Over thirty-five years ago a little-known director by the name of Tim Burton gave us a film about a naughty demon just dying to get out of the afterlife and back to the land of the living. That of course was the original Beetlejuice, and it put Tim Burton on the map. Here we are with the long-awaited sequel featuring some of the same actors from the original. Back is Wynona Ryder (Black Swan and Edward Scissorhands) as Lydia Deetz who can see and talk to the dead. Lydia is a widow and is the star of her own paranormal investigation TV show. Her boyfriend Rory, played by Justin Theroux (American Psycho and Mullholland Drive), is also the producer and director of her show. Her stepmother Delia, once again played by Catherine O’Hara (Home Alone and Schitt’s Creek), is now an artist with her own gallery. Jenna Ortega (Jane the Virgin and X) is Astrid, Lydia’s estranged daughter who has never gotten over her father’s death. Making things worse is the fact that Lydia has never been able to see Astrid’s father after his death.
Willem Dafoe (Boondock Saints, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and Poor Things) is Wolf Jackson, an otherworldly detective investigating a series of murders happening in the afterlife. Am I forgetting anyone? Oh yeah, just the main man himself Beetlejuice as portrayed by Michael Keaton (Birdman, Batman, and The Other Guys) with nearly as much gusto as he did in the first film. Nearly, but give him a break, he’s over 70 now. Danny DeVito (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Batman Returns, and L.A. Confidential) has a cameo as a janitor in the afterlife. Also co-starring as Delores, is Monica Bellucci (Spectre and The Matrix Reloaded), who is a soul sucker demon and is looking for Beetlejuice so she can kill him for good. Apparently, you can kill someone who is already dead in the afterlife. Things take a turn for Astrid when she meets a teenage boy close to her age and the two bond. And all that is the boring ass mess that is the first half of the film. Things eventually pick up but if the entire movie was as bad as the first, I don’t know, say forty-five minutes of the film, I would give it one out of five.
There are some funny parts, some interesting parts, and some obvious parts. My favorite parts of the film were Ortega, who it seems was made for this role like Ryder was perfect for her role as Lydia in the original. She’s not as good here but I didn’t go into it expecting her to be. Missing is Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis from the first film. Their absence is explained by saying they found a loophole and were able to move on to their afterlife. Also missing is Jeffrey Jones who played Lydia’s father in the first film. Her father is here, in an animated form in one scene, but due to Jones’ child pornography charges, he’s not doing much these days and does not play the character here. My biggest complaint is for some reason, that’s not really explained, there is an extended scene where Beetlejuice and other characters all speak in Spanish and there is a voice over that is also in Spanish. I don’t like to read subtitles, which here they were not on the screen long enough for me to even read them all so I can know 100% what is going on. Then for some reason Beetlejuice says the “F” word but it’s literally censored. Although he does say it one other time earlier in the film but it’s not bleeped then. I just didn’t get that.
My
last and final complaint is that there is one plot point that couldn’t be more obvious than if it
came with flashing neon signs pointing to it like in the town model graveyeard. The makeup effects, characters
(especially the dead ones) all look good and match the lighting almost
perfectly. There are nods to the
original which I enjoyed and I’m sure they are setting this up for a third film
so it can be Beetlejuice squared but I really hope that the third one is better
than this one. Maybe my expectations
were two high, I’m not sure but this wasn’t the movie I expected to get and it’s
not the one we deserve either. The music is of
course great with the original stuff from Danny Elfman as well as the familiar songs
that got the toes a tapping on some of us old timers. So, I will give Beetlejuice Beetlejuice two
and a half soul trains out of five and I have to say the half is probably just for
nostalgia.
Hey, don't sneeze at Michael Keaton's gusto . . . I mean he just played Batman again last year and was pretty full of gusto in that as well!
ReplyDeleteBut say, I've heard mixed things about this film; you say it's meh and someone else told me it was great. Of course, I'll never know . . . . until my pre-order 4K arrives, that is.
He was indeed good as Batman once again you are correct sir! I'm telling you, I never fall asleep while in a movie theater, it just doesn't happen. I almost did here just about 45 minutes in, it's ungodly boring until BJ shows up which he doesn't for over a half hour. Now, of all the things you mention here, where is the comment on the purple blog post??? Not green, nor is it orange! Gotta give that rare third post of the day it's own color.
ReplyDeleteI respect and wholeheartedly endorse your use of purple as the 'third colour' of the day. Although what I'm seein' is pink! Did the Pink Panther hijack your font colour? Or are my work computers so shitting that purple LOOKS pink here? Enquiring minds wanna know! My name is Anus MacGillicutty and I approve this message.
ReplyDeleteYa know, you might be right and that this is a pinkish color.
ReplyDeleteHold on I have consulted with an outside source and have been told it is in the purple family but not pure purple per se.
ReplyDelete