One of the more depressing pop-culture stories of 2016 has been the nerd rage incited by the female-driven, Paul Feig-directed reboot of the 1984 supernatural comedy Ghostbusters. The new film is just a shameless cash-in that will drag down the good name of the original, say Ghostbusters fans. But don’t converge upon Sony headquarters with torches and pitchforks just yet: According to the latest episode of Honest Trailers, that precious franchise already had its good name dragged through the slime 27 years ago by a little thing called Ghostbusters II.
To set the historical record straight, the popular web series has created a brutal trailer that trashes the inferior sequel for four-and-a-half merciless minutes. Director Ivan Reitman returned for the 1989 follow-up, as did all the principals from the 1984 original, including Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd. Unfortunately, none of these people brought any original ideas with them. The trailer systematically demonstrates how Ghostbusters II is simply a beat for beat imitation of Ghostbusters. The Statue Of Liberty is the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man is this time, and there’s way more slime. Big deal.
And the Honest Trailers folks aren’t content merely bashing the sequel. They want to point out all the ways the Ghostbusters franchise has been tarnished over the years, long before Feig or his actors got anywhere near it. To wit: There were a couple of truly lousy, frustrating video games that are borderline unplayable. And then there was that Extreme Ghostbusters nonsense, the bastard sibling of The Real Ghostbusters. What the hell was up with that? Let’s not forget that Aykroyd has revealed himself as a complete wackjob on national television, yammering on about aliens and 9/11. Harold Ramis is dead. Rick Moranis is in exile. And Murray never wanted to do another Ghostbusters movie in the first place. Come to think of it, even the beloved 1984 film could be interpreted as an insult to the legacy of The Ghost Busters, the live-action series from 1975 with Larry Storch and Forrest Tucker. So maybe cut the reboot some slack, huh?