time simply getting the team back together and is simply not as captivating as the original classic.
Still, I can't say I didn't enjoy it. It pales in comparison to its predecessor, but if seen in a vacuum, it more than passes as a fun science fiction horror comedy.
And there are good things in this movie. The world is still eminently intriguing and as cool as frozen hell. It's no wonder that this franchise is still alive and kicking. There's just something viscerally and effortlessly appealing about it.
Furthermore, all the main actors are back, from Murray to Weaver to Ramis and so on. And they're still great actors who give us great performances. Okay, Murray is clearly not bringing his A-game this time around, but he's passable even at 60 percent.
The special effects look amazing, the score is nice and there are cool scenes to be had.
So what went wrong? Well, unfortunately the script and the directing, which seems ludicrous because it's the same guys that struck gold the last time around. But there's just no denying that this is very much what a sequel shouldn't be. It's pretty much the exact same story with the outer layer swapped to create an illusion of difference. None of the characters have grown since the events of the original and in some cases they have backslid right to where they started. Like Venkman (Murray) and Barrett (Weaver). Why these sequels believe we want to see the exact same romance all over again, I have no idea, but it's very annoying. Why can't people just be a couple if they got together in the first film? There's jokes to be had in that as well.
The pacing is also all over the place and it's just not as tight as the first film where pretty much every scene was iconic. This meanders around, wastes a lot of time simply getting the team back together and is simply not as captivating as the original classic.
Still, I can't say I didn't enjoy it. It pales in comparison to its predecessor, but if seen in a vacuum, it more than passes as a fun science fiction horror comedy.