The cleverly titled Beetlejuice Beetlejuice doesn’t make you say his name three times but does see Michael Keaton return to his iconic role in the long-awaited sequel to the Tim Burton classic. This weirder and at times scarier follow-up is messy but has enough of the original magic to entertain audiences thanks to its tremendous comedic performances.
In the days leading up to Halloween (nice choice), Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder), her daughter Astrid (Jenna Ortega), and mother-in-law Delia (Catherine O’Hara) find themselves reunited to mourn the comedic passing of their family patriarch Charles in their old town of Winter River. But multiple events find the Deetz family unwittingly needing the service of the “Ghost with the Most” as Beetlejuice himself, still in the afterlife, ducks his recently returned and vindictive wife Delores (Monica Belluci).
The vibe of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is a major contributing factor to some of the disconnect from its predecessor. The story by the duo behind Smallville and Wednesday, Miles Millar and Alfred Gough, has many of the team’s trademark eccentricities – teenage romance, fairly predictable twists, and clever reworkings of well-established franchise mythologies. The result is a mixed bag of callbacks and undercooked plot threads that fizzle out unexpectedly and make sharp turns in other directions.
Keaton and O’Hara still got it and elevated quite a few bits in the film that aren’t great on paper. Keaton in particular has no trouble reviving his rude charisma and hilarious line delivery in the role. O’Hara seems to be channeling more of her character from Schitt’s Creek than Delia from the original film, but the two characters aren’t that dissimilar and O’Hara still provides some of the best moments of the film.
The rest of the cast is all over the place. Winona Ryder sleepwalks through her return as Lydia. Besides visually playing an excellent Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas, Bellucci’s Delores is a wasted plot point with nearly zero character development. Jenna Ortega is plenty likable as Astrid, but not far off from her Wednesday role and is more of a tool to advance the story than an interesting, fully fleshed-out character. Justin Theroux and William Dafoe chew the scenery in their more entertaining, but still one-dimensional supporting roles.
Tim Burton hasn’t lost his macabre visual flair and the look and design of the entire film truly pops. The Halloween setting and Tim Burton’s modern affinity for amping up the colors in his projects are on full display. Some fun choices, such as a stop-motion flashback of Charles Deets’ death and numerous uses of practical effects make for great laughs and terrific goth imagery. Some more terrifying than expected – watch out for baby Beetlejuice! Yikes!
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice proves that the role is still both a great vehicle for Keaton and a viable franchise for Burton. Hopefully, if the talent involved decides to make the inevitably titled Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (which seems to be lightly teased), next time the film can spend more time on the supporting characters and deliver a more cohesive story.
Score: 3.5 out of 5
1 Comment
Good morning, I saw the movie on Thursday afternoon and enjoyed it but there were a few changes that seemed odd to me. First and foremost I’d like to know why the writers or producers decided to change the spelling of the main characters name from “The Dietz’s” to “The Deetz’s”? Yeah only us Dietz’s would notice such a subtle change. It appears that there may never be a Beetlejuice 3 as they are all getting old but you could’ve continued with Asterisk. I had the plot figured out early and each major step of the way I told my wife what was going to happen.
So can you please tell me why the changes or were they not paying attention.
Thank you.