“Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire breaks franchise record with Rotten Tomatoes score,” screamed this week’s headlines, according to the latest Ghostbuster the sequel debuted squarely in the rotten area of the Rotten Tomatoes rating system.
I sure don’t care Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire going down in history as the worst rated Ghostbuster (even if I would personally rate this slightly above even more disappointing Ghostbusters: Afterlife). The part that bothers me is the observation that the previous record holder for the smallest Ghostbuster The Rotten Tomatoes score was Ghostbusters IIa good sequel that is much better than Frozen Empire.
I already wrote one long defense of the film here on ScreenCrush (Almost ten years ago?!? Time flies when you’re racking your brains in a spiritual sense.) Back then I wrote…
I would compare the two films (original Ghostbusters) this way: Ghostbusters was a master chef (director Ivan Reitmann) inventing a new dish. Ghostbusters II is the same great chef making the same dish again with some new ingredients. Is it the same plate of food as before? Basically, yes. But that doesn’t mean it tastes bad. There may not be genius in following a recipe, but there can still be a lot of pleasure.
So I’m not here to litigate Ghostbusters II debate at length. I just want to watch this, like the original Ghostbuster, Ghostbusters II It’s a film that holds up to multiple viewings and was obviously made with a lot of consideration given to its small details – some then small, you might notice them on the first, second or 50th viewing. Or never, unless someone points them out to you.
For example, when I rewatched the original Ghostbuster with my kids this past weekend, I discovered a background joke that I had never noticed before. When the Ghostbusters chase Slimer through the halls of the Sedgewick Hotel, they accidentally “test” their new proton packs on a housekeeper’s cleaning supplies cart. While Egon, Peter, and Ray discuss their equipment in the foreground, the housekeeper in the background tries to clean up the mess the Ghostbusters made.
See if you can identify the gag; watch closely at around 1:07 of the clip below:
You noticed? Some toilet paper and tissue from the cart started a fire and she is trying to put it out. The flame is tiny – but the housekeeper’s squirt bottle is even smaller, so it does nothing to put it out. Squirt squirt squirt. Nothing happens.
This is hilarious. But since Harold Ramis, Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd are so funny in the foreground at the same time, I’ve never noticed this before.
There’s an even sneakier joke in Ghostbusters II – such a sneaky one, actually, I Never I realized this myself. Someone on a Discord I frequent pointed this out this week, and it’s too smart not to share. (Full credit to Nick Ernst-Maynard for tracking him down; you can follow him on Topics or Instagram.)
This scene happens about 50 minutes into the film. Dana Barrett, the unluckiest woman in New York City, has once again been targeted by ghosts, and only the Ghostbusters can save her. While they investigate her apartment for clues, she takes up temporary residence at Peter Venkman’s (Bill Murray) house. Venkman returns to her apartment as soon as Dana gets out of the shower. They exchange some dialogue; he tells her he will take her to dinner while her team takes care of his son Oscar.
At first glance, it’s a standard sequence, although Murray and Weaver have always had incredible chemistry together, and this moment is no exception. And when you first watch the film, you’ll never notice the model of the Statue of Liberty torch on Venkman’s desk – or several other small models of Lady Liberty on the table next to it. Framed by all these baubles while wrapped in a huge towel, Sigourney Weaver even looks like the Statue of Liberty.
SEE MORE INFORMATION: Our full review of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
In other words: when the Ghostbusters get the idea to use the Statue of Liberty to defeat Vigo a few scenes later, it’s not just the Ecto-1A license plate that gives them the idea. The scheme was subliminally implanted in Venkman’s brain 20 minutes earlier, when he was talking to Dana in her apartment.
Again, you can say Ghostbusters II not up to par Ghostbuster – and you would be right. But you it cannot say that it wasn’t made with obvious love and care for these characters and their world, or that the creative team didn’t take the time to foreshadow and motivate their big plot twists, like the use of the Statue of Liberty in the climax.
Oh, by the way: if you look closely at that scene in Venkman’s apartment, you’ll also see that he has a framed copy of USA today from the first film hanging on the wall. Who knew Venkman was so sentimental about these things? That’s probably why he keeps appearing in these sequels – even Ghostbuster: Frozen Empire.
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