Andy Casper

This movie flew under my radar for nearly 15 years. The cast and continuous intrigue are almost perfectly paced. Miss Carano is nothing short of brutal in her take downs and cold as a black ops spy. The soundtrack and camera work evoke classic Bond films. The (only briefly) slow start almost deprived me of a joy ride of violence, justice and a laundry list of great talent. It has all the makings of a franchise, but seems to have dead-ended here.

The levels of absurdity explored in this film defy common sense. I can’t understand how basic principles of physics and logic were so ignored. The story is actually fairly interesting but the viewer is regularly ripped out of it needlessly. The plane plows through mountain snow. Damage? No. Lost velocity? No. The door opens in this most basic of planes, and an alarm sounds. Why? It wouldn’t. Doppler effect as the plane is flying with the camera. Why!?  And the landing…..such a disappointment.

The new generation is back to fight another ghost god. The setting is New York City to unite old and new.  Once again we get Jason Reitman at the helm carrying on his father’s legacy. Aykroyd in the writing credits no doubt aided the story development. The most pronounced aspect of this film is the exceptional detail of the firehouse. It seems no cost was spared to recreate every facet which translates well and bursts with nostalgia. Some plot points are a little weak and others seem to jump too fast in time to be believable, but all in all the story is interesting and fun to watch. I can look past all weaknesses and enjoy this film because of the strong pull of my childhood reminding me how spooky and exciting it was to experience ghoastbusting for the first time. While some of the science mumbo-jumbo gets out of hand stretching the tolerance of a reasonably informed viewer, this too can be suspended in favor of enjoying the ride.  I’m interested to see where they take this in the next installment, which means this film won me again despite the continued risk involved with extending such a culturally significant 80’s franchise. One that means so much to myself and fans everywhere.