Ghostbusters II

After the original Ghostbusters made them city fixtures, the team faces a new surge of supernatural trouble when New York City becomes saturated with a mysterious river of ectoplasmic slime. The substance seems to feed on negativity, empowering spectral activity across neighborhoods and turning public opinion against the former heroes. As the ghosts multiply, the quartet has to reopen their practice, update their methods, and deal with personal stakes, including Dana Barrett and her young son. The plot mixes comic set pieces, courtroom and media battles, and larger supernatural puzzles as the Ghostbusters try to contain a force that is part spiritual, part social, without spoiling how any confrontations resolve.

Released in 1989, the film was directed by Ivan Reitman and created by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. It reunited the principal cast from the original, including Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Sigourney Weaver, and Rick Moranis, positioning the movie as a direct follow-up to the 1984 blockbuster.

The sequel opened as a high-profile studio release and attracted substantial theater audiences on opening weekend, making it one of the more visible commercial pictures of that year, even though critical responses were mixed and conversations about its success compared it to the original.

Several moments from the film lodged in pop culture, most notably the reanimated Statue of Liberty sequence, which became an enduring visual from 80s cinema. The movie also broadened the franchise's supernatural jargon and imagery, from the idea of New York soaked in "mood" slime to updated ghost designs, ensuring it remained part of the Ghostbusters legacy in merchandise, parodies, and fan discussions.

Critics and audiences have tended to rate it lower than the first film, reflected in middling scores like a 6.6/10 vote average, with praise for the cast's chemistry but criticism for repeating familiar beats. Thematically it balances humor with a worry about public cynicism, and it leans into family and community elements more than the original, giving the series a slightly different emotional center.