3 out of 10(That`s two yawns and a snore)
 

I sometimes wonder if Dan Ackroyd has a secret master plan to add the letter "s" for sequel onto the front of the term "hit movie" every times he follows up a success at the box office. Just as in "Ghostbusters 2", in this sequel, everything that made the original such fun to watch (the simplicity of the plot, the brilliant one-liners, the clever stunts), has been surgically removed and replaced with some clever computer graphics, a pile of politically correct junk and lots of highly talented singers just thrown in on a basis that if one works well then a hundred will be a hundred times better.

The film starts off, promisingly enough with headlong conflict with the Russian Mafia, keen to see Elwood (Dan Ackroyd) wasted. Regrettably, it’s the plot opportunity that’s wasted as it proves no more than a broken promise with the Russians quickly disappearing like a KGB in a Moscow street and what little is left of a plot evaporates in seconds. With none of the original’s subtlety and only one very poorly done Police car pile-up, the film descends into being just one, almost uninterrupted showcase for rank-and-file of "over-the-hill" Motown and Rhythm & Blues musicians, and strolls along in an entirely "humour-free" vacuum to an ending so trite that it makes "Plan 9 From Outer Space" look like an Oscar contender.

Whilst all the musicians are extremely talented, with so many, it denies the film any form of focus, and merely serves to amplify the shortcomings of John Goodman who acts (I use the term only in its broadest sense) as the replacement for the late John Belushi. John Goodman’s casting has been described as "inspired" - I have no idea why, unless it`s as inspiration for criticism. This easily his worst performance ever, and when Ackroyd says to Goodman "You sure can sing!", it’s the best, if unintended, joke of the whole movie. At another point, Goodman’s supposed to have been transformer into a Zombie by a witch - this came as quite a shock to me as I though he’d been playing one all along.