Runtime: 108 minutes
Directed by: Ivan Reitman (RIP)
Starring: The expected crew plus the likes of Peter MacNicol and the greatly named Wilhelm von Homburg
From: Columbia
RIP Ivan Reitman. Throughout my life I've seen various movies that he was involved with-albeit a long time ago so they haven't been reviewed here. That's including this movie, which I did see theatrically as an 8 year old and afterwards at home, but I don't even remember the last time it was so long ago. Unfortunately it took the director passing away for me to finally experience again a movie I recalled as being disappointing compared to the first. Early on, I realized it was OK that I did not see anything related to Valentine's Day last night... that was because of the second psychic on Peter Venkman's talk show mentioning that the world would end on “February 14, 2016”. I went “Huh... how about that?”
That still holds true-while there had to be reshoots done months after filming (mainly of the climax, which does explain some “wait a minute” moments with that but to be honest, the usage of an iconic monument connected to New York City was goofy to me even as a kid and that hasn't changed) and the movie is just like Afterlife in retreading the familiar ground of the original's plot, I'll still say the movie is good.
After all, it seems like the majority of sequels can't even be good enough to be rated as “fine”. While a cashgrab done by Columbia Pictures because they hadn't had a box office hit in a long while, thankfully this provided enough entertainment for me as there's another supernatural baddie looking to take over the world (this time it's a haunted painting of an evil Carpathian ruler, which is at least inspired, as is the “river of slime” concept) and all the familiar characters returning are the same as you remember them from the first movie. There are still laughs present-the quantity of same just isn't as plentiful. Thank heavens there are still some nice sequences and the effects mostly have not aged badly.
There were some things I did not remember after all those years. This includes:
* Janice suddenly turning horny for Louis
* Cheech Marin showing up for about half a minute of screentime
* A key plot point being “New York City's a rotten place full of A-holes”. That did make me laugh. While I presume its reputation as a dirty city isn't as strong due in part to Times Square being cleaned up, the attitude of its residents is another story altogether!
I won't be cynical about its underlying message of how people should just be nicer and more positive to each other. It's an earnest idea that has not lost its relevancy since. Above all else, this movie made me realize the good times I've had watching movies that involved the likes of Reitman, Harold Ramis and/or Rick Moranis. It was a nice trip down memory lane as I tipped my cap to someone that did entertain me as a kid.
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