GUNNING FOR DC

 

Gunn and Safran. It's like Kibbles & Bits, but different.

            As part of the new merger of Warner Bros. and Discovery, it was announced that DC Entertainment was getting its own dedicated studio within the organization; similar to Marvel Studios. Becoming DC’s Kevin Feige was announced to be James Gunn, who will handle the creative end of things, and Peter Safran, who will handle the business side.

The DCEU logo: things that were and may never be.

            This is something they desperately, DESPERATELY needed. The current DC film universe, known as the DCEU, was a mitigated mess. You had the original Snyderverse that was heralded by Zack Snyder; which saw the DC Universe presented through his pretty dark-toned filmmaking lens. Man of Steel and Batman v Superman were the prime examples of this, while Wonder Woman was allowed to drift off a bit with a touch more lightheartedness under director Patty Jenkins.  Those first two, while financially successful, were polarizing with audiences. You have your fans, and you have those who weren’t pleased with the depictions of Superman in particular. The studio took the opportunity to rejigger Justice League by putting Joss Whedon on it to try and duplicate the success of Avengers; however, the tonality of his footage clashed with what was left of Snyder’s shoot resulting in an underwhelming final product. Aquaman, Shazam!, and Birds of Prey, while set in the Snyderverse continuity, were allowed to be brighter and funnier, although only two of them were successful (Birds’ lackluster performance could also be attributed to coming out right as the pandemic hit). Wonder Woman 1984, unfortunately, had a little too much fun with itself to the point that its story was a mess and a complete miss with fans. The Suicide Squad, while better-received than Suicide Squad (yes, those are two different movies), didn’t get much of a chance to prove itself as the pandemic forced it onto HBO Max rather than a pure theatrical run. To try and earn back some good will, WB brought Snyder back to finish his version of Justice League, and, well, that opened a whole other can of worms I’ll deal with in a later entry. And that doesn’t even include the Multiverse projects that have no connection to the DCEU at all, like Joker, The Batman and the scrapped Batgirl.

The MCU.

            So, yeah, DC’s films were pretty directionless. WB had little faith in Snyder’s vision achieving what they wanted—to compete with the MCU—and kept hemming and hawing on keeping their own voice or trying to duplicate the fun and comedy of their competition. Additionally, DC wasn’t willing to put in the work of achieve what the MCU did. The MCU started slow: they introduced Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America, Thor, Hawkeye and Black Widow across several movies before they ever came together as The Avengers. Their stories were already told, their origins already given (mostly), so that moment together had a lot more impact. Now, let’s look at the DCEU: they introduce their Superman, then introduce Batman fighting Superman with a cameo from Wonder Woman and Superman dies, and then BOOM! Justice League. Whose premise was partly based on the world mourning Superman’s passing—something else that was unearned via the narrative of the three films.

The DCAU: giving us a plethora of DC characters for 14 years.

            And what’s funny is DC already had the blueprints to make this kind of thing work. I don’t mean following Marvel film for film. I mean looking inward at their own output. Specifically: the DC Animated Universe. That’s the name for the 14 years of shows spanning from Batman: The Animated Series through Justice League Unlimited. Batman was its own standalone thing when it started. When it ended, they shifted gears to Superman, which was a tonally different show with a completely different feel meant to fit their interpretation of the character. Batman was eventually brought back for a brief time in a revamped form that matched the look of Superman but kept the feel of Batman. And the two characters interacted with each other. After a brief stopover in the future with Batman Beyond, we got Justice League. That series managed to introduce the rest of the team in itself while still including Batman and Superman and making it feel like an organic extension of the two shows while not feeling like either specifically. It had its own tone and methodology. See, DC already did what they tried to do in the films, except their animated division did it better.

Honestly: how many of you non-comic readers could've named these guys before 2014?

            I’m optimistic that Gunn was the right person to bring on board to get DC’s act together. He turned Guardians of the Galaxy into a viable property familiar to non-comic fans. He resuscitated the D.O.A. Suicide Squad franchise, going so far as to get it its own spin-off show with a second season on the way. Above all else, Gunn is a comic fan. He knows these characters. He’s read and followed their adventures. He respects the source material (your mileage may vary on that statement, but regardless of whatever changes he might make that literally EVERY OTHER MOVIE does, he does respect it). Further, it goes into another favorite mantra of mine: creative people should be in charge of creative industries, not suits.

DC is nothing if not constantly reinventing itself. And sometimes successfully!

            Hopefully, upper management gets out of the way and lets these guys do their thing. Their meddling is what caused their films to flounder in the first place (and led to the failure of many, many, MANY other films across time).

THE LOSS OF BATMAN

 

            Celebrities have died before. It’s just a part of life. However, none have hit me as hard as when it was announced that Kevin Conroy died this week. For the few of you who may not recognize the name, that’s the man who’s voiced Batman regularly over the last 30 years beginning with Batman: The Animated Series.

Signing a life-sized Batman.

            I can’t tell you why his death has affected me unlike so many others. Maybe it’s because TAS debuted the year I was first getting into comic collecting. Maybe it’s because Batman is my favorite DC character. Maybe it’s because I’ve learned a lot about the man himself in the last few years, and all of it was good. I don’t know.

In the recording booth.

            What I do know is I’m not alone in saying that Kevin is my Batman. His is the voice I always hear when I read a Batman comic. His is the performance I always compare actors following to. In my younger years, I loved his performance just because it was pitch-perfect in my mind. In fact, I’ve always said that the one thing the comic-based programs of the early-mid 90s got right above all else was their casting; just about everyone selected was a fantastic fit for their character. But as you get older and revisit these performances, you come to really experience the nuance in Kevin’s portrayal of Batman. The way he takes the scripts given to him and digs deep down to express Batman’s rage. His humanity. His empathy. And, when the time called for it, his smug dickishness.

Confronting Batwoman in the Arrowverse.

            There’s a reason why Kevin kept being cast as Batman beyond TAS. And yes, most of that started before nostalgia-baiting was even a thing. Kevin Conroy was the voice of Batman for an entire generation of fans and creators alike. His performances will continue to live on in those people for the rest of their lives, regardless of who else dons the cowl. He was vengeance. He was the night. He was Batman.

With the Justice League cast on Rob Paulsen's podcast.

            Thank you for 30 years of excellence, Kevin. Condolences to all the ones you left behind, but all the better for having experienced your existence.

 

THE OWL HOUSE “THANKS TO THEM” REVIEW

 

            Hey! Long time! Miss me? I’ve been undergoing some health issues that made it difficult to do, well, anything lately. I’m on the mend, but not completely better yet. But, enough about me—we’ve got pop culture to talk about!

Just a fun little show about a magic world, right? Right??

            The Owl House, created by Dana Terrace, is currently my favorite show on air right now. For those who’ve been sleeping under a rock, it’s about an ordinary teenaged girl named Luz Noceda (Sarah Nicole-Robles) who found herself taken to an alternate dimension full of magic, witches, demons and other assorted supernatural creatures. She decided to stay with the first witch she encountered, Eda Clawthorne aka The Owl Lady (Wendie Malick), and learn magic herself. While there she made new friends in plant-manipulating Willow (Tati Gabrielle) and illusion-casting Gus (Issac Ryan Brown), found love with abomination-making Amity (Mae Whitman), and became embroiled in a battle to save the world from the evil Emperor Belos (Matthew Rhys). I’m not gonna go deeper than that, but there will be some minor spoilers in the actual review so if you’d like to totally experience the show brand new, stop reading now, go load it up Disney+, and come on back when you’re done.

Promotional poster for season 2.

            Beyond the superficial storyline, the show digs deep and tackles issues such as fitting in, mental health, familial expectations, bigotry, loss… It’s like animated therapy. The series became immensely popular with fans to the point it’d be a trending topic on Twitter even when new episodes weren’t airing. And then Disney cancelled it. Let me explain: it was renewed for a second season early, and then for a third earlier still. But then COVID hit and shut down the parks, which is apparently what generates most of their money for projects, so they cut a lot of shows down. Additionally, Disney decided to change focus and move away from serialized storytelling—which The Owl House is—in favor of more episodic shows, so the show no longer “fit the brand” (although many maintain it’s because of the amount of LGBTQ+ representation found in the series). As a result, the third season got cut down to three 44-minute specials. Of course, after the first special got over 2 million views within the first week on YouTube, Disney came to realize their mistake a bit too late, but that’s where we are.

Season 3 promotional poster.

            So, we’ve gotten the first of the three specials titled “Thanks to Them.” We picked up right where the season finale left off with the Hexside gang trapped in the Human Realm and The Collector (Fryda Wolff), a cosmically-powered being with seemingly no limits, running rampant in the Demon Realm. Unfortunately, because of the diminished run time, we were denied the full adventures in the Human Realm we got treated to in the first half of season 3 of Amphibia (which had a similar plot element). Instead, they were relegated to a 6-minute montage spanning months that was expertly crafted and well done (and made us lament our loss further). Luz deals with her struggle to adhere to the promise she made her mother—to remain in the Human Realm once she got back—and the belief that she ruined all of her friends’ lives with her actions. Belos’ former right-hand man, Hunter (Zeno Robinson), also deals with his identity crisis and loss of purpose, and how his newfound family would react to learning what he really is. The other Hexsiders have their own mini adventures away from those two in trying to locate a possible way home.

Camilla realizing the Hexside kids have seen some stuff.

            The standout for the episode, however—the MVP, if you will—was Luz’s mother, Camilla (Elizabeth Grullon). We met her briefly in the pilot when she was sending Luz off to a normalization camp to tone down her imaginative ways (leading to her stumbling into the Demon Realm), and sporadically since. A lot of fans of the show weren’t happy with her because of the camp thing. They felt like it was saying she was ashamed of her daughter and wanted to change her; make her not herself. This episode adds a lot of context to that moment. A. LOT. And not only do we understand Camilla better, but we learn she’s not the person we were led to believe she was (a running theme in this show). Much like with Edith’s sister Lilith (Cissy Jones), who began as the first season’s antagonist, fans came around to absolutely loving this character.

"I'm coming out..."

            Overall, the episode was bittersweet. It was great because The Owl House crew has just been killing it with pacing and writing and acting and animation. It brings the laughs and all of the feels. But, it does mean we’re beginning the end. And we were cheated out of so, so much story potential that can now only be filled with fanfiction or Morning Mark’s excellent ongoing fan comic. If you haven’t checked out The Owl House yet, I recommend you do so. All of the episodes are currently up on Disney+, and new ones will air on The Disney Channel sometime in early 2023. I will say the first season, while good, is a bit uneven as they find their voice and do a lot of world building. But once you get halfway through that you see what the show is going to become. And, silver lining to the shortening, the crew was forced to step up their game to incorporate everything they wanted to accomplish with limited time, resulting in their killing it.

Post hoot action with Eden Riegel, Rebecca Rose, Zeno Robinson, John Bailey Owen, Sarah Nicole-Robles and Cissy Jones.

            Additionally, stars Jones and Robles, as well as YouTuber-turned-production associate Rebecca Rose, host an informal talk show called Post Hoot on Jones’ Instagram every so often. They talk to their co-stars, people who work behind the scenes, and even branch out into other programs occasionally. Give that a watch if you like that kind of stuff. They’re on Jones’ Instagram and older episodes are archived on Rebecca’s YouTube channel.

SHE-HULK EPISODE 9 & SERIES REVIEW (SPOILERS)

 

            I can’t decide if the She-Hulk finale was pure brilliance or a genius cop-out.

On the other side of the glass.

            Skipping the usual episode recap, we got one done as a remake of the intro to The Incredible Hulk TV series (which was brilliantly handled). Picking up from last episode’s cliffhanger, we find Jen in jail and taking a deal to never be She-Hulk again for her release. With her reputation ruined and job lost, she decides to go to Emil’s (Tim Roth) sanctuary for a bit. However, she happens to pick the night when The Intelligencia is holding a gathering there. It’s discovered that Todd Phelps (Jon Bass), the creepy tech bro Jen had a horrible date with one time and who kept popping up during the show, was the founder of The Intelligencia and had stolen her blood to give himself Hulk powers. And then Titania (Jameela Jamil) crashed the party. And then Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) joined in.

Smashing those 4th walls like it's Matt Murdock.

            And then that’s when everything REALLY went off the rails. Echoing moments from the original run of The Sensational She-Hulk comic series, Jen breaks out of the show through the Disney+ menu to head to the Disney studio lot to confront the She-Hulk writers about the insanely overcomplicated finale. That leads her to confront the one in charge at Marvel Studios: Kevin. No, it’s not Kevin Feige making a cameo; rather, it’s a GLaDOS-like artificial intelligence named K.E.V.I.N. (Knowledge Enhanced Visual Interconnectivity Nexus). Jen proceeds to offer up common fan complaints about how MCU projects all have similar endings or too many plots converging at once.

"Now say: 'The cake is a lie.'"

This resulted in K.E.V.I.N. tossing out his “exciting ending” in favor of a new, quicker one. Todd and his cronies are being arrested; Emil is going back to jail for violating his parole; Daredevil (Charlie Cox) returns to help out too late and gets roped into a family barbecue; Hulk returns (again) at the barbecue and introduces his son, Skaar (Wil Deusner); Jen is a lawyer again prosecuting Todd and declaring she’ll take on guys like him in the courtroom and as a superhero; and Wong (Benedict Wong) returns to bust Emil out to stay at Kamar-Taj.

"Okay, the MCU--I have some notes."

Okay, to my conflict. Every reaction video I’ve seen loved the ULTIMATE 4^th wall break of Jen leaving her show for the Marvel Studios Office, while all the ones who have hated on this show since it came out and some comic guys have not. I, personally, thought it was great. I found every bit of that hilarious; from the sudden Disney+ menu screen to the little faux baseball cap on K.E.V.I.N.’s “head” mimicking Feige’s. This is probably the most I’ve laughed out loud for the entire season. I thought it was a perfect homage to all the times Shulkie was about to step out of her comic to deal with then-scribe John Byrne personally. Also, Tatiana Maslany was all of us, asking the big questions like “X-Men when?” This ending at least made it clear that Marvel has been hearing fans, acknowledge their flaws, and possibly hinting that they’re going to improve going forward (with upcoming schedules shifting and the format of planned projects being changed).

"You want X-Men? I got you, boo."

But then we get the ending. Or, lack thereof, as the series once again attempted to subvert expectations. Jen’s legal troubles? Gone. The whole Josh/blood-stealing plotline? Gone. The Intelligencia? Gone. Titania’s unhealthy obsession with Jen? Gone. For the entire season, later episodes had slowly connected to things established in earlier ones while building up an ongoing subplot even slower than that. But they decide to pull a Monty Python and give us a cop-out ending where everything is dealt with offscreen and hunky dory. We don’t see Jen reassemble her life, despite going off on K.E.V.I.N. about the stakes of the show being her life falling apart just as she was embracing being a Hulk. Titania became pointless. The Intelligencia became pointless. There was no payoff for anything. We didn’t get to see Jen complete her arc. I mean, give us the conclusion to something we’ve been watching! The Skaar reveal, I don’t mind so much because we know there’s a World War Hulk project in development and will likely fill in the gap between the episodes as this did with Shang-Chi.

"The X-Men movies had a blue mutant restriction...I think we need to talk about a green gamma restriction here."

Okay, overall thoughts. The series as a whole was a bit uneven. It was always entertaining, but didn’t always reach the levels it should have. Maslany slays as the Jade Giantess and has always been the highest point of the show. I absolutely love her father (Mark Linn-Baker) and how supportive he is whenever he appears (best MCU dad!). Many of the side characters were fun, but woefully underutilized due to the short runtime of the episodes. Touted as a “legal comedy”, we really didn’t get a lot of the legal side (and, depending who you talk to, some would say not much of the comedy, either) but there were some interesting cases in what we did get. A lot of deep cut characters made their MCU debut on the show, which is something I hope continues to happen. Let’s get audiences familiar with more than just the A-listers. I had a good time with the show, but it just didn’t feel like any of the ideas were allowed to fully bake. I hear there is a season 2 coming and I hope that, while the tone is kept exactly the same, they make things a bit tighter on the storytelling side. Break all the 4^th walls you want, just give us a story in the process!

"Heard you were doing a Fast and Furious ending. So I brought more family."

One last point: it’s no secret that this series took a lot of shots at toxic fanboy trolls. And, every step of the way, they accurately predicted exactly was they would say and post about the show (especially since this show was done about a year before its release). And, of course, you’ve got the YouTube videos out there saying “they hate men!” or claiming victory for “getting in their heads.” And then you’ve got the people who take umbrage with interviews where cast and crew say this was largely the point—to call these so-called “fans” out. Here’s my take: if that bothered you, then you’re probably one of the guilty ones. I’m a man, and I had no issue with the depiction of men on the show or them stepping in front of the toxicity often attracted by women-led and diverse projects (that’s not to say there isn’t good-faith criticism to be had on these projects; just that it isn’t generally the criticism that ends up being levied). And you know why? Because they were right. Every. Single. Time. You don’t like something? That’s fine. Move on. Why would you stick around? Just to get ammunition to complain? C’mon, life’s too short and, to quote Wong: “We’re truly in an age of peak TV.” Find your own yum instead of yucking everyone else’s.

WEREWOLF BY NIGHT REVIEW (SPOILERS)

 

            This is going to be full of spoilers because I don’t think I can accurately say what I want to say while tiptoeing around plot points, so you’ve been warned.

            Werewolf By Night is the first MCU special and their first official entry into their horror “imprint” (you can arguably state Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was technically the first, but this one had the special Marvel Studios branding, hence my use of “official”). The special centered on the titular werewolf, Jack Russell (Gael Garcia Bernal), as he infiltrated a gathering of monster hunters to mourn the passing of the greatest of their number and their leader, Ulysses Bloodstone (voiced by Richard Dixon). Bloodstone was possessor of the legendary Bloodstone, which he used in his battle against monsters, and those gathered are to compete for the right to become the next wielder. The catch? They had to defeat a terrible monster it would be affixed to in a massive labyrinth garden.

Gentleman Jack.

            This short marked the first time that Jack was seen in live-action, having previously appeared in several cartoons and video games, and the return of Man-Thing (known simply as “Ted”, played by Carey Jones & Jeffrey Ford) since the abysmal Sci-Fi Channel film in 2005. It’s also the debut of Elsa Bloodstone (Laura Donnelly) in anything other than a video game. However, fans of the character may be surprised to see she’s not the foul-mouthed, gun-toting badass she is in the comics. Oh, she’s very badass, pulling out some killer fight moves in the few fight scenes, but this is more Elsa at the beginning of becoming the character in the comics (as stated in some interviews with Donnelly).

This is one Elsa that's not going to let it go.

            Werewolf by Night is Michael Giacchino’s third directorial effort, and the longest so far. And he did an incredible job. The whole special was an homage to the classic Universal monster movies of the 30s and 40s, with its being shot in mostly black and white (with spot coloring on the Bloodstone and full color at the end), the addition of film grain (although it was clearly shot on digital), extensive use of practical effects and sets (more so than other Marvel productions, which I’m sure the overworked VFX community appreciated), the opening and closing titles, and the music, which was also by Giacchino. They even did a retro “special presentation” intro like the networks used to do. The opening introduction to all the characters especially felt like a classic movie; it was only after they entered the garden did the modern start creeping in. And the way they did the werewolf transformation seen in only shadow and Elsa’s reaction to it was a real perfect way to build up the suspense. The werewolf costume and make-up looked great as well.

Shadow dance.

            The most interesting aspect of the special was the contrast between the so-called monsters and the monster hunters. Jack did everything he could to avoid hurting anyone, especially after he transformed (except those that deserved it, of course). Ted was acting in self-defense (those who know fear burn at the touch of the Man-Thing). And both of them actively worked to rescue the other. The monster hunters, however, were so eager to win the Bloodstone that they, without hesitation, were willing to slaughter each other to get it. And this was encouraged. So, it begs the question: who exactly were the real monsters?

You, uh, got a little something there...

            My only real negative was the final fight scene when the werewolf was unleashed. The choreography didn’t feel feral enough in parts. Werewolf Jack moved too much like a trained martial artist rather than a reactionary creature. Otherwise, the action was top-notch; with Elsa clearly getting some Black Widow-esque training and some savage finishing moves, and the visceral bloody ends to the Bloodstone goons delivered by the werewolf (this entry was allowed to be gorier than other Marvel projects since it lacked the color to indicate the liquid splashing the camera lens was blood).

Instructions from the dead.

            Overall, Werewolf By Night was fantastic (although I might’ve titled it Bloodstone, all things considered). In its short runtime it managed to accomplish everything it set out to do: introduce the horror side of Marvel, give us several new characters, and homage the classic monster films while giving us something completely new from the MCU. And yes, some of the MCU humor was present, but they were situationally appropriate and didn’t overstep their bounds like many feel it tends to do lately. The costume and special effects were well done, as were the few fight scenes. The lighting was on point, making effective use of the shadows with the lack of color. I hope the largely positive reaction I’ve seen towards this special encourages Marvel Studios to take more chances.

Just call him "Ted".

            Predicting it now: based on some reaction videos I’ve seen, Man-Thing will become the next Groot.

SHE-HULK EPISODE 8 REVIEW

 

Froggy-man, Froggy-man, does whatever a froggy can.

            Okay, let’s just get this out of the way: fans, rejoice! The moment you’ve all been waiting for is here! Yes, it’s the MCU debut of…LEAP-FROG!

The 'Devil, you say?

            No, no, I’m just kidding. Well, I mean, Leap-Frog does appear in the episode, but this is also the episode that finally features Daredevil (Charlie Cox). Now, I have to remind everyone: the Netflix Daredevil was rated TV-MA. She-Hulk is not. So don’t expect all the bone-crunching, bloody stuff you’re used to getting with the character. HOWEVER! That doesn’t diminish his awesomness in the episode. He’s got some slick moves, takes down a ton of guys on his own, and shows Cox hasn’t missed a step since Daredevil stopped filming. I don’t know if this is fully indicative of the MCU Daredevil going forward or if it’s just distilled through the lens of the show like Wong was, but if it is I’m here for it.  

Team-up!

            That said, this episode was just…wow. Keeping in mind we still have one episode to go, I’d call this the best episode of the series thus far. Shulkie gets to meet Matt Murdock when Eugene Patillio, aka Leap-Frog (Brandon Stanley), retains her firm to sue the designer of his costume after he’s injured when it malfunctions. Interestingly, the MCU chose to combine Leap-Frog’s character. In the comics, Leap-Frog was actually Eugene’s father; an engineer who turned to costume villainy when life kept dealing him bad cards (although mentioned as a prominent client of GLK&H, it’s not revealed if the elder Patillio ever donned the costume himself). Humiliated by his father’s past, Eugene decided to take the Leap-Frog suit and become the superhero Frog-Man. The MCU Eugene was reimagined as a spoiled rich kid who wanted to be a hero so badly that he ended up becoming the villain. But, like the comics, he remained as much of a joke as anyone frog-themed not named Throg deserves to be.

Shulkie is in a bit of a pickle.

            Now as fun as all that and as awesome as having Daredevil back on screen was, the real meat of the episode happened in the last five minutes. There isn’t much I can say without delving into spoilers, but I will say that The Intelligencia makes their move at the most inopportune time and manages to cause Jen some serious damage. I’m looking forward to the finale to see how things finally all connect together and we learn what the show has been building towards.

RE-EVALUATING GHOSTBUSTERS II

 

            The nostalgia wave that’s led to numerous reboots, relaunches and decades-later continuations seems to have also sparked the revisiting and reevaluation of past shows or movies and such. In particular, entries that may not have quite landed with their audience at the time. For instance, Thor: Love & Thunder seems to have brought new fans to Thor: The Dark World; originally regarded as the worst of the Thor franchise. 

Who ya gonna call? Again?

            Another film that’s been getting renewed attention of late is Ghostbusters II. The 1989 sequel reunited the principal cast of Ghostbusters and pit them against a new threat in semi-dead despotic magician Vigo the Carpathian (portrayed by Wilhelm von Homburg and voiced by Max von Sydow), who had taken up residence in his own portrait. In order to live again, he needed a new host body and had chosen that of the baby of Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver), who had married and divorced between the films and taken up art restoration (a natural progression from cellist?). 

I don't know--is it art?

            Where do I fall on this debate? Glad you asked! Frankly, when it comes to Ghostbusters II, I’m kinda…meh. The film is…fine. It could have been good. Maybe even great. All the pieces were there: the same writers, the same director, the same cast, plenty of fanbase good will… But it just wasn’t the same. If I had to categorize it using The Real Ghostbusters as a metric, I’d say Ghostbusters was the 78 episodes done under J. Michael Straczynski and Ghostbusters II was the rest of the show after ABC hired a consulting firm to *cough* “improve” it.  

The sole remaining shot of the original Ecto-2 license plate.

            Right off the bat, you can see the shift in tone between the films. Ghostbusters II was reportedly done with RGB in mind. They knew they had a large kid audience, they knew the show was a hit, so they made the film more “kid friendly” than the first. Minor cursing, very little drinking or smoking, no ghostly Playmates, and a greater emphasis on Slimer (thankfully mostly left on the cutting room floor). Hell, they even changed the car from Ecto-2 to Ecto-1A so as not to conflict with the helicopter’s designation from the show. You’d think with that much focus on the animated series we could’ve gotten more than a beat-for-beat rehash of the first film that it ended up being. You’d also think we could’ve avoided the annoying Janine Melnitz/Louis Tully romance. Yeah, that’s right: I’m a Janine/Egon shipper. Did they ever come up with a combined name for that? Jegon?  

When walking in New York that squish you feel may not be dog poop you're stepping in.

 They followed the 80s trend of trying to infuse it with a pro-social message about negativity and kindness represented by the mood slime, and, the topper, threw in a baby. The family-friendly grab bag. As a result, it just didn’t have the same bite the first one had. Now, I know, someone out there will trot out the severed head scene as proof that it could be just as scary as the first, but what if I told you that was part of the reshoots added after a bad test screening? Yeah, the test screening didn’t go over well. Meanwhile, the first film had missing special effects when it tested and was a hit.

By Al Fredo Fettuccini. 

            There were a lot of things going against this movie. A lot of hemming and hawing from both the studio and the co-creators if they even wanted a part 2, a significantly tight shooting schedule to rival even the first’s, and so many rewrites and reshoots that the film that came out barely resembled the one they started production with. Bill Murray once said in an interview that Ghostbusters II just wasn’t as fun to make as the first (the fun being the sole reason they decided to do the second), and it showed in the performances. Don’t get me wrong: everyone delivered to the best of their abilities, these are not bad actors. But you can tell when the cast is having some genuine fun on set and when they’re just showing up for work.  

C'mon, the Titanic arriving was just plain cool.

            Ghostbusters II does have its moments, however. A little silver lining in the clouds, if you will. The aforementioned head scene and the following train were pretty cool, as was some of the hauntings seen in the “Flip City” montage when Vigo was about to make his move. The mood slime itself was a novel idea, especially how it was utilized. Vigo was a pretty menacing villain, being more actively involved in the plot’s progression than Gozer was in the first. The Statue of Liberty thing was also cool, despite just being a “good” version of Stay Puft. The black suits were also an interesting addition. Music was another excellent element, with the soundtrack featuring songs from the likes of Run-DMC, Elton John (though not featured in the film) and Jackie Wilson (though not featured on the soundtrack); although the score couldn’t quite compare to Elmer Bernstein’s from the original. Ecto-1A—that took me a few decades to warm up to, which I eventually did. I mean, yeah, it makes sense in terms of a business, but as a classic car lover I thought it was garish and extremely over the top compared to the clean sleekness of the original. 

Still the best.

            Now, I’ll be the first to admit I’ve seen Ghostbusters II a few hundred times. And I just recently bought some logo t-shirts because I was feeling a bit nostalgic about it. I mean, c’mon, at the end of the day it’s still Ghostbusters. But if it came down to a choice of both movies being on different channels at the same time, the first would win every time. Ghostbusters II is not a bad movie; it was just very disappointing when compared to the first and with the hype maintained by the animated series. I think the true lesson here is to just stop trying to make a Ghostbusters film in under a year. 

            What are your thoughts on Ghostbusters II? Do you love it? Do you hate it? Is it your favorite? Sound off in the comments below!