Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice…Beetlejuice?
The Juice is loose, again!
In 1988 Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder), Delia Deetz (Catherine O’Hara), and Betelgeuse (Michael Keaton) made us laugh and scream in Beetlejuice, a horror-comedy classic, now, in 2024 Tim Burton is at it again, and brings us Beetlejuice for the modern era.
Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice brings back our favorite characters from the original, Lydia, Delia, and Betelgeuse, as well as some great additions, Dolores (Monica Bellucci), and Astrid (Jenna Ortega). The film also gives us the incredibly irritating Rory(Justin Theroux), and the unnecessary but entertaining Wolf(Willem Dafoe).
New characters are always difficult in sequels, but Astrid and Dolores fit right in. Rory does fit in, but I couldn’t stand his character in the slightest. From his pandering yet manipulative behavior to his Steven Seagal-esque mini ponytail, nothing he did had the ability to be likable. Wolf felt like a separate bit that they played in parallel to the plot, it was fine but felt clunky and unnecessary.
The most unfortunate part here is that the spicy, brave, dark, Lydia is a meek, push-over in the sequel. She never has her classic spark or vigor and is a shell of her former self. She lets herself be pushed around by all the characters around her and it is hard to watch. The saving grace is Delia, who is just as beautiful, but significantly more unhinged. I adore Catherine O’Hara, she can do no wrong, and she did a great job reprising this iconic role.
This sequel has the same zany feel that the original has, with some fun modern flare. There’s a twist or two, both of which I clocked immediately, and a fun plot written by the power duo Alfred Gough and Miles Millar (Wednesday, Smallville, I Am Number Four). Overall this is a solid sequel, if you loved the original Beetlejuice then you will adore this movie, if the original is just “ok” to you then wait until you can stream it. The movie was exactly what I expected it to be, not bad, but not mind-blowing, just like the original. It was great to see Betelgeuse have more screen time, and that made the film worthwhile to me.
