Nostalgic Review: Ghostbusters II

This was the film that introduced me to Ghostbusters weirdly enough.

I could easily say that this is inferior to the original. It is, but only just. This is a fun film that has much more fun action set-pieces then its 1984 counterpart. The main reason that I still find the original the better film, is that it better held, remains consistent and does not lose its way.

The sequels works, mainly because it is entertaining. Quite a lot of it easily still holds up for me. The many scary moments still scare me. The action is great to watch and the comedy still makes me laugh, including one involving the Titanic.

One particular action scene that I love watching, is the courtroom scene. It is really enjoyable and certainly one of the films big highlights, including the great one scene performance by Harris Yulin.

The performances feel better in this one then in the original. Bill Murray felt much funnier in this one and certainly got more laughs out of me. Also his chemistry with Sigourney Weaver is great to watch. All the other Ghostbusters continue to play their roles well. I've forgotten how strange Peter MacNicol is in his performance. However, he does have some pretty good lines of dialogue. At times he is very scary, including one scene with a pram. The villain played by Wilhelm Von Homburg was an odd choice in terms of the type of villain. However, the performance is perfectly fine. However, I think the type of villain used was the films weakest part.
Other minor roles to speak of is Kurt Fuller, who plays a great slimy character in the form of the mayor's assistant. Also, I had completely forgot that Kevin Dunn appears in one scene in this, which was nice to see.

The soundtrack sounds as great as ever, and I had forgotten how many songs are used, and that they all work really well.

The first film is widely seen as the by far the better one. I will agree with that. But, there is a lot to like in this sequel. Just some parts in the final act can get a bit silly or dated. The performances are good and there are a lot of memorable set-pieces. I really hope this gets the love that it deserves, now that a lot of people will be re-watching these films before the release of the all-female re-make.

Rating: 7/10