Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

Plot

After a family tragedy, three generations of the Deetz family return home to Winter River. Still haunted by Beetlejuice, Lydia's life is turned upside down when her teenage daughter, Astrid, accidentally opens the portal to the Afterlife.

Cast

Keaton, Ryder and O'Hara all return, sadly Baldwin & Davis do not. However for the record I fully understand Burton's reasons for not including them. Also along for the ride are the always excellent Ortega, Dafoe, Theroux and Bellucci although she's absolutely wasted here. Devito offers us a memorable cameo appearance and Burn Gorman offers us a couple of scenes.

Verdict

Beetlejuice 2 is one of those sequels people had talked about for decades including countless rumours, fake news reports and even fan made trailers but I didn't expect to ever actually happen. When the trailer dropped it was official, undeniable and I was both excited and hesitant. You see I'm of that generation who saw the original movie when it first came out and I loved it but 36yrs later getting a sequel! Could it meet expectations? Could the characters hold up? Well, the answer is a very mixed bag.

Over three and a half decades the logical thing this needed to do was play to nostalgia hard, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice surprised me in how little it did this. Yes there are nods here and there, yes there are throwback scenes and yes there is a certain song that returns but for the most part they really make a movie here for a new generation who likely haven't seen the original more than Beetlejuice fans and I personally didn't appreciate this and deemed it a baffling choice.

Next up the cast, Keaton as Beetlejuice didn't feel the same, I'm not sure it was him or the writing but he wasn't the captivating character we love and know from the 80's. Lydia? Ryder delivered and was fantastic, this was a great return. O'Hara again was very much Delia, but we do remember Delia is a deeply annoying character right? So this much screen time compared to the original movie was most certainly not a good thing. Theroux was excellent, Ortega was brilliant, Dafoe was his usual madcap self and Bellucci was.......well, she was there. You see I love Bellucci but ultimately she was setup as the movies antagonist, she's barely on screen, contributes nothing and even the characters swansong is rushed and quite frankly terrible.

You see the plot is very tired and extremely generic, it needed that nostalgia, it needed Beetlejuice, it doesn't have much of either. And when we do have the Beetlejuice scenes they're, very very lackluster. And the inevitable music scene, I'm in awe how bad that was, it felt tacked on, it wasn't funny, it was far too long, the song choice was deeply confusing and I just cannot stress how poor it was.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice isn't bad, it's just rushed, uninspired, doesn't tick boxes it logically should have and just fell flat for a movie 36 years in the making.

Rants

Okay I enjoyed Bob, or should that be the Bobs? The shrunken head people stole the movie (Not a spoiler it's on the poster!). See these guys were great, I'm not saying they could have their own movie but I'd happily watch more. Stick them all in their yellow suits and they could be like action Minions! Let's have Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice with more you know.....Beetlejuice, Bobs, Ortega, Ryder and O'Hara can stay at home.

The Good

Some nostalgia Some of the cast are fantastic The Bob's A few decent moments

The Bad

Too much falls flat and simply isn't funny Far too much O'Hara Not enough Nostalgia Feels rushed, forced, doesn't quite click.

Not enough Beetlejuice Bellucci is wasted Weak plot That musical scene!

Since I watched the original movie only recently, I didn't come to this movie with huge anticipation. In that sense I might judge it differently than someone who was a fan of the classic, so keep that in mind.

Overall, I had a very good time, and I think the movie is a decent continuation of the cult classic. Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, who I've been a fan of since watching "Smallville" as a child, bring their unique storytelling style to the world of *Beetlejuice* in a movie that is very different from its predecessor, but in a fresh way that also respects the original.

Tim Burton, of course, brings his unique style, and this certainly feels like a Tim Burton movie in every sense of the word. The visual effects and production design are beautifully crafted, with that classic feeling of Burton films from the '80s and '90s, but enhanced with today's technologies and more extensive options.

The acting in the movie was excellent from all parties involved. Michael Keaton, in the iconic role, looks and behaves exactly the same, as if 36 years haven't passed since filming the first movie. Winona Ryder, who has become a much more experienced actress since the original film, leads the film proudly, and the great Justin Theroux is hilariously funny in his unique way. Jenna Ortega, while delivering a good performance, feels a bit overexposed to me in recent years, with the sense that her presence is unavoidable wherever you look. I would love to see her take on a more challenging role that presents a drastically different performance from what she usually does, to justify the hype. Another standout performance in the film was Willem Dafoe's, in an excellent and unconventional comedic role. Overall, the cast is packed with big names that are always a delight to see on screen.

Another strength of the movie is the musical aspect - something the first movie was very famous for. From a good choice of songs, especially fun "musical numbers," references to classics from the first movie, and in particular, a slightly different spin on Danny Elfman's iconic and wonderful theme music that will thrill any fan of the classic film.

In general, while I watched the first movie just recently, it's impossible to ignore the amount of fan service in this movie for fans of the classic film - and I mean that in the most positive way possible. It's not the modern, tiring fan service seen in quite a few franchise movies lately, but rather something that honors the original and gives fans who have been waiting for a sequel what they wanted, doing so in a logical, enjoyable way that remains true to the spirit of the story and what cinema should be.

While not a masterpiece or anything of that sort, I had a great time watching this film in IMAX, and I would recommend it to everyone - fans of the original and casual viewers alike.

If you know the original then you will very likely be disappointed with this film, which suffers from a poor storyline and chaotic script - it's a big, high energy mess of a film.

The biggest problem is that unlike the original it lacks any sympathetic characters. Adam & Barbera were established early and were the catalyst for what was to follow. The 2024 version has no such characters meaning that the catalyst is missing along with any reason for the audience to invest in and care for any shallow characterisations, with the possible exception of Bob.

There are no "moments" in the 100 minute long presentation, nothing with the potential to become classic quotable scenes unlike the original which was peppered with them.

Keaton, Ryder and O'Hara are all criminally under used and struggle with a poor script which left my cinema quiet throughout and with an equally quiet shuffle as people headed out the doors.

You may get something from the movie and I genuinely hope you do, but lower your expectations before the lights dim.

I don't like giving bad reviews for films, and mine kinda isn't. BUT...it isn't very funny so feels like a step down from the original. The best storyline isn't really developed (at the expense of a tired rehash from the original cast). There's a few Easter eggs for fans of the first film but it doesn't feel like enough. They've toned down some of the weird stuff from the first film that's no longer acceptable, without really addressing it, which leaves it all hanging a bit. Look, it's still quite fun, but probably not worth paying for a trip to the cinema. Overall I left feeling that I was glad a film was only about an hour and a half.

As a big fan of the original, it pains me to say that the long-awaited sequel is a dull, scattered mess. There are too many storylines unfolding in this movie and not all of them are interesting enough to make us care. It's fun to see Michael Keaton reprising one of his most famous roles. He slips back into that striped suit like he hasn't missed a beat. But the movie doesn't really come alive (or become undead?) until the last third of the film. That's when the pace ramps up and the laughs start flying in rapid-fire fashion. By then, it's too late.

The original Beetlejuice was perfection. The sequel is a good example of why people say perfection is something you shouldn't mess with.