My Review of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024)

 

Written by Alfred Gough And Miles Millar And Seth Grahame-Smith

Directed by Tim Burton

Beetlejuice: "I just had the weirdest dream."

Legacy sequels can be a mixed bag, can't they? There are some movies that probably don't need expansion and the one from 1988 arguably could've been that. I wasn't sure if I was going to like this sequel. Fortunately, I really did.

Set in the current day and things are different for Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder). Not only has she gotten older and developed a better relationship with stepmother Delia (Catherine O'Hara) but she's also become a parent herself. Yup, she's got her own angsty and resentful teenage daughter in Astrid (Jenna Ortega) and their relationship isn't a good one for most of this movie.

On top of that, Lydia has also turned her ability to communicate with ghosts into a television show and even bagged herself a sleazy fiancée named Rory (Justin Theroux). Yeah, Rory's not someone you'd want to be with and even Lydia seems to barely tolerate his pseudo feminist act.

The better part though would be Lydia having nightmares about Betelgeuse (Michael Keaton) with the latter trying to work his way back into her life. Thanks to Rory, Lydia and Betelgeuse did reunite and also thanks to Astrid getting tricked by a killer named Jeremy (Arthur Conti), Lydia really did need Betelgeuse's help in order to get Astrid back from the afterlife.

While all this was happening, the movie had two other characters that needed more time to be developed. There was Betelgeuse's soul sucking ex-wife, Delores (Monica Belluci) and ghost detective, Wolf Jackson (Willem Dafoe). Both are fun characters but suffer a bit from not enough screen time.

As for the Deetz family, I did like that nearly being sent to the Soul Train and a brief reunion with Richard (Santiago Cabrera) managed to thaw both Lydia and Astrid's fractured relationship. Then there was what happened to Delia. Again, it's a bit rushed and not given enough weight to have the desired effect. Personally, I probably wouldn't have done it but it's a minor complaint in a largely enjoyable second outing.

- Danny DeVito had a fun cameo as a janitor and there was a bit of a bigger role for the shrunken headed Bob (Nick Kellington).

- Shout outs to both Burn Gornan and Amy Nuttall. The former as a funny priest and the latter playing the grown daughter of the realtor from the first movie and be one herself.

- Charles Deetz's death got one hell of an animation and seemed to be a good way to write out that character from the movie. A loophole had Adam and Barbara move on for good.

- That last nightmare sequence really did feel like they were laying the groundwork for a third movie. I think we could get it too.

- Standout music:  Alfie Davis and the Sylvia Young Theatre School Choir's version of Day-O and the Bee Gees Tragedy.

- Chronology: Present day in Winter River, Connecticut. Everyone had moved back to New York City between movies.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice isn't a total slam dunk of a sequel but it definitely worked better than expected. Some plots/characters definitely needed time to breathe but the main action between the title character, Lydia and Astrid certainly made up for things. I wouldn't have said it a few months ago but it does look like there's some life left in this IP to explore.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of Beetlejuice (1988)

 

Written by Michael McDowell And Warren Skaaran And Larry Wilson

Directed by Tim Burton 

Betelgeuse: "These aren't my rules. Come to think of it, I don't have any rules."

With a certain sequel making the rounds, I thought it was time I got back to the original before seeing it. Has it held up after 36 years? Of course it has. This was always one of Tim Burton's finest movies.

You've got nice married couple Adam (Alec Baldwin) and Barbara Maitland (Geena Davis) who died at the start of the movie. Instead of moving into the afterlife, they find themselves stuck in their home and are determined to ensure that no one moved in to their humble abode.

What they didn't anticipate was the arrival of the Deetz clan. A family that included Charles (Jeffrey Jones), Delia (Catherine O'Hara) and goth daughter, Lydia (Winona Ryder). It also didn't take long for Lydia to be able to see Adam and Barbara and form a connection with them. Considering that Charles and Delia aren't the greatest parental figures, it's not to see why Lydia would gravitate towards a ghostly couple instead.

Of course, there's also the title attraction of this movie itself. Before he became Batman, Michael Keaton really excelled as the chaotic "bio exorcist" Betelgeuse. Initially he was meant to help the Maitlands with their human problem before he ended up being a bigger problem himself for everyone involved.

Betelgeuse enjoyed toying with the Deetz and their eccentric friends, including Otho Fenlock (Glenn Shadix), the latter being something of an amateur exorcist himself. Otho even proved to be a right danger to Adam and Barbara until Lydia brokered her own deal with Betelgeuse to save them.

Now, I'll admit Betelgeuse's determination to marry Lydia might be the creepiest thing about the movie, but like most of his plans, it's not quite a success and soon enough, he's hoisted by his own petard. As for Lydia, she got to save her surrogate parental figures and co-existence between the living and the dead was achieved. 

- There's a great from Sylvia Sidney as case worker, Juno and a funny last scene where Betelgeuse's attempt of skipping the queue resulted in a shrunken head.

- An animated series came hot off the heels of this show and ran for four seasons. It was loosely based on the movie.

- A sequel called Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian almost happened before Tim Burton lost interest in the idea.

- Would be titles for this movie included House Ghosts and Scared Sheetless. 

- Standout music: Dayo (The Banana Boat Song) for obvious reasons.

- Chronology: The movie's set in Winter River, Connecticut with the Deetz being from New York City.

Beetlejuice is an extremely fun movie, affectionately playing on the usual haunted house tropes and subverted them. Everyone gave a fantastic performance with both Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder being the obvious stand outs. Now I'm ready to watch this sequel.

Rating: 9 out of 10