The James Proclaims Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) Films – Door 5

 

It’s day 5 of December, so it’s no coincidence that we’re opening door 5 of The James Proclaims Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) films.

And out of the  shadows comes the ‘spooktacular’ Ghostbusters 2.

Which is the sequel to the original 1984 Ghostbusters and not the 2016 reboot.

Ghostbusters (1984 version) is one of my favourite films ever. I actually quite enjoyed the 2016 effort, but you can’t help but compare it to the source material and in that light it can’t quite stand up.

But the same could be said of 1989’s Ghostbusters 2. It isn’t quite as good as its predecessor. But it seems unreasonable to expect it to be.

It is, nonetheless, still very very good.

Harold Ramis, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Rick Moranis, Ernie Hudson and Annie Potts are all back and all have their moments to shine. It’s Bill Murray who steals the show though. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a bad Bill Murray performance but he is on fine form here. Ghostbusters 2 might be a good film without Murray, but from the moment he appears on screen, the film is elevated to something a bit special (albeit still not quite as special as the first film).

Score For Christmasishness

The culmination of the film is New Year, and there are numerous indications that we begin the narrative prior to Christmas. So the movie almost certainly covers the whole of the Christmas period, yet, aside from the occasional festive reference in the dialogue, and the odd decoration in the background, you wouldn’t necessarily be aware of it. We manage to pass the big day itself without any acknowledgement.

So it really isn’t very Christmasish at all.

But it’s still a great film.