Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice. Legend has it that if someone were to say his name three times, he would appear. 36 years since he was last seen on the big screen, the iconic name has been said three times, and the ghost with the most is back and better than ever with newly released “Beetlejuice” sequel, “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.”
Hollywood has a long running history of reviving classic films from decades past by remaking them. With the recent rising popularity of the character through the hit musical of the same name, it was only a matter of time before someone dug up the “here lies betelgeuse” grave for a new movie; that someone was Tim Burton, the director of the original “Beetlejuice” film. In the new sequel, Burton brought his signature style from the original movie back to the 21st century, with actors Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder and Catherine O’Hara returning to Winter River, while also introducing stars Jenna Ortega, Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci and Willem Dafoe into the franchise.
Typically, especially with comedies, when a studio decides to make a sequel to a movie many years after the initial release, the film’s quality doesn’t end up being particularly good. Long delayed comedy sequels such as “Zoolander 2,” “Dumb and Dumber To” and “Coming 2 America” end up falling flat and fail to capture the magic of their predecessors. With “Beetlejuice,” a movie made 36 years ago, a sequel for the film sounded like it was set up for failure right from the start, especially when director Tim Burton’s career hasn’t been in the greatest place over the last few years. However, after positive feedback from the Venice Film Festival, the film sounded like it was going to be better than expected. Now having seen the film, the movie ended up being such a pleasant surprise and made any prior skepticism quickly fade.
The film “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” perfectly captures the chaotic energy and vibrant atmosphere of the original movie, while also blending in contemporary elements. Even though the film features uses of cell phones alongside other modern motifs, the movie never feels as if the filmmakers were trying too hard to water the story of a 1980’s film down to fit the tastes of 21st century audiences. Tim Burton and the filmmakers of “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” wisely chose to stay faithful to the original film, which is the sequel’s biggest asset.
The film’s production design, practical effects and makeup/costume design for the character perfectly captures the look and feel of the world of the original Beetlejuice film, which helped to make everything that occurs in the film feel real, despite the film’s absurd and camp nature. The set and makeup designs help many scenes of the film come alive, something that many movies nowadays are unable to do, since they rely solely on CGI, which often makes films unengaging.
The film sees the welcome return of Michael Keaton as character Beetlejuice years later, and he hasn’t skipped a beat as the character. The new performance from Keaton feels like he stepped right back into the role like he never left and brought the staple wild chaotic humor and quirkiness right back into the sequel.
With the other cast members, Winona Ryder and Catherine O’Hara gave solid performances as their returning roles of Lydia Deetz and Delia Deetz. Throughout the film, O’Hara delivers hilarious scenes and gives some of the best one liners of the film. For Ryder, she’s able to bring more emotion to her character than she did in the original film. Since the character of Lydia Deetz is now an adult, whereas in the first movie she was only 17, this development allows for the character to grow more as a person, as shown through how she reacts and responds to different situations. This growth is especially shown in her relationship with her daughter Astrid, played by Jenna Ortega.
When it comes to Ortega’s performance in the film, she functions as the new generation’s version of Winona Ryder. With both her style of acting and the character she portrays in the film, she lines up perfectly with how Ryder acted in the original “Beetlejuice.” While Ortega doesn’t fully go into the more emotional moments of the film in certain moments, the campy atmosphere and the nature of her character, fits perfectly with her character and overall performance.
Outside of the cast and production, a huge aspect of the film that was a pleasant surprise was the soundtrack, featuring both catchy licensed songs and an incredible new score from composer Danny Elfman. For the licensed songs, the excellent use of “Tragedy” by the Bee Gees, “Right Here Waiting” by Richard Marx and the theme from “Soul Train” help add to the chaotic and hyperactive nature of the film, and make for some of the most memorable and entertaining sequences. As for Elfman’s score, who composed the music for the original “Beetlejuice,” he wisely chose to not only score the movie with cues from the original but also compose new music to not rehash the old score.
While the film provided plenty of entertainment from beginning to end, the plot itself at times felt overstuffed. Throughout the film, new plotlines are constantly introduced with interesting ideas that unfortunately either get resolved too quickly or aren’t explored as much as they could have been. The individual plotlines themselves weren’t bad at all, but there were way too many of them for a movie just over an hour and a half, resulting in an underdeveloped film filled with short, jumbled plotlines. The biggest example of this issue comes down to the treatment of Monica Bellucci’s character, who is introduced towards the beginning of the film, but throughout the majority of the runtime, she is only seen wandering around looking for Beetlejuice, and doesn’t do much until towards the end of the movie.
Overall, the film turned out to be much better than initially anticipated and sets a new example for future movies on how to do a legacy sequel properly. While the plot at times can be a little bit convoluted, Tim Burton delivered easily the best film he has made in a while. From the cast to the production itself, it’s a film that respects and complements the first film really nicely. “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” is absolutely a must watch for fans of the original film, as well as fans of Tim Burton as well.
