Movie Review: Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024)
Original Watch Date: October 13, 2024
“In an era of one reboot after another, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice takes a left turn and delivers an original (albeit bloated) story with familiar characters not overly reliant on nostalgia to allow the film to work.”
Synopsis
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is the long-awaited sequel to Tim Burton’s 1988 cult classic. The film reunites audiences with the mischievous ghost Beetlejuice as he returns to the land of the living to assist a new generation Deetz entangled in supernatural predicaments. This time, Lydia Deetz and her daughter Astrid find themselves confronting eerie occurrences as they deal with the death of Charles, Lydia’s father, eventually intersecting with the chaotic intervention of Beetljuice. The film blends humor, horror, and nostalgia, delivering a fresh yet familiar adventure.
How did we get here?
Directed by Tim Burton, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice serves as a direct sequel to the original film, bringing back beloved characters while introducing new faces. The screenplay, penned by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, explores the Deetz family's life decades after their initial encounter with Beetlejuice. The film features returning cast members Michael Keaton (Batman), Winona Ryder (Stranger Things), and Catherine O'Hara (Best in Show), alongside newcomers Jenna Ortega (Wednesday), Willem Dafoe (Spider-Man), Monica Bellucci (Shoot ‘Em Up), and Justin Theroux (American Psycho).
Released in theaters on September 6, 2024, the film is now available to rent from online shops such as Youtube, Google Play, and Apple TV, and is set to premier on Max on December 6, 2024
Spoiler-Free Review and Verdict
This sequel successfully recaptures the eccentric charm of its predecessor. Michael Keaton's reprisal of Betelgeuse is both nostalgic and invigorating, bringing the same chaotic energy that made the original character iconic. Winona Ryder seamlessly steps back into the role of Lydia Deetz, now a mother grappling with her past and its impact on her daughter, Astrid, portrayed by Jenna Ortega. Ortega's performance adds a fresh dynamic, embodying an intelligent modern teenager entangled in supernatural chaos. The film balances humor and horror, with Tim Burton's distinctive visual style enhancing the eerie yet whimsical atmosphere. While some plot elements may feel disjointed at times, the film offers enough twists to keep both longtime fans and newcomers engaged. A delightful sequel that honors the original while introducing fresh elements to further flesh out Beetlejuice’s world.
Verdict: 6.5/10
Review and Analysis (Spoilers)
The film opens with Lydia running a talk show dedicated to investigating paranormal events. Given Lydia’s powers to see the dead, she has this gig down pat. However, her daughter Astrid (Jenna Ortega) despite being given the details of her time with the Maitlands from back in 1988, Astrid remains a skeptic of her mom’s powers since she apparently can’t communicate with her deceased father, an issue that appears to have estranged the pair. After the taping of an episode of her show, Lydia starts to get visions of Beetlejuice, out of the corner of her eye that startle her, clearly still dealing with the trauma from her original encounter with the “bio-exorcist”. Shortly thereafter, Lydia’s stepmother Delia (Catherine O’Hara) informs Lydia of her father’s tragic passing and now three generations of Deetzes must return to the eerie town of Winter River to bury Charles.
Underlying the plot of Deetzes dealing with the death of Charles and trying to mend bridges, there is trouble brewing in the afterlife. The film introduces us to Dolores (Monica Bellucci), a cult leader who seduces and then tries to kill Beetlejuice while the pair were alive, to perform an immortality ritual. However, before Beetlejuice succumbs to the poison administered by Dolores, he chops her up and then dies. But now, Dolores has awakened and is sucking the souls out of any unfortunate ghosts she happens across, effectively erasing them from existence permanently.
The Deetzes’ and Beetlejuice’s paths collide when Lydia meets a boy in town who isn’t what he seems. Jeremy, played by Arthur Conti (House of the Dragon) entices Astrid to hangout during Halloween which Lydia allows when she sees him wave to her from his room. However, Jeremy reveals that he is a ghost, consequently revealing that Astrid inherited her mother’s sixth sense. Jeremy convinces Astrid to go with him to the afterlife so she can see her dad, but this is all a plot to trade her soul for his, so that he may return to the world of living. When Lydia finds out that the house she dropped Astrid off to was previously owned by a family murdered by their teenage son, she realizes something has gone wrong and must get into the afterlife herself to rescue her daughter. With no other choice, she calls upon Beetlejuice to help her find Astrid in exchange for Lydia agreeing to marry him so that he can get out of the afterlife and avoid being exterminated by the rampaging Dolores.
Michael Keaton's portrayal of Betelgeuse remains as vibrant and mischievous as ever, seamlessly blending crude humor with a peculiar charm. Winona Ryder's Lydia has evolved into a more mature character yet retains the gothic sensibility that defined her in the original film. Jenna Ortega's Astrid introduces a Lisa Simpson-like perspective to film, being intelligent and skeptical of her mother’s powers while also retaining the environmental protective qualities that she got from her father, Richard (Santiago Cabrera). But the film takes Astrid’s character one step further and parallels the antagonistic relationship that was had between Lydia and Delia during the first movie.
The film delves into themes of family legacy and the intergenerational impact of past traumas. Lydia's failure to be the mother that Astrid needed after the death of Richard combined with Astrid being dismissive of Lydia’s powers creates a compelling mother-daughter dynamic. The inclusion of new characters, such as Willem Dafoe's enigmatic afterlife law enforcement officer and Monica Bellucci's Delores, adds some depth to the narrative.
Tim Burton's signature visual style is evident throughout, with practical effects and imaginative set designs that pay homage to the original while introducing new, visually captivating elements. The film's pacing tries to balance moments of humor, horror, and emotional resonance, but seemingly tries to do too much and rushes through the plot points to get across the finish line.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice offers a satisfying continuation of the original story, blending nostalgia with some fresh storytelling. The performances, particularly those of Keaton, Ryder, and for me personally, O’Hara, anchor the film, while Burton's direction ensures a visually engaging experience. But had Burton and his writers cut down on some of the extraneous parts of the plot (you’ll notice I haven’t once mentioned Justin Theroux’s character) and let the solid points breathe this would’ve made for a much better story.
Final Thoughts and Recommendation
A 5/10 would signify this movie being completely average, but at the end of the day we got to see Beetlejuice again. Michael Keaton’s Beetlejuice will always be fun to watch, but his performance didn’t have the same amount of inflection as in the first film. Personally, I feel like he’s better as an antagonist which he finally gets to be again at the end of the movie. As mentioned above, I felt like Justin Theroux’s character Rory, who serves as Lydia’s boyfriend/manager, felt completely unnecessary to me. She had enough issues to deal with throughout the film aside from a subplot of Rory trying to marry Lydia so that he could get her money. I think it would’ve been better to have Beetlejuice serve as a uniting force for Lydia and Astrid against which they must work together to overcome. So due to the movie just running too long with unnecessary bits, this film is just a little more than above average.
I also found it odd how they handled the character of Charles Deetz (previously played by the nefarious Jeffrey Jones). He was, of course, left out of the film due to his criminal past, but instead of merely killing him by having the top portion of his body entirely bitten off, the film follows his corpse around throughout the rest of the film. I think I would have preferred to have just had him dead, buried, and forgotten, but his blood spouting corpse serves as continuous reminder of the heinous man who the corpse represents.
Catherine O’Hara had me laughing throughout the film. For me, she carried the film as much as Keaton did. Winona as an angsty Lydia was fun in the 80’s however, the neurotic adult Lydia who doesn’t know how to deal with her daughter in this movie is less fun. Ortega was fine and made do with what she had to work with, although I think the film would’ve benefitted from more Ortega-Winona time which you could’ve had if you cut out the Rory storyline. The Astrid-Jeremy storyline was pretty interesting, but this is one of those things that felt rushed at the end. Exploring the living-dead relationship dynamic I think would’ve been a cool way to go here, but it was ultimately short lived.
Another character I haven’t mentioned much was Willem Dafoe’s Wolf Jackson, a former hardboiled TV cop turned afterlife detective. His role was to track down Dolores who keeps sucking the souls of innocent ghosts as she makes her way to finding Beetlejuice for her revenge. Dafoe is always fun and he was fun here as well, but this was another storyline (Dolores’ revenge) that I feel could’ve been left out. Figure out another way to get the Deetzes and Bettlejuice to cross paths, but the Dolores storyline just sort of fell flat to me, although it was interesting to see how exactly Beetlejuice died.
I may sound negative, but I walked into the theater with low expectations and walked out thinking that it was pretty funny. Overall, I enjoyed the film, but the lower rating here is a victim of the film’s over-bloated plot. But if you get a chance to watch his one I still think it would be worth your time if you’re a fan of the original and a fan of that Tim Burton art style.
