All I can really do here is speak my truth and not worry about whether people agree with it or not. As a man who has a nine out of ten review for "Beetlejuice" logged on this website, I can only report that I found this sequel to be bit of (though not totally) a mess.
Following the death of her father, Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder) returns to her childhood home, with her stepmother Delia (Catherine O'Hara), boyfriend Rory (Justin Theroux) and daughter Astrid (Jenna Ortega). Lydia, still able to see ghosts, has been having visions of Betelgeuse (Michael Keaton), which only intensifies as she returns to the house. But Betelgeuse has his own problems, related to the return of his vengeful ex-wife Delores (Monica Bellucci) who has the ability to extract the remaining souls of the dead - and make them 'dead dead.'
What I found really interesting was that for years, Burton and Keaton steadfastly refused to engage in a sequel unless the story was right. Then for this to be the one they progressed with, which feels more like a bundle of ideas gaffer taped together than an actual story. There are four main plots, two of which could have been exorcised (pun intended) partially, or even completely without making much of a difference. It feels like they're there only so there's an excuse for particular actors to be in the film. It's also a bit too enamoured with recreating moments from the original, so there are two gags that are slight variations on previous ones and another song and dance possession scene, which is a strong moment, but again, just a remix of the first film.
Almost single handedly Keaton drags the film to being acceptable. They smartly keep his character out of the majority of the film so that when he does appear he's a breath of life, but it's a shake up the film needs all too often and I don't think I found anything anyone else did to be funny.
As you can see from the score, despite how negative this review feels, I wouldn't say I disliked the film overall - but it feels all too close to being the 'cash grabby' sequel we could have had at any point in the last 30 years.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
2024
Comedy / Fantasy / Horror
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
2024
Comedy / Fantasy / Horror
Plot summary
After a family tragedy, three generations of the Deetz family return home to Winter River. Still haunted by Betelgeuse, Lydia's life is turned upside down when her teenage daughter, Astrid, accidentally opens the portal to the Afterlife.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
October 09, 2024 at 12:46 PM
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Daylight come and we want go home?
I really wanted to love this but....
I really wanted to love this but it just wasn't very good. There were too many storylines and not enough Beetlejuice. They also tried to tie all those storylines together in a hurry. Felt like a jumbled mess that forgot it was a Beetlejuice movie. There were also couple of scenes that not only weren't funny but actually seemed in poor taste. The movie definitely needed more BeetleJuice. Michael Keaton has so much charm and is hilarious when given a chance. This script however seemed to handcuff him. They should have "turned loose the Juice". It wasn't all bad. There were some enjoyable moments but it definitely lacked the charm of the original.
It felt quite 80s to me and I really enjoyed that
I watched the OG yesterday to warm up for today's viewing. And I genuinely felt the pacing and humour was very much the same (minus the pervy jokes, which I can understand). Quite an 80s vibe to it. There's some slow parts, randomness to the storyline and it doesn't necessarily have you rolling around laughing at every scene - but, for me, I had a smile on my face the whole way through.
Catherine O'Hara was my favourite part of the movie - crushed it. And I sincerely loved the army of shrunken head dudes.
Do I want a 3rd movie? No probably not. But for a sequel I felt like it fit flowed on perfectly from the original - even 36 years later.