REVIEW: ‘Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice’ is an Entertaining, Yet Unnecessary Sequel
Betelgeuse (Michael Keaton) returns in an all-new sequel from Tim Burton, and while completely unnecessary, fans of the original movie will love Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice. 36 years after the events of Beetlejuice, the Deetz family has returned to Winter River to say goodbye to one of their own. Upon their return, Lydia (Winnoa Ryder) begins struggling with visions of Betelgeuse while also struggling to connect with her teenage daughter, Astrid (Jenna Ortega). Astrid, determined to believe in facts and the paranormal, has no desire to remain in the smalltown until a reason to stick around appears our of thin air. With a wedding in the future, Lydia and Astrid’s worlds are turned upside down when a portal to the Afterlife is open, and Lydia’s biggest worry, Betelgeuse, returns. Now, the mother/daughter pairing must work together if they hope to return Betelgeuse back to where he belongs.
Written by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, the story is all over the place. Lydia is now a paranormal TV host, who is dating her show’s producer, Rory (Justin Theroux), while Astrid is off at boarding school trying to pretend, she’s not the weird ghost lady’s daughter. When the two come together to return to Winter River, the story should have focused on the two of them and the repairing of their relationship, but the two remain separate until almost the end of the movie. Astrid is given her own storyline that keeps her far away from her mother, and Betelgeuse. These two characters barely interact, and that is the storyline the writers should have focused on. How does Betelgeuse react to Lydia being married to someone else and having a child? Instead, the writers chose to focus on an array of different storylines that never really ever come together.
With that being said, the movie is still entertaining. It’s extremely nostalgic for those who grow up loving the original, while welcoming to newcomers. You do not have to watch the first movie to understand what is going on in the sequel. The movie sprinkles enough breadcrumbs for the Beetlejuice fanatics to love in through and through, while not ostracizing those who don’t. Keaton is just as wonderful this time around as he was in 1988. You would never know 36 years had passed since he last played the character. Ryder also does well, but her character seems less sure of herself this time around. Ryder’s brings a new layer to the character that was once the most sensible member of the Deetz family, and now may be the most naïve.
Jenna Ortega joins the cast as Astrid and is the perfect casting for this type of movie. She plays deadpan humor with such ease and fits easily in with the cast. However, it is Catherine O’Hara’s Delia Deetz and Willem Dafoe’s Wolf Jackson that are the best part of the movie. Their characters bring the most laughs and will leave you wanting another movie focused solely on them. You can tell in both of their performances they are having the time of their lives.
Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice is a movie Beetlejuice fans will definitely want to see in theaters. For everyone else, hold off until it is released On Demand or streaming. The movie may not be worth the price of admission for those who did not love the original or isn’t a huge fan of Tim Burton movies.
Grade: C+
Photo credit: Alon Amir