Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

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To be honest, I didn't really know how I felt about this from the get-go. 'Beetlejuice' is such a classic Burton flick as a stand-alone, I never felt like a sequel was necessary, even going back to the days when 'Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian' was being pitched, but never saw the light of day. So, when this sequel finally did manage to come along a full 36(ish) years later, the only thing I saw was another cash-in on a nostalgic property that wasn't gonna hold up to the original. But, after a couple of trailers, my curiosity did manage to peak.

I went into this with average expectations. I knew that it wasn't quite gonna be the classic from my childhood, but I remained open-minded. What I got out of it was a totally mixed bag of feelings towards it. This has a whole bunch of positives to it, and those positives may very well outweigh the negatives I found. I'd say this is another one where my criticisms are just nitpicky things I'd have done differently. But, with the good probably outweighing the bad, let's kick it all off with something positive- the opening!

We get a remix of the classic 'Beetlejuice' theme from original composer, Danny Elfman, and another scan of the town model, just like in the original. This is a solid way to do fan service well, as nothing about it feels cheesy, and music is a great way to fuel that nostalgia. That's also some of the only fan service we get here. Not so much uttering memorable catch phrases, cutting and pasting familiar scenes (except one, but more on that in a bit) or even just repeating the same concepts of the original in a slightly different way.

This time around, the scan of the model town of Winter River, Connecticut transitions to a talk show, hosted by Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder), called "Ghost House," where she interviews people about their paranormal experiences. After hallucinating glimpses of Betelgeuse (Michael Keaton), she gets a call from her stepmother, Delia (Catherine O'Hara), relaying the news of Lydia's father, Charles' death, leading Lydia, along with her producer boyfriend, Rory (Justin Theroux) back to Winter River, and the old house where everything went down.

On their way into town, they pick up Lydia's estranged daughter, Astrid (Jenna Ortega), whose father passed away, and who Lydia, despite her gifts that allow her to see the dead, can't see him. Matters are made worse for Astrid when Rory proposes to Lydia, adding another complication to her life, along with a mother everyone sees as a "freak," a dead father, and bullies at school. It all sends her running into the arms of a kid named Jeremy Frazier (Arthur Conti).

As for Beetlejuice, he comes back into Lydia's life whilst on the run from his ex-wife, Delores (Monica Bellucci). If he continues his marriage with Lydia, he won't have to deal with Delores. In exchange, he has to help her with some afterlife business that ends up being a bit of a spoiler if I say too much. But I can say that I enjoyed seeing the afterlife play a bigger role here, in true Tim Burton fashion, as far as style and tone go. It feels like a slight upgrade from the '88 version we saw, but not taking anything away.

Honestly, my criticisms are mostly nitpicky things I might have handled differently. But what was good about it was that, overall, it felt very old school Burton, and it was cool to see him go back to things like his style of animation, etc. I think for the average 'Beetlejuice' fan, this is a decent watch, and who knows? Maybe you'll like it more than the first. But, much like the first, I'd say it's acquired taste. If you didn't like the first, just don't bother. But for those who liked the first, I'd classify this as a worthy sequel, especially considering a 36-year gap!

3/5

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