TRASH IN MY EYE No. 42 of 2024 (No. 1986) by Leroy Douresseaux
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024)
Running time: 104 minutes (1 hour, 44 minutes)
MPA – PG-13 for violent content, macabre and bloody images, strong language, some suggestive material and brief drug use.
DIRECTOR: Tim Burton
WRITERS: Alfred Gough & Miles Millar; from a story by Alfred Gough & Miles Millar and Seth Grahame-Smith (based on characters created by Michael McDowell and Larry Wilson)
PRODUCERS: Tim Burton, Dede Gardner, Tommy Harper, Jeremy Kleiner, and Marc Toberoff
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Haris Zambarloukos (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Jay Prychidny
COMPOSER: Danny Elfman
COMEDY/FANTASY/HORROR
Starring: Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Catherine O’Hara, Jenna Ortega, Justin Theroux, Willem Dafoe, Monica Bellucci, Arthur Conti, Nick Kellington, Santiago Cabrera, Burn Gorman, Sami Slimane, Amy Nuttall, and Danny DeVito
SUMMARY OF THE REVIEW:
“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” is that rare sequel that is as weird and as wonderful as its weird and wonderful predecessor
Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, and Catherine O’Hara are so good at reprising their original roles that it is hard to believe that it has been 36 years since they first played them
“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” is director Tim Burton's most crowd-pleasing film since 1999's “Sleepy Hollow”
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is a 2024 American dark fantasy and comic-horror film from director Tim Burton. It is a direct sequel to Burton's 1988 film, Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice finds three generations gathering after a family tragedy only to discover that the latest generation's actions have lead to a new encounter with the Afterlife and also has drawn the attentions of a certain bio-exorcist.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice opens over three decades after the events depicted in Beetlejuice. Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder) is now a “psychic mediator” who hosts a supernaturally themed talk show, “Ghost House,” produced by her current boyfriend, Rory (Justin Theroux). Lydia is estranged from her daughter, Astrid Deetz (Jenna Ortega), who is resentful that Lydia had a falling out with Astrid's father, Richard (Santiago Cabrera), who died during an expedition to the Amazon.
Lydia is stressed of late because she has been seeing visions of Betelgeuse (Michael Keaton), the “bio-exorcist” from the Afterlife who tried to force her to marry him over thirty years ago. Meanwhile, in the Afterlife, Betelgeuse (pronounced “Beetlejuice”) is having his own relationship problems as he has learned that his former wife, Delores (Monica Bellucci), a soul-sucking witch, has been revived and is hunting him in order to avenge the wrong she believes he did to her.
Back in the world of the living, Lydia's stepmother, Delia Deetz (Catherine O'Hara), informs her that her husband, Lydia's father, Charles Deetz, has died. Lydia, Astrid, and Delia return to Winter River (the setting of the original film) for Charles' funeral. The three women suddenly find their worlds turned upside down when the Afterlife intrudes and Betelgeuse plots to turn this series of unfortunate events in his favor.
Because of the decades long wait for this sequel, I wondered about the quality of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. After seeing it, I am pleased and happy to say that I enjoyed it as much as I have any film I've seen this year (2024). I saw Beetlejuice Beetlejuice during a Thursday night preview showing, and there were several children present. The children were restless and acted up a bit, especially early on. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is not a children's film, or it is, at least, not as child-friendly as the first film. Beetlejuice had a darkly humorous and macabre sensibility that was similar to the work of the late Charles Addams (1912-1988), the cartoonist for The New Yorker magazine who was best known for his recurring characters that became known as “The Addams Family.”
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is a darker film with a morbid rather than a macabre sensibility. The specter of death – especially sudden, violent, accidental death – hangs over this film. Yet it all seems like ghoulish fun and games, thanks in part to director Tim Burton's creative cohorts. The costume design, production design, film editing, cinematography, lighting, visual effects (practical and CGI), and musical score (by frequent Burton collaborator, Danny Elfman), recall the creative and intense inventiveness of the original film They make Beetlejuice Beetlejuice more grand theater than “Grand Guignol.” Still, I don't think elementary school age children, in general, will really enjoy this new film.
I'd call Beetlejuice Beetlejuice perfect except I do take exception with the film's writing. Although the overall plot is very interesting, the screenplay has some extraneous threads and inessential characters. I won't mention them just in case they end up being spoilers.
I will say that Tim Burton is fortunate to have the trio of Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, and Catherine O’Hara carrying the load for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. When I first saw Beetlejuice, I didn’t care for Michael Keaton’s performance as Betelgeuse. I thought his manic energy seemed forced and phony and that the late Robin Williams, who was really coming into his own as a movie star at the time, would have been a better choice. Sixteen years later (2004), I watched Beetlejuice again, and that time I thought Keaton was perfect. Go figure! How wrong I was. With Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Keaton proves that no one can be the “ghostest with the mostest” like him.
As Lydia Deetz, Winona Ryder truly evolves the character in interesting and genuinely human ways. Ryder could easily pull off a third film if one were to be made in the next decade (hopefully earlier). Given chance, Catherine O'Hara always proves that she is a giant among comedic actors, and does so again. What she offered in the original film, she offers in comedic droves here.
I had a thoroughly great time at the movies last night, and even the restless kids could not ruin the very funny “Soul Train” references. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is that rare sequel that matches the original film in many ways and surpasses it in others. As a movie fan, I feel blessed to have it.
8 of 10
A
★★★★ out of 4 stars
Friday, September 6, 2024
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