Nearly forty years after its predecessor, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is now in theaters, finally offering fans of the first movie a continuation of a beloved and acclaimed story that has remained iconic and timeless. Director Tim Burton returns with his exciting brand of gothic and morbid visual sensibilities, and some of the cast members of the previous movie have also returned. Though I had a mostly enjoyable time with this film, I also think that much of that feeling owes a lot to my love and nostalgia for the first movie.
Today, Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder) has become a television celebrity and talk show host of a program that deals with ghosts and the supernatural. This career has become a source of embarrassment for her teen daughter Astrid (Jenna Ortega), who has no belief in the paranormal. When Lydia’s father tragically dies in a horrible accident, she and Astrid return to Lydia’s home in Winter River, where Lydia first had her genuine experiences with ghosts and the demon known as Betelgeuse (Michael Keaton).
Lydia and Astrid are joined by Lydia’s stepmother Delia (Catherine O’Hara) and her boyfriend Rory (Justin Theroux). who produces Lydia’s show. As the family spends their time with the funeral and postmortem arrangements, a wicked persona from their past begins to wreak havoc on their already stressful life.
Written by Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, and Seth Grahame-Smith, Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is a fine and enjoyable sequel to the ionic first film. Perhaps too many creative minds were involved in the making of this movie because this film is a plethora of wild ideas with merits of their own, but none of these creative choices ever take strong rooting within the film. The best way I can describe this film is that the filmmakers threw loads of fun creepy crawlies on a wall and all of these toys are barely clinging on the wall for the duration of the film.
There is too much going on within the story for these elements to have a complete and definite impact. As far as the visuals are concerned, Burton is having loads of fun with his ideas and concepts, but the writing keeps the overall impact from having the intended effect.
As far as the performances are concerned, Ryder and O’Hara are great, as is Keaton; however, Keaton lacks the same level of manic energy he brought to the first movie. While he isn’t terrible and dialing in his performance, I wanted a more dynamic return to form from the talented actor. Jenna Ortega is fine, but doesn’t bring anything too exciting to her turn as Astrid. I mostly blame the writing and development of her character in the script, though.
Regardless of this movie’s problems, I still had fun with Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. It isn’t exactly a return to form for Tim Burton, but it does seem that he had much zeal in returning this universe. I think, there were just too many interesting ideas for one movie, and to cram it all into a ninety minute movie is where the filmmakers falter.