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A mediocre addition to “Ghostbusters” franchise, filled with lifeless new characters, and almost two hours worth of fan service, that occasionally hits its mark. The plot of the film is shockingly similar to the first “Ghostbusters,” albeit the narrative is pushed by characters that are learning about family secrets that connect the present to the past. The main characters are unexpectedly bland. Paul Rudd, who’s normally a show-stealer, is very subdued here, and ultimately adds very little to the story. Carrie Coon’s character is there for almost no other reason than to have an adult there to bring the kids into the story. (And along with Rudd, fill in a few slots to parallel the first film.) Finn Wolfhard is also wasted, as he initially seems interesting; only to quickly fall back to being a supporting character. Logan Kim as Podcast is a mixed-bag. While his quirkiness works a lot of the time, other times he doesn’t feel like a real person. (Not to mention as the film goes on it becomes clear that he’s just a rip-off of Ray Stanz.) Celeste O’Conner’s character of Lucky never quite works either. She starts off as a love interest, but has no real chemistry with Wolfhard, and never feels like she should be part of the action as the movie hits the third act. The only standout is McKenna Grace’s Phoebe. She does all the heavy-lifting with the acting, and makes a character that doesn’t show a lot of emotion endearing to the audience. There’s an overabundance of fan service in this film. Some of the nods work perfectly, while other’s just hit the audience over the head with the blatant references. (Seems like almost every key-piece of dialog from the first film is worked-in somewhere, and usually in the mostly unsubtle way possible.) The comedy is generally flat, and there’s really not many jokes overall. The film’s climax lands the only emotional punch of the film, and most of that is due to the real-life passing of Harold Ramis. The movie ends somewhat abruptly, and then adds both a mid-credits and a post-credits scene that aren’t worth sticking around for.
** out of *****