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I didn’t like it…and then I did. Here’s my review of the long-awaited sequel.
WARNING: The following review contains (some) spoilers. If you want to be surprised, go see the movie first. You won’t regret it.
Okay, are you ready?
Are you reeeeealy ready?
It’s showtime!
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I must be slow on the uptake, because I never expected a sequel to the 1988 insta-hit and perennial Halloween favorite Beetlejuice.
In my mind, the original stood on its own. It was, I thought, a one-hit wonder: hilarious, ridiculous, and utterly weird in all the best of ways. (And yes, I watch it at least two or three times a year. Stand up if you do this. Come on, don’t be shy. I see you back there.)
So when I heard about Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, I had my reservations. Could the sequel stack up to the original? Still, I went in with an open, appropriately black little heart. I wanted to squeeze every ounce of enjoyment I could out of this movie — no matter what. And here’s what I discovered.
But first, if you haven’t seen it yet, here’s the trailer:
The Gist
Now-adult Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder) is the host of Ghost House, a ghosthunting and talk show. This had a LOT of promise. The sequence with Lydia “suspecting” paranormal activity and the house going apeshit was vaguely reminiscent of “just give me a sign” from The Man With Two Brains…
…except, well, not as funny. They missed some HUGE chances here to be more clever than they were. More on that in a moment.
In the beginning of the movie, we get a fairly easy-to-follow trope: Lydia’s husband dies, and Lydia and Astrid move back to the original Beetlejuice house in Connecticut.
Standard stuff happens to throw monkeywrenches in to somehow straighten out: Lydia’s boyfriend is pressuring her to marry him; Astrid is…angsty, and boyfriend-less, for a while; Charles dies and Delia is miserable.
Unhappy (and underutilized — come on, Jenna is an amazing actor) teenage Astrid finds a boyfriend, but he isn’t quite what he seems, and yes, all hell breaks loose.
As viewers are hoping for, everyone ends up in the afterlife one way or another, and Beetlejuice is called out by his name being uttered thrice.
Good times, but it kind of plays things safe.
Here’s the “I Didn’t Like It” Part
And that’s actually my problem with the entire first half of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. The movie has so much to work with, but the beginning misses so much in surprises and, yes, in morbid, shocking, I-love-it, gross nastiness.
It also underdevelops characters that were either already developed in the first movie with room to grow, or didn’t exist yet, which means they could have been as quirky as the writers wanted.
Which brings us back to Lydia. We get none of Lydia’s sass and delightful, ultra-dark sarcasm that we saw in Beetlejuice. We don’t even get her hilarious melodrama. Her relationship with Astrid is a little dry; Jenna Ortega is one hell of an actor, but she’s relegated to a rather one-dimensional, frowning, I-hate-my-mom teen.
Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton) isn’t snappy enough in this portion of the movie. His lines could be a little more, forgive us, killer.
I was also missing Charles, or at least part of him. You’ll see what I mean when you catch the movie. Okay, fine. If you prefer spoilers, his head is gone. He is voice-acted by Charlie Hopkinson. Mark Heenhan played his body.
…and Here’s the “And Then I Did” Part
What we DO get is an absolutely hilarious and worth-the-watch-at-any-cost (but a mere $18 here in oh so affordable Southern California) Delia (Catherine O’Hara). Oh my god. Watch the movie for Delia alone. I’m serious.
Hang in there with the Delia-laughs and you’ll make it to the second half of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, when the pace suddenly picks up and all the action you’ve been waiting for pop out of the woodwork. The visuals are great, and there’s a surprise or two. It starts to feel much more Beetlejuice-y at that point.
And while I noted that there would be spoilers here, I’m holding a couple back as well. I’ll just give a hint: they surprises come near the end, not at the end. (The ending is pretty much what you expect, and hope for, but again, visually, it’s great.)
We also get Bob, the shrunken-head character from Beetlejuice. Poor Bob. He’s a fun addition to the movie and has a breakout role near the end, at least to an extent. That’s another double-entendre; wink-wink.
Willem Dafoe was fun as former actor and now-ghost detective Wolf Jackson, but Willem Dafoe is always fun. Props.
Danny Devito doesn’t get enough screen time. He’s great. Again, another always-win. Throw Danny in a movie and you’re having a good time. He is also the accidental observer of the resurrection of a side character who, as it turns out, isn’t really as pivotal as expected, but is still fun: Betelgeuse’s demonic ex-wife, Delores (Monica Bellucci).
The rest are rather predictable but play good supporting roles. Honestly, the acting itself wasn’t what I had a problem with in this movie, so, no complaints there.
The Take-Home
All in all, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is worth the watch. It’s Halloween-y, it has nearly all the characters you loved the first time, and while the disappointments are there, the second half of the movie is transportive and will definitely give you the fun feels you remember. While I never anticipated a second movie, now I’m wondering if there will be a third. Hmm.