Beetlejuice Beetlejuice 🪲🧃 REVIEW:

          Three generations of the Deetz family return home to Winter River after an unexpected family tragedy. Still haunted by Beetlejuice, Lydia's life soon gets turned upside down when her rebellious teenage daughter discovers a mysterious portal to the afterlife. When someone says Beetlejuice's name three times, the mischievous demon gleefully returns to unleash his very own brand of mayhem. Between this year and last year, it feels like we are getting a lot of Michael Keaton reprising his classic late 80s roles. First, last summer’s The Flash and now Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. Tim Burton returns to direct this legacy sequel which is honestly something I can’t say I asked for personally. Don't get me wrong, I love the original Beetlejuice, but this is one of those instances that I was satisfied enough with the original as a cult classic. So was it worth it to say his name three times and bring back one of Michael Keaton's most iconic roles? Yes and no. Whereas the original film had a fairly focused story with no real down-time or fat, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice has a little too much going on for its own good. Winona Ryder’s Lydia is now a psychic mediator, runs a television show called “Ghost House,” and is dating her producer Rory played hilariously by Justin Theroux. Their codependent relationship seriously bothers Lydia’s daughter Astrid played by Jenna Ortega. When Lydia’s father dies, the entire group, including her mother return to Winter River in Connecticut to clear out the previously haunted house. All while this is going on, Beetlejuice is being hunted by her ex-wife Delores (Monica Bellucci), a “soul sucking death cult leader.” Delores is after Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice is after Lydia, and then there’s Willem Dafoe’s afterlife movie star detective character thrown into the mix. On top of that, there is the subplot of Astrid and this mysterious boy named Jeremy (Arthur Conti) who suddenly have some romantic tension between each other after Astrid crashes into his fence. The problem with all of this other stuff is that I just didn’t really care or feel any sort of investment towards these supporting characters, despite everyone’s good performances. Side note: There is only one mention of Adam and Barbara Maitland (Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis respectively), and I didn’t buy how the writers essentially wrote them out of the story, 

          Just like in the original film, Michael Keaton’s Beetlejuice has 15 to 20 minutes of  total screen time, because less is more, right? Such was the case then, but not as much now. Here’s why. Every single scene in this movie with Michael Keaton as Beetlejuice performing his mayhem is utterly fantastic and just as chaotically funny as his antics in the original. Keaton steals every single moment he is on screen and it’s great to see that both him and Burton haven’t missed a beat when it comes to making the titular character itself the main attraction. Not once is Keaton phoning it in or looking like he is just there for the paycheck. He even has an entire office run by shrunken head people which was quite funny in that funky Tim Burton sort of way. The costume design and gothic/German expressionist set designs are top tier and there are plenty of creative uses of practical effects via the weird ghost creatures and stop motion animation. Danny Elfman’s score is as chaotically energizing as it was in the original film and there are a couple of song choices that made for some brilliant moments of comedy. The downside to all of this is the scattered story and lack of commitment to one particular through-line. I personally believe that the most interesting aspect of the film was the whole Delores vendetta against her ex-husband Beetlejuice. While this backstory does get partially explored via expository narration and a brief visual flashback, this plot-line should have been the main story. Instead, it felt like the writers and Burton were halfway committed to each storyline, with Delores occasionally popping up out of nowhere to suck the souls out of people (or already dead people) who may have information on Beetlejuice’s whereabouts. With that being said, I came out of the film feeling rather neutral towards it. There is enough Michael Keaton and fantastical Tim Burton world building in it for me to warrant a recommendation to fans of the original, however I would personally suggest streaming this one. The film concludes open-ended enough to justify a third entry (after all, it’s quite obvious what the title for a third movie will be), but as of now, I thought this legacy sequel was just okay. Nothing about it made me go “oh no my childhood is ruined” or “wow that was such an absolutely necessary follow up.” Overall, Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is a mixed bag of hilariously entertaining Michael Keaton Beetlejuice sequences sprinkled in to a rather needlessly messy narrative with a few too many subplots and a lack of the natural charm that made the original so beloved. Wait for streaming.