🪲 The Entertaining Chaos of BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE | Movie Review

Hollywood just can’t get away from legacy  sequels, and they’re not planning to anytime soon. So, now we have “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice”. Are they going to make a third one and call  it “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Beetlejuice”? Probably because the projected box office numbers  are looking pretty good for the opening weekend. Now, I'm a big fan of the original. It’s a spooky season comfort movie for me, and  it needed no sequel - it was perfect as it was. But has that ever stopped Hollywood  from making another? Of course not. So, here we are, 36 years later with a sequel. After an unexpected family tragedy,   three generations of the Deetz family  return home to Winter River, and as much   as Lydia would like to leave her memories of  Beetlejuice behind, he is not done with her. When her daughter, Astrid, discovers the  mysterious model of the town in the attic   and the portal to the Afterlife is opened once  again, all kinds of chaos and mayhem ensue. I did not have high expectations going into   this movie, and I think that’s  actually the key to enjoying it. Of course, it’s nowhere near as  great or as iconic as the original,   but I never expected it to be, and I had  a great time enjoying it for what it was. First of all, I loved that they stuck with  the look and feel of the original film. It’s beautifully practical and it’s  a very Time Burton kind of weird. The sets are gorgeous, particularly when  it comes to the Afterlife, all of the dead,   quirky characters are great, every  location looks distinct and unique,   the color palette is vibrant, and, if  you’ve seen Tim Burton at his best,   you know his visuals tell the story  just as much as the dialogue does. Plus, those visuals contribute so much  to the overall tone, which we love. Basically, if you’re feeling nostalgic, if  you’re hoping to come in and be transported   into that familiar world for more  adventures - you’re going to get that. Speaking of nostalgia though,  when it comes to legacy sequels,   this question always comes up: is this  movie actually going to contribute   anything new and interesting or is this  just going to be lazy nostalgia bait? And I’m happy to say that “Beetlejuice  Beetlejuice” is actually its own story,   even though it does rely a lot on the original,   it is a true sequel and cannot  be viewed as a standalone film. Yes, there are some things in  there purely for nostalgia,   some scenes that are taking iconic moments  from “Beetlejuice” and trying to put a   new spin on them, and occasionally those  parts of the movie do go on for too long. But overall, there actually  is a pretty good balance of   originality and familiar elements we  know and love from the 80s classic. Also, we can’t forget about the amazing  cast because they carry a lot of this movie. The characters themselves are not  the most fleshed out or layered,   but the personalities are there and it’s the  performances that really make them stand out. First of all, the returning cast:  Michael Keaton as Beetlejuice - as   brilliant and ridiculous as  you would expect him to be. He is so much fun, he’s definitely the star  of the show here, and I’m so glad they didn’t   try to clean up his character by making him  less inappropriate or anything like that. He actually gets to deliver  the most satisfying f-word,   since only one is allowed in a  PG-13 movie - it is so well-placed. Keaton is great and he is guaranteed to make you  laugh - so good to see him reprise this role. Catherine O'Hara is also fantastic, as always,   and my audience was extremely  excited to see her on screen. Deservedly so, she gets to shine  just like she does in the original. Winona Ryder returning as Lydia Deetz though,   on the other hand - she’s fine, she’s  just not given much to work with here. Her character was definitely  the biggest letdown for me. They could have taken her in a few different  directions, but unfortunately all she gets to   do here is be an estranged mother to  an angsty teenager and really just a   pill-popping shadow of who she used to be,  haunted by the memories of Beetlejuice. It really didn’t feel like the same character to  me, and I get that a lot of time has gone by, and   that life can change people, but it was actually  a little bit depressing to see her this way. Even Delia at one point tells her  something along the lines of “you   need to find the annoying Goth girl  you used to be”, and that is so true! You just want her to find that spark the  entire movie, and it’s just not there. Once again, not Winona Ryder’s fault -  it’s the character that’s written that way,   but of course that reflects in the performance. As for the newcomers to the story, the biggest  standouts are Jenna Ortega and Willem Dafoe. Jenna Ortega plays Astrid, Lydia’s daughter,  and you can see a lot of Wednesday in her,   except less weird because she  doesn’t believe in ghosts,   but the general attitude and  personality are definitely there. Willem Dafoe plays a dead B movie action star,   who in the Afterlife is assuming  the role of a ghost detective. He has a ton of fun with this  character and he is hilarious. Monica Bellucci is in this movie as well,  and while she looks amazing and there is   a sequence early in the film that’s really cool…  her story really didn't need to be a part of this. This is a big issue with “Beetlejuice  Beetlejuice”: there is simply too much   going on in a way that makes it feel  unfocused and you’re just not really   sure what parts of this are you supposed  to be actually invested in for a while. There’s quite a bit of setup going on,   and by the end some of the subplots just  feel like they didn’t need to exist. You have the mother-daughter drama, you  have Lydia being apparently traumatized by   Beetlejuice as a teen, you have Beetlejuice  and his past coming to haunt him, meanwhile   there’s a family tragedy that’s bringing them all  together, but also Astrid is still processing her   own grief from an earlier tragedy, then later  Astrid goes off to have her own storyline… It’s a lot, and maybe there was a way to make all   of this work together beautifully and come  together in the end in a satisfying way… But really it just feels like  chaos with a lot of subplots. It’s entertaining chaos, I wasn’t bored, but I  also kept wondering why are we doing all of this. Also, the ending sequence is just strange. I’m not even sure what to make of it, I  feel like they should have ended it earlier,   so let me know in the comments  what you thought of that ending. But all that being said, the movie was  the light kind of fun it needed to be. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, it stays  away from being basic nostalgia bait, it tells   its own story, as chaotic as it is, and a lot of  its dark humor lands - my audience was having a   very good time, judging by how much they were  laughing, and I was having a good time as well. It felt good to be back in this  dark and spooky fantasy world,   traveling between the world  of the living and the dead,   especially when the movie looks this great and  captures the tone and feel of the original. The cast is great, the characters are memorable,  even if Lydia, sadly, didn’t do much for me, and   Beetlejuice himself is undoubtedly the star - him,  Catherine O'Hara, and Willem Dafoe stole the show. I will say though, I missed Adam and Barbara. I was really hoping they would  include them in the movie,   but they got dismissed with  one line of explanation. Definitely sad about that. I would have preferred for them to be  included instead of Monica Bellucci’s   subplot which doesn’t really end up  mattering all that much to the story. Not everything comes together as well as you  would hope and “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” doesn’t   exactly reach the heights of the original,  but it does recapture some of the magic. It’s also good to see that this is a true sequel   rather than a lazy retelling  of the story we already know. It’s an entertaining spooky season watch and  if you’re not expecting too much from it,   it’s a nice popcorn movie that  you can have a good time with.