This is is not necessarily one of the worst movies ever made, but it is one of the most disappointing sequels. In effect, it is less an extension of the original GHOSTBUSTERS than an uninspired rehash that slavishly recreates major plot elements and scenes (e.g., instead of a giant Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, the Statue of Liberty strides down the streets of New York). Unfortunately, recreating what seemed funny and even frightening the first time around proves to be an ephemeral task, and GHOSTBUSTERS II winds up feeling less like a lively ghost than an embalmed corpse.

The big problem is that the script backtracks the story instead of pushing it forward. That is, with the first film having laid the groundwork of how the Ghostbusters came to be, it would have been easy for GHOSTBUSTERS II to begin in media res: just jump right into a new adventure and go full tilt boogie for the entire running time. Instead, the story begins with the team disbanded, so that the early scenes can show them getting back together again, climaxing with their capture of the executed Scolari brothers in a courtroom (the obvious equivalent of the first successful mission in the hotel in GHOSTBUSTERS). As if this were not bad enough, Dana Barret (Sigourney Weaver) and Peter Venkman (Bill Murray) have broken up, so the story more or less recreates the arc of their relationship from the previous film, with Venkman once again having to earn his way into her good graces by solving her "spiritual" problem.

All of this might have been tolerable (if not forgivable) if the film had been funny, but it is almost mind-numbingly dull. The problem seems to have been the decision to appeal to family audiences by featuring a baby as the focal point of the plot. It's a disastrous gambit because (unlike the attacks on Dana Barret in the first film) we never feel any real sense of terror or suspense -- it's just too incredible to think that any harm will come to the child. The original film generated many of its laughs with its sexual undertones (e.g., the "Gatekeeper-Keymaster" innuendo), which are almost totally absent here, leaving GHOSTBUSTERS II feeling neutered. There's nothing worse than a bunch of people with a dirty sense of humor trying to play it clean -- the whole thing just feels overly sentimental and bogus.

The new special effects may be a technical improvement over some areas of the original film, but they often miss the mark, comedically. For instance, the ghosts of the Scolari brothers look like something out of Disney's Haunted Mansion; they barely look human. Yet the judge who sentenced them to death recognizes them immediately.

In the end, GHOSBUSTERS II is a tired film that suffers from the Hollywood obligation to take what worked in a successful original and just do it again, whether or not it makes sense. (Why do the Ghostbusters select tax accountant Louis [Rick Moranis] to represent them in court? Because he was funny in the first film, so some way had to be found to bring him back.) It's too bad, because GHOSTBUSTERS was a comedy-horror classic, and the premise seemed good enough to sustain a series. If only Part II hadn't screwed things up...

DVD DETAILS

The original single-disc DVD of GHOSTBUSTERS II was pretty much bereft of bonus features. The disc included in the subsequent Double Feature Gift Set box includes two episodes of the animated series THE REAL GHOSTBUSTERS: "Citizen Ghost" and "Partners in Slime." Unfortunately, these will not be amusing to anyone over the age of ten. It's basically "Scooby-Doo," with the green ghost Slimer filling in for the frightened dog. Strangely, the character names are retained from the film, but the cartoon characters do not resemble the live-action actors who played them, and only little of their personalities remain.

It is mildly interesting to note that the cartoon changed in later years to reflect changes made in GHOSTBUSTERS II (receptionist Janine gets red hair and hooks up with accountant Louis). And fans of BABYLON 5 might be interested to see that series creator J. Michael Straczynski was story editor on the early GHOSTBUSTERS episodes; in fact, he scripted "Citizen Ghost" (not that it helped much).

As for the film itself, GHOSBUSTERS II is presented on DVD in a good-looking widescreen transfer, with the usual stereo sound and subtitle options. This is not a film worth owning on its own, but as part of reasonably priced boxed set that includes the wonderful original, it is not a bad purchase.