Nothing ever truly dies in Hollywood. Franchises can be resurrected after decades of decay. The corpses of long-dead movies can be reanimated with a sequel. Deceased actors can even reprise their roles through the use of CGI.
It was a matter of time before someone opened the coffin in the grave marked Beetlejuice. Thankfully, that someone was no one other than Tim Burton, the director of the original 1988 movie.
Set in real-time, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice focuses on Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder), who has turned her ghost-seeing abilities into a reality T.V. fame at the expense of her marriage and her relationship with her daughter, Astrid (Jenna Ortega). Death follows the Deetz family, resulting in many tragedies that cause Lydia, Astrid, and Delia Deetz (Catherine O’Hara) to reconnect.
After the Deetz return to Winter River, Astrid finds herself drawn into the world of the dead, and Lydia finds herself reaching out to the one person she’s been avoiding for decades: Beetlejuice (Micheal Keeton). The “Ghost with the Most” has had his own problems however, including a soul-sucking ex-wife (Monica Belluci) and a ghost detective (Willem Dafoe).
Part of the reason the original is such a classic is because of the mix of gothy teenage angst and raunchy humor. While I believe these things are present in the sequel, they are overshadowed by the four different plot lines trying to happen, and it is only an hour and forty-five-minute story.
Where the elements in the original film cohered, they coexist and sometimes jostle against each other in the sequel. The moments where characters have to be in the same scene as each other seem awkward and bulky like they are obviously packed into the movie to give it a shorter run time.
Another thing is I feel they butchered Lydia’s character. She is stressed out, and overworking herself to the point she neglects Astrid, and sends her to boarding school. Lydia is also dating a man who controls almost every aspect of her life, even throwing away her pills at one point. The spunky, gothic girl who had a bad relationship with her parents and did not take anything from anyone in the first movie would not sit there and alienate her child and let a man boss her around.
Despite this, there are a lot of things the film did right. For one, I liked the setup into meeting Beetlejuice for the first time in forty years. It felt like seeing an old friend, one that you have not talked to in a while. Keeton clearly loves playing the character. His performance of the maniacal demon is amazing, he perfectly encapsulates the centuries worth of sleepless nights tormenting people.
Another thing the film does well is the raunchy humor. You can tell Beetlejuice has a dirty mind, even if he has a tame tongue. The film is rated PG-13, but there are some jokes that sneak past that rating.
I think the filmmakers also did really well with worldbuilding. The underworld feels the same as in the first film. The costuming and makeup for this film bring out the creepy, gothic element from the first film.
On the same note, I do not like how they replaced practical effects with CGI. The CGI in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice took me out of the scene they were so good at creating. Especially when it comes to seeing the sandworm.
All in all, I would give Beetlejuice Beetlejuice a seven out of ten. It is a blend of gothic atmosphere and raunchy humor. Even if they do not blend as seamlessly as the first movie, it feels like returning to a place you have not been to in a while. Though some things have changed, the core is the same.