Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024)

Now.

Back when it was released? Very much disputed. It got plenty of good reviews at the time, but its reception was also mixed. Because it (like all Tim Burton films) was an utter narrative mess. It had a TON of charms that made you forgive and overlook that fact in a way I was never able to for Burton's Batman films, but the film was a helluva lot of flash with minimal substance.

I don't reflexively cringe at the idea of a sequel for that reason. Especially because this sequel is an utter mess too. The script and dialogue seem a little firmer this time out, but both the false endings, and the fact that the much-hyped subplot about Beetlejuice's ex-wife went absolutely NOWHERE, means this IS that movie's sequel in both name and spirit.

There's plenty of good and bad to talk about. One bad thing I didn't like was how much of a sap Lydia was portrayed as regarding Rory. Teenage Lydia wasn't precisely a feminist icon in the 1980's, but she was Goth, did her own thing, and marched to the beat of her own drummer. And her superpower was calling out bullshit. How terrible is it that the adult version has so much of it shoveled at her in all directions and is never once able to recognize it as such?

I have heard interviews with the producers saying that Beetlejuice really only works as the villain in the movies. And I guess I question that because as much dread as he instills in Lydia, I never understood why. He's a goofball that Lydia ran rings around in the first movie, and he was pretty easily out-lawyered at the end here too. I'm not saying the producers are wrong that Beetlejuice is as at his best as a villain. But he never once inspired the level of terror in ME that he did in Lydia. Also, he's useful and helpful in places. He's not the Big Bad the producers think he is.

Astrid's romance with the ghost who turned out to be a serial killer was sort of a double surprise in both twists. I thought having the rug pulled out from under us TWICE was a neat trick.

I know WHY Charles Deetz can't ever come back, but this was perhaps the most painful movie "recasting" of an actor since George McFly in Back To The Future: Part II. I honestly would have been perfectly happy if we never saw his ghost or learned how and why he died.

I kept an open mind for the film and I enjoyed it. However I do need to point out something about the original Beetlejuice, that has stuck with me for decades, and was very much on my mind watching this film. I'm not going to suggest this film used Beetlejuice too much, but Beetlejuice was a VERY unique fictional character. A specific kind that I could probably count similar examples of on one hand. Beetlejuice in the original film was a perfect fictional character. No exaggeration. The movie had weak points, and God know Michael Keaton has had career weak points, but the interesting and unique thing about Beetlejuice the character is that every second he is on screen is purely perfect. Perfectly written, and perfectly acted on every level. I don't like setting too high of expectations for sequels as a rule, but I knew if I didn't find Beetlejuice pitch perfect in absolutely every scene, that would disappoint me.

I was a little disappointed at points. Maybe he doesn't make the same impact 30 years later (unlikely) or maybe he's simply in the movie a little too much (probable). But Beetlejuice was great, but not pitch-perfect 100% of the time. And again, 100% perfection is not exactly a fair metric. But Beetlejuice was SUCH a rare character for that specific reason that I was rooting for lightning to strike twice there. Keaton was good. But there was a little too much of him to be as special as he was in the first film.

Interesting that the Maitlands "moved on" due to a "loophole". It's good because you can overlook Michael Keaton aging 30 years because of his decaying make-up. You wouldn't be able to do the same thing for Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis.

I cannot overstate how annoying those false dream sequence endings were. They weren't even funny, so it was adding confusing for no reason.

But honestly I think the reason I liked the movie and will be giving it a good review is because sometimes it's nice to get an update about characters you haven't seen in 30 years. Sometimes that's all a sequel really needs to be able to deliver. And it did that. And I liked it for that. 4 stars.