Watch Ghostbusters II
- PG
- 1989
- 1 hr 48 min
-
6.6 (224,629)
Ghostbusters II is a supernatural comedy movie directed by Ivan Reitman, released in 1989. It is the sequel to the wildly successful 1984 movie by the same name. The star cast includes Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis, Ernie Hudson, Rick Moranis, and Annie Potts. The movie starts five years after the events of the first movie. The ghostbusting business run by the main characters has gone bust as the city officials refuse to acknowledge the existence of supernatural entities. The Ghostbusters have disbanded, and each of the four members has gone into different professions.
Dana Barret, played by Sigourney Weaver, is now a single mother to a young son named Oscar. She is living in the same building as she was in the first movie, where the museum of art is built atop a river of slime, which has been discovered through various digging operations around the city. Junior Ghostbusters, a group of children dressed in similar ghostbusting gear, are seen venture into the sewer, where they come under attack from a spectral slime. After narrowly escaping, they run to the Ghostbusters' headquarters to seek refuge.
Meanwhile, Peter Venkman, played by Bill Murray is now hosting a paranormal-based TV show, while Egon Spengler(Dan Aykroyd) has set up camp in a laboratory conducting research on the effects of human emotions on the environment. Ray Stantz (Harold Ramis) runs a bookstore specializing in the supernatural, and Winston Zeddmore(Ernie Hudson) works as a chauffeur.
As the movie progresses, New York City begins to experience a series of paranormal events. Oscar gets abducted, and Dana notices strange occurrences in her building. The Ghostbusters reunite to investigate and soon discover that the river of slime beneath the art museum is the cause of all paranormal activity in the city. The slime reacts to negative human emotions and is being generated by the collective negativity of New York residents. The river is controlled by a malevolent entity that hopes to use it as a gateway to enter the physical world and take over the world.
The Ghostbusters team up with a new recruit, slime expert Janine Melnitz (Annie Potts), to devise a plan to harness the energy of positive human emotion to reverse the flow of the negative slime and obliterate the evil entity. The team suits up in their iconic jumpsuits and an upgraded arsenal of ghost-busting equipment, travel to the museum to tackle the evil entity and save the city.
One of the highlights of the movie is an emotional scene where the Ghostbusters get arrested for conducting Ilegal paranormal activities on the streets. They are put on trial, and a furious, slime-powered Judge presides over the trial. The comedic scene concludes with the Ghostbusters being acquitted of all charges and the Judge getting slimed, providing audiences with endless laughter.
The movie features some deliciously creepy villains such as a walking statue of liberty, a haunted painting, and a horde of ghost spirits let loose by the malevolent entity. The witty writing and dialogue give credit to the movie's enduring cult following amongst fans.
The performances by the leading cast are top-notch, with Bill Murray and Sigourney Weaver delivering the comedic and dramatic beats seamlessly. The visual effects, though dated by modern standards, were considered revolutionary at the time and still add to the film's unique charm.
Ghostbusters II is a delightful comedy horror that continues to entertain audiences through its slapstick comedy, witty one-liners, and the genre-defining Ghostbusters theme tune. Although not as iconic as the original, Ghostbusters II is an enjoyable sequel that genuinely makes audiences laugh out loud.
Ghostbusters II is a 1989 comedy with a runtime of 1 hour and 48 minutes. It has received moderate reviews from critics and viewers, who have given it an IMDb score of 6.6 and a MetaScore of 56.