Imaginative director Tim Burton teams up with Academy Award nominee Michael Keaton for the fourth time in 'Beetlejuice Beetlejuice' from Warner Bros. The sequel to the late eighties classic sees the return of the original cast members, including Winona Ryder and Catherine O'Hara, alongside new additions like Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci, Jenna Ortega, and Willem Dafoe.
It's been thirty-six years since Lydia Deetz (Ryder) and her stepmother Delia (O'Hara) bested afterlife ghost and "bio-exorcist" Betelgeuse. When Lydia's father dies unexpectedly, the ladies return to Inter River, Connecticut, with Lydia's boyfriend, TV producer Rory (Justin Theroux), and her rebellious daughter Astrid (Jenna Ortega) in tow.
Lydia and Astrid, two generations of unique personalities, take center stage in "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice '" While Lydia was a full-on goth in her younger days, Astrid is more laid-back and into the environment. She also thinks her mom's talk of the past is nothing but mumbo jumbo. As the story unfolds, in a true sequel fashion, Astrid meets a kindred spirit in Jeremy (Arthur Contri). A series of events leads to the duo opening the portal to the Afterlife, setting the stage for the return of Betelgeuse and his comedic hijinks.
It's no secret that a follow-up film to the original spent years in development hell. As die-hard fans know, pitches included the ghost with the most escaping to the world of the living and falling in love, another promising pitch in Hawaii, and even one set in the Wild West. With legacy sequels being the all-current rage, it makes sense that's the approach Burton and his crew take.
The film starts promising enough when we first see Betelgeuse. He's still in the habit of scaring people and has a loyal of shrunken headsmen in his workforce. On the other hand, Lydia is a successful medium, and Delia's art business is thriving. The three returning cast members generally gravitate back there easily; Keaton is a manic burst of energy. Furthermore, early on, there are a lot of callbacks to the first film, which die-hard fans will appreciate. I also give credit to Burton for his handling of Jeffrey Jones's character.
Sadly, the film fell apart after the first act. While Burton has always had his style, this sequel reeks of strictly for the money and as an apology for his last few misses. Regarding the script, it seems like numerous scripts were thrown together, but the final version couldn't find a cohesive flow. Outside of Jenna Ortega the new cast additions also fail to bring any substance nothing to the film. Willem Dafoe's role as ghost PI, an action movie star when he was alive, doesn't work.
Monica Bellucci's role as Beetlegeuse's ex-wife also never reaches its full potential. Furthermore, the usually reliable, talented Justin Theroux has the misfortune of cosplaying himself. The only other new cast member who was good is Arthur Conti's character. Still, just as his story reaches a solid arc, it's resolved too quickly.
Finally, in one of the worst bits of the film, the script tries to make a humor motif on the classic show "Soul Train" (you'll know the joke when you hear it), but it falls flat. As a fellow critic pointed out, I can see some moviegoers taking offense.
Despite Keaton's giving his all, "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" never finds the magic of its first film, and this is one ghost franchise that should've stayed buried.
Final Grade: C
"Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" has early showings tonight and opens in theaters tomorrow.
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