The F*cking Black Sheep: Ghostbusters II (1989)

THE BLACK SHEEP is an ongoing column featuring different takes on films that either the writer HATED, but that the majority of film fans LOVED, or that the writer LOVED, but that most others LOATH. We’re hoping this column will promote constructive and geek fueled discussion. Dig in!

GHOSTBUSTERS II (1989)

DIRECTED BY IVAN REITMAN

When a movie as iconic as GHOSTBUSTERS comes around, ascending to become the perfect exemplar of a humor-horror hybrid as well as the rare critical and commercial hit, it’s only inevitable that a follow-up would suffer a setback. Indeed, where could director Ivan Reitman realistically go after making the biggest hit comedy of 1984? Nowhere but downward, toward the road of ineluctable disappointment, right?

Yeah, not so f*cking fast! Due to the wild popularity of The Real Ghostbusters cartoon released in 1986, a conscious effort to tone down the adult humor of the original film in favor of a lighter, breezier one to mirror the animated series was made from the onset. But even in the attempt to pander to a younger crowd (the movie is PG after all), it doesn’t change the fact that GHOSTBUSTERS 2 is an ebullient blast of a summertime sequel, and one that, blasphemous as it may sound, is perhaps more enjoyable from front to back than its legendary predecessor. A better movie? No. But more consistently enjoyable? It’s arguable. Hell, the great critic Pauline Kael gave GB2 a better review than the original, citing these exact reasons. And who’re we to argue with greatness? As GHOSTBUSTERS 2 celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, it’s high time we break down why it’s a F*cking Black Sheep!

One of the reasons why the movie was improperly panned at the time, according to Reitman, was a shift in the cultural zeitgeist. Whereas Tim Burton introduced a darker tableau to Gotham City in his BATMAN movie released one month later, Reitman went the other way entirely, favoring the lighter tone and tenor rather than the brooding and macabre. Also, five years is a long time for any sequel to come out, despite how iconic the original becomes. So when GB2 came out, expectations were not only unmet, they were done so amid an industry sea change in terms of content. The movie still made plenty of money, proving its commercial viability, but suffered in its critical reception, with the blame largely going to poorly written jokes and over-reliance on the Peter/Dana dynamic. And while there’s merit to these critiques, the movie has such an assured air of fun-loving good vibrations and eye-bugging VFX that only mirthless cynics could ignore or pan as poor. If that’s you, you’re about to be schooled!

GHOSTBUSTERS 2 functions best as an FX-driven spectacle. The idea to endanger all of NYC by carving a river of ectoplasm beneath the city is an inspired on one the page, but a visual paragon onscreen as well, thanks to the groundbreaking VFX of ILM. In fact, the scene where a woman’s mink coat comes alive on the NYC streets was originally meant for the original film, but the FX weren’t advanced enough to make it look believable. However, by the time GB2 was completed, more than 200 VFX shots were used in the film, according to IMDB. Therefore, it was a deliberate decision to put the characters in the back seat and bring the enthralling marvels to the fore. Bill Murray took umbrage with this, insisting the movie suffered because there were too much FX and not enough of Venkman, Stanz, Spengler and the lot.

But most of the genuine fun the movie provides comes from the show-stopping FX work, not necessarily the droll interplay between the main characters. In fact, in order to restore the sense of danger, Reitman had to go back and shoot new footage to balance out the somewhat boring family dynamic between Peter, Dana and baby Oscar. Two of such scenes include the photographs bursting into flames and threatening Ray and Peter, as well as the floating ghost-heads in the river of pink neon slime (shout out Wings Hauser!). Even done after the fact, these scenes are infinitely more fun to behold than watching Peter babysit. To wit, the toaster scene, in which the ectoplasm ably animates whatever electronic device it permeates, is a prime example of the FX taking precedent over the cast while still thoroughly entertaining. Same goes for the Statue of Liberty sequence, which not only calls back and raises the stakes of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, but also uses its exorbitant FX work on behalf of fun, not fright, in a way fans of the original must have cast off as nothing more than light kiddy fare. The point is, the fun quotient of GB2 outnumbers that of the original, which tends to suffer from severe pacing issues by the time the boys hit the Mayor’s office.

Another aspect of GB2 that deserves way more credit is the human foes. In the original, Walter Peck was the primary human enemy, an agent of the EPA. Here, we get the more clearheaded threat of Vigo the Carpathian, an ancient warrior-god depicted in a large mysterious painting adoring the museum Dana works at. But it’s not just Vigo, it’s also Janosz Poha (Peter MacNicol), the museum curator and obsessive stalker of Dana and her baby, Oscar. In tandem, these two villains – one silly and flamboyant, the other silent and stern – creates a perfectly balanced foil for the boys to thwart as the evil slime finds a conduit behind Vigo’s painting. Like a good sequel should, the stakes are raised by multiplying the nemeses by two, while still retaining the decidedly humorous bent in the form of the overly-quirky Janosz.

Last but not least, and go ahead and excoriate if you wish, but I actually far dig the Bobby Brown theme-song of GB2 more than the iconic Ray Parker Jr. theme of the original. Yup, I said it. If you grew up watching GB2 on HBO as often as I did in your formative years, watching the music video on MTV to boot, yeah, you bumped the shite out of Brown’s “On Our Own.” Come on now, “We got, we got, we go-ougghhhht!” Shite slaps! By the way, Bobby has a cameo as a doorman in the film as well.

Point blank to your face, GHOSTBUSTERS II is not only far better than it’s been given credit for, it’s light years ahead of the listless 2016 remake. Just as it’s bound to remain superior to Jason Reitman’s 2020 rehash as well. If ever there was a F*cking Black Sheep unfairly judged by the success of its predecessor, GB 2 is it. This movie f*cking rules, and functions exactly how a big-budget sequel ought to!

GET GHOSTBUSTERS II HERE