Fun
Summary
It’s a fun ride despite the annoying story mechanics and some repeats of the same story points from the original.
Plot: Lydia (Winona Ryder) struggles with raising her daughter (Jenna Ortega), while Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton) flees his ex-wife (Monica Bellucci).
Review: While many people would lavish fawning praise on the original Beetlejuice movie, I thought it was really, really good. A classic? Maybe. A five-star movie? Mmmmm…not for me. I was never in love with the Beetlejuice character. I understood what Tim Burton was going for, but I thought he was good, not great.
Which leads me to the sequel, which has come out over 35 years after the original. Did I really think that we needed another Beetlejuice movie? Nope. I thought that, as Kevin Smith said when pitched Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian, “Didn’t we say all we needed to in the original?” I think we did. However, Hollywood has no guts and is unwilling to try new stuff, so we get another sequel we don’t need.
Which isn’t to say the movie is bad. I thought it was pretty entertaining. I thought Beetlejuice was hilarious throughout – I especially liked his backstory, which he narrates in a ridiculous fake Spanish voice, complete with subtitles. It’s a very Beetlejuice thing to do and it’s entertaining as hell. I thought Catherine O’Hara was easily the best part of the film; her take as the still completely flaky artist mom who still has the most level head on her shoulders of anyone was outstanding. We had a shout-out to the Day-O scene from the first film, which was great, and some funny musical scenes (loved the Soul Train). Also, a shout-out to Willem Dafoe, who killed it as the ghost police captain (because he played a cop on television while alive).
As for the story, well, here’s where the movie struggled a bit. Jenna Ortega’s character kind of sucked – she hated her mom, Lydia Deetz, because…why? Because Lydia s marrying a yuppie asshole after her husband died? Is that worth hate? I mean, she could be trying to talk her out of it, but instead, she decides she wants nothing to do with Winona Ryder. Okay…kind of harsh? Also, she doesn’t believe Winona Ryder can see ghosts…because…why? Oh, right, story.
I did like that Jenna’s love story had a twist that I didn’t see coming. Partly because I didn’t like Jenna, so I didn’t want a typical love story that would have me rolling my eyes. Also, that sort of teen love story is kind of trite, anyway, so I’m glad they didn’t go there.
Another problem with the story is Beetlejuice wants the same thing he wanted before – to marry Winona Ryder’s character. So, over thirty-five years later, we’re still stuck on the same thing? They have potential with the Monica Bellucci character, but she’s hardly in it and seems more like an afterthought. The Justin Theroux character, the disingenuous boyfriend of Lydia Deetz, was okay, but I didn’t think he was particularly funny or interesting.
If you’re a fan of Beetlejuice, I recommend catching this flick because you’ll probably find some value from it. Just don’t think it’s as good as the original, because it’s not. But it’s fun, and it has its moments. It’s great seeing some of the original actors back in their roles. It just could have been better with a tighter script and less emphasis on the characters of Jenna Ortega and Justin Theroux.