Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

Warning: Spoilers Ahead for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

Reboots and remakes seem to be the hot thing to be doing nowadays. With films such as the new Bad Boys films, Twisters, and particularly Top Gun: Maverick doing massive numbers, studios are looking to dig their old IPs up from the dead in an attempt to resurrect them for a few quick bucks. The latest culprit is Warner Bros. with the new Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the sequel to the beloved film from 1988. But, can you really dig something up from the dead if it was only ever undead? Starring Michael Keaton as the one and only Betelgeuse, albeit looking a little worse for wear (I can’t be the only one surprised he is 73), the new film brings us back to the tiny little town of Winter River, right into our favourite ghoul’s domain. Back as well are Winona Ryder and the scene-stealing Catherine O’Hara as the Deetz duo, with the newly added Jenna Ortega portraying Lydia’s daughter. 

I had very low expectations for this movie going into it. Like, very low. The trailer gave me a bad first impression, and while I was eager to see Keaton back in one of his best roles, I wasn’t too eager for much of the rest of the film. I can safely say that I was pleasantly surprised when it turned out to be a pretty good movie. While not without its flaws, I had a fun time watching it and am not upset with the money I spent to see it (although $15 is ridiculous for any film). Clearly anchored by Keaton, a good chunk of the supporting cast brings their A-game to this. All of the returning actors are about what you would expect, bringing nothing more and nothing less than in the previous film. O’Hara, as Delia Deetz, gets the most consistently funny lines outside of the titular character, managing to remain ditzy and self-centered even in the afterlife. While the old still manages to shine after these years, the new doesn’t manage the same fate, with some of it landing dead on arrival. Jenna Ortega as Astrid Deetz may have been one of my least favourite parts of the film, with her character feeling totally out of place for the entirety and seeming mostly to serve as a plot device. Not having much in the way of character growth or story, other than serving to reunite Betelgeuse and Lydia, her side-story is cut short almost right as it is getting started. While she is undoubtedly a talented actress, I fear she was not handed a good deck of cards with this screenplay. The best new standout, however, is Willem Dafoe as undead investigator Wolf Jackson. Acting as an undead actor who is still stuck acting as his main role while he was alive, he is hilarious and seems to be having as much fun as possible in his role. The reveal of how he died in the normal life (a live grenade on set) was hilarious, but a tad bit sad with certain events that have unfolded on movie sets in past years. 

Speaking of sad, this movie does not pack much of an emotional punch. While we are meant to be all waterworks and happy with the reunion of Lydia and Astrid, the film doesn’t do a whole lot to earn any sort of reaction. The film spends a good amount of time trying to juggle too many moving parts, focusing on the wake, the upcoming wedding, Betelgeuse’s ex-wife, Jackson’s investigation, Astrid’s new boyfriend, it’s way too much to keep up with, particularly for a movie clocking in at less than 2 hours. Some of it feels quite unnecessary, with the ex-wife plot especially feeling completely useless to the majority of the story. Betelgeuse is in love with Lydia; why does he need a new excuse to want to marry her? It seems that when they were brainstorming how to make the plot progress, they decided not to cut anything out of it. While it still makes for a fun and messy time, I wonder how much better the movie would have been if they had locked into one or two plotlines. It feels that the scares were also mostly abandoned in search of a lighter tone than the first film, with no particularly gruesome or frightening scenes to speak of. While this does not always represent a negative aspect, working differently from the previous film to establish its own identity, I would have loved to see a bit more of what made the first film such a beloved classic in so many households.

This movie, despite being an overall enjoyable film that surely will play again during Halloween season in the future for me, adds to less than a sum of its parts. With such a stacked cast, and featuring the big comeback of my childhood mainstay Tim Burton, this film had all of the makings to be a potential favourite of mine, but falls just short by shoehorning in too many elements that don’t quite fit the puzzle. While the cast is (mostly) great, and the writing is silly and fun, this film does not leave much of an impression shortly after the credits finish rolling.