As long as the film retains its playfulness and keeps the stakes low, things are promising. But once the trail leads to the refrigerator of Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver), which contains a hellhound and a gleaming, apocalyptic vision (''Generally, you don't see this kind of behavior in a major appliance,'' Dr. Venkman observes), the film gets out of hand. Ivan Reitman, the director, subsequently has to contend with spectacles like a rooftop demonic shrine and a 100-foot marshmallow dressed in a sailor suit, marching up Central Park West. Not surprisingly, with all this going on, there is more attention to special effects than to humor.Ouch. Anything else you'd like to get off your chest?
...it's another of the messy, near-miss films in which [Murray] seems to specialize. Put Mr. Murray in any setting where order, tidiness and rationality are taken seriously, and he becomes the consummate anarchic slob; that's enough to keep ''Ghostbusters'' going, like ''Stripes'' and ''Meatballs'' before it. But Mr. Murray would be even more welcome if his talents were used in the service of something genuinely witty and coherent, rather than as an end in themselves.Really? Meatballs is better than Ghostbusters? Which one spawned a cartoon series, two sequels (yup, Ghostbusters III, coming in 2012), and raked in $238 million at the box office? (Hint: it wasn't the one about summer camp.)
*As for the author, the review is written by Janet Maslin. Throughout her lengthy career as a critic, Maslin has been excellent and usually spot-on in her reviews. According to her Wikipedia page, she covered movies for the NYT from 1977-1999, and now she reviews books for them. She also wrote for Rolling Stone in the '70's so you know she's not just some tight ass. Sorry, though, Janet, everybody strikes out sometimes. Maybe you'll get a chance to redeem yourself with a review of Ghostbusters III-- that version will probably deserve your scorn.
