Amazon.com video review:
Ghostbusters
Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis wrote the script, but Bill Murray gets all the
best lines and moments in this 1984 comedy directed by Ivan Reitman
(Meatballs). The three comics, plus Ernie Hudson, play the New York
City-based team that provides supernatural pest control, and Sigourney
Weaver is the love interest possessed by an ancient demon. Reitman and
company are full of original ideas about hobgoblins--who knew they could
"slime" people with green plasma goo?--but hovering above the plot is
Murray's patented ironic view of all the action. Still a lot of fun, and an
obvious model for sci-fi comedies such as Men in Black. --Tom
Keogh
Ghostbusters 2
Much less fun than its predecessor, this 1989 sequel starts off on a bleak
note by telling us our heroes from Ghostbusters have been on the
skids for five years, and Bill Murray's lead character never did hook up
with Sigourney Weaver's lovely symphony musician character. What's more,
she has a kid by somebody else. Everybody's on an uphill climb, and
Ghostbusters 2 never soars the way the first film did, despite
having the same director, Ivan Reitman (Dave, Kindergarten
Cop). The lame plot finds the boys attempting to prevent a disaster on
New York City caused by too many bad vibes in the Big Apple. Yikes!
Fortunately, screenwriters Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis have penned enough
good one-liners to keep Murray busy, and if the ghostly special effects no
longer surprise as they did in Ghostbusters, they're at least
inventive. --Tom Keogh
