GHOSTBUSTERS II (1989) *** In which Louis Tulley thinks he becomes a Ghostbuster. "Sometimes shit happens, and someone's gotta deal with it. Who ya gonna call?" How do you go about making a sequel to the greatest film in the history of mankind? Starting out with the team intact is the exactly right move, many of the lines snarl graciously, the actors are again gloriously in character, the special effects are still combustion incarnate...but all on a diminished scale, and the metaphors, while ambitious and reasonably accessible, lack Ali's knockout punch. Bill Murray does reference Namath's Jets and the Mets (a beer mug, no less!), speaking of sports icons, but strangely omits the Willis and Clyde Knicks, unless I missed something. Rick Moranis isn't as funny as a lawyer as he was as an accountant, but the judiciary dynamic is right on the mark, particularly so as the Ghostbusters have been sued and put on probation for making a mess while saving the world last time. And most judges do seem to be petty and vindictive snivveling idiots. Murray is a bachelour's bachelour, now struggling with the few modifications around the edges to enable conversion. Dan Akroyd wishing the coven well from his occult bookstore adds his gibbous angle to the controlling argument that growing up doesn't mean dumbing down and boring out, at least until he accidentally gets possesssed by an Eastern European mystic with a prepostrous nose. Not as good as the original of course, but this one's good enough to send your screaming kids immediately out the door playing Ghostbusters.