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Ghostbusters 2 (1989) | Remember the classic sequence – This time more geared towards children

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Ghostbusters 2 – But Além premiered this weekend in theaters in Brazil and around the world. The film is a direct continuation of the beloved adventures of the 1980s and officially counts as the late third part set to premiere after 1989, but which for three decades never left the diary. The entire original cast (well, those who are still alive) return for a much anticipated (and delayed) handover. The new movie doesn’t focus on the veterans we’ve grown to love over those 37 years (now all in the late ’70s), but rather on the younger generation, hitchhiking in style. so popular in the 80s: Adventures Starring Children and Tweens. Stranger Things, the hugely popular Netflix show, bathes in this fountain to achieve success.

To get us in the mood for the long-awaited new adventure that not only saves the franchise in all its glory but also the spirit of the ’80s, we’ve now decided to revisit the only direct continuation of the absolute classic from 1989. So take your proton backpack, assemble the gang and get ready to return to ghost hunting for an incredibly nostalgic journey. Find out below.

Read also: Ghostbusters (1984) | Remember an absolute cinema entertainment icon

Everyone, including die-hard fans, cite a very noticeable drop in the quality of this sequel to the beloved original 1984 film. The Ghostbusters was a surprising success from the summer to the mid-1980s, and with its mix of humor, adventure and horror became Columbia Pictures studio’s highest-grossing film and one of the highest-grossing films in cinema history. The film has secured its place in the pantheon of entertainment cinema’s most creative productions alongside giants like Star Wars, Indiana Jones or Back to the Future, for example. It was only a matter of time before the directors pulled a sequel for the role.

Today, the Ghostbusters phenomenon back then would be comparable to what we have with Marvel at the top of the Hollywood food chain. The real surprise was how the movie about paranormal scientists became popular with children and teenagers, without the story necessarily meant for them. As said, the movie has more intense and spooky scenes, as well as a few jokes below the waist (like when Dan Aykroyd’s character gets oral sex from a handsome ghost). In other words, none of it (other than the constant cigarettes the characters smoke throughout the screening) would be contained on the screens if there was any hint that it would fall so heavily into the favor of the filmmakers. smaller.

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So before it even became another movie with real actors on the big screen, Ghostbusters dominated all kinds of merchandising aimed at its audiences, including a cartoon that premiered in 1986, two years after the film, and which would last until 1991. , owner of an equally great popularity. With all of that, it was time to bring everyone involved in the second round original back to the big screen. However, a major deadlock set in behind the scenes and Ghostbusters 2 almost took off, taking five absurd and harmful years to debut (the normal thing is to take advantage of the hype immediately). It was only because of the ever-present boy problem, Bill Murray. It turns out the actor was taking a sabbatical from acting and, to make matters worse, had started a feud with Columbia President David Puttman, a guy more focused on adult cinema and “art“. , who didn’t like blockbusters very much and had denigrated Murray publicly. After Puttman’s resignation in 1987, Dawn Steel took over as president of the studio and made it a priority to pursue her greatest success. Steel as early as 1988 held several meetings to work things out with Murray and bring about the second Ghostbusters.

Initially, Dan Aykroyd (the screenwriter again) had thought of a more universal film that would culminate in Scotland. In the end, once again believing that this was an impractical proposition, the screenwriter decided to contain the narrative in New York, again directing a film in the franchise very closely associated with the Big Apple. What we see on screen, however, is not the original script. As Bill Murray revealed in an interview in 2021, he and the rest of the cast are said to have signed on to make a movie with a different story. When the actor arrived on set and realized that everything had changed, he didn’t like it at all. However, they were already halfway through the recordings and so ended up embarking on the journey, trying to give their all to make the result the best it could be.

In the plot this time around, New York was seemingly cleared of all haunting and supernatural activity after the protagonists defeated the entity known as Gozer. However, the arrival of a mysterious painting in Dana’s (Sigourney Weaver) new work brings disturbing new events to the city. Weaver’s character has an interesting arc in this sequel. She changes jobs, quits classical music and becomes a conservator of works of art in a museum, where she works under the supervision of her troublesome boss, Dr. Poha (Peter MacNicol). Other than that, Dana now has a son, little Oscar. But he’s not the son of Peter (Bill Murray), as the couple broke up during the five-year gap between the films and gave Dana time to meet someone else, to have a child and break up. The fact leaves the door open to a rapprochement between the characters of Murray and Weaver.

The threat in the new film is twofold. The first, as has been said, is the mysterious figure contained in the painting. The image is that of Vigo, a cruel noble wizard who has managed to transfer his demonic essence into the painting and who hopes to reincarnate as Dana’s baby. The inspiration for the subject figure comes from real personalities such as Vlad III the Impaler and the Russian Grigory Raputin. The second threat is a pinkish goo (in the mold of the Killer Bubble) that runs under the whole city through sewers and abandoned train lines. It turns out that this goo is the manifestation of the bad feelings of everyone in the place, at a time when politically incorrect reigned supreme and people treated each other like garbage and thought it was their right to have this “freedom“. “. Has a lot changed? Still according to the first sketches of the screenplay, the character of Walter Peck (William Atherton), the human antagonist of the first film, would return in the sequel.

As said, the sequel to The Ghostbusters has gotten a lot more ‘kid-friendly’ and, in a way, childish, as the studio saw great potential with its uncovered audience: kids. So much of the look of the ghosts, monsters, and creatures in this sequel has been given a more “harmless” design, more in line with what is featured, for example, in the cartoon (which was still in the movie). air) – as opposed to looking more spooky than in the original, of characters like the decrepit cab driver or the library ghost, plus, of course, the gargoyle-demon dogs. But it wasn’t just the visual effects that needed to be ‘redesigned’ for kids, other elements of Ghostbusters 2 were created with the thought of reflecting more of the atmosphere of TV animation. Like, for example, the look of Secretary Janine (Annie Potts), completely reconfigured from the original to fit her two-dimensional counterpart. Apart from that, the creature known as Slimer (Jelly), who would become the movie’s mascot, returned with more prominence this second time around – and acquired a “buddy” personality in her interactions with Louis Tully. (Rick Moranis).

And while the original film owes much of its existence to the success of The Stick Face Brothers, the sequel wouldn’t pass up the 1980 classic tributes. If in the first, the aforementioned green ghost was known as “The ‘Spirit of John Belushi’ In this sequel, the courtroom scene in which the Ghostbusters are accused ends with the appearance of the infamous Scoleri brothers, two criminals convicted by the same judge, who return from the dead to take revenge. The look of the duo was created with the protagonists of Os Irmãos Cara de Pau as inspiration.

Ghostbusters 2, in the end, was not well received, despite the excitement of children of a whole generation, including this friend who tells you about – this is one of the first Hollywood movies I saw on the big screen. being a child. The sequel debuted on June 16, 1989 in the United States, arriving in Brazil on December 14 of the same year. With a budget of $ 37 million, the film grabbed Columbia for $ 112 million in the United States and $ 215 million in total worldwide. On their first weekend, with no big competition for that date, Ghostbusters 2 rose to the top spot in the leaderboard, releasing previously released blockbusters in corners see Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Society of Dead Poets and Journey. into Stars V – The Last Frontier. But the following week, he would be struck by the phenomenon Batman and Darling I Shrunk the Kids by Tim Burton, another movie starring Rick Moranis.

The disappointment felt by actors and filmmakers with the end result, coupled with negative reception from critics and fans alike, would bury the franchise forever. Or almost. Over the course of nearly thirty years, countless efforts were made to release a third film with the original cast, but the pieces never seemed to be in place. To make matters worse, in 2014, actor Harold Ramis, who plays the cerebral Egon (and is also the screenwriter) would die. Two years after his death, the original idea will undergo a makeover, with a new film that will start from scratch and bring together a team made up entirely of women. We’ll talk about this movie soon, but suffice to say it didn’t work out. Now we have the chance to breathe new life into the franchise with the launch of the latest issue Ghostbusters – But Além, the outcome of which has thrilled critics and fans alike, having apparently made a good pass, in front of and behind the cameras – the director is Jason Reitman, son of original director Ivan Reitman.

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