Fun Fun Fun
“What is the point of this sequel?” As another reboot/sequel/prequel opens up dusting off the IP of an old world, I am tired of reading that question. What is the point of literally any movie? (Don’t think too hard, you will probably end up on an existential path towards who-knows-what.) My point is why does there have to be a “point” to everything? Movies can be made for fun, plain and simple. That is what happens in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. It is not perfect, but I don’t think Tim Burton & Co. really care about that. On second thought, maybe that is the point!
Around 36 years after the first Beetlejuice was released, the sequel finds us back with Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder) and her step-mother Delia (Catherine O’Hara) as they mourn the death of their beloved Charles. The way they kill Charles is quite clever, as the original actor has gotten himself into some legal troubles over the last couple of decades. Joining them is Lydia’s daughter Astrid (Jenna Ortega), who does not get along with the family. She ends up running away for an afternoon and meets a boy in town (Arthur Conti), who promises to see her again Halloween Night. On that same night, Lydia is supposed to get married to her new love interest Rory (a very game Justin Theroux). Of course, things “happen” along the way and Lydia needs to enlist the help of her old pal Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton).
The beginning does drag with some unnecessary re-acquainting of characters and how they got to where they are at. This story is one where you can lean on the suspense a bit and play it off as humor. Once the plot really begins and we get introduced to characters like Willem Defoe’s (will not spoil here), it becomes such a good time. The first Beetlejuice is technically not that great of a movie, so I am not sure why people hold such a close microscope to sequels like this (Ghostbusters comes to mind as well). Weird has become a go-to phrase lately, and it really hits home here. The first one was weird, and this one gets even weirder. But that doesn’t really matter when you have a character like Beetlejuice. It is so singular in American film that no matter what he says, as long as Michael Keaton is saying it, it is guaranteed to be funny.
The biggest showstopper is the Production Design. Marc Scruton has created two distinct worlds that mesh so well together. The small town around the Ghost House feels both generic and specific, while the Underworld is still that classic place mixed with all kinds of death and neon. Tim Burton seems to have shifted away from the classic gothic side towards more “Pop Goth”, as most recently seen in Wednesday. He has hit a new and improved stride, and it feels really good to be a part of the ride.
The intention of the film is light-hearted. If films like Beetlejuice are not allowed that privilege, then I fear it is appropriate to ask, “What is the point?”
Really Tall Guy 