The cult classic got a long-awaited second part, which would have been better left undone.
Winona Ryder and Michael Keaton look like they’re wondering what kind of movie they’re getting into. LANDMARK MEDIA / AOP
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
USA, 2024
Directed by: Tim Burton
THE-arvio: ⭐⭐
Supervisor Tim Burton’s a horror comedy released in 1988 Beetlejuice quickly rose to cult fame and a sequel to the film has been awaited for decades. Now the wait is over, but what a bitter disappointment Beetlejuice Beetlejuice it is.
Lydia Deez, a young anxious girl known from the previous film (Winona Ryder) has grown into a troubled adult who has sold his psychic ability at the altar of television entertainment.
A nasty accident forces Deez to return to the familiar haunted house of his childhood from the first film together with his anxious daughter Astrid (Jenna Ortega), of her anxious boyfriend Rory (Justin Theroux) and his anxious mother (Catherine O’Hara) with.
All the main characters in the film are therefore anxious and in quite the same way. Apparently, the director Burton has tried to say something with this – but what, it is not revealed to the viewer of the film at least.
Soon, of course, we will also meet the title character of the film, the Beetlejuice demon, who is played just as well this time as well Michael Keaton. Without revealing more about the plot, let’s say that this time too, like the previous film, we have adventures not only in the world of the living but also of the dead.
Although everything seems to be fine in the initial setting, unfortunately themes typical of Tim Burton’s, 66, films such as the understanding of difference and the experience of being an outsider are almost completely absent. The director’s instinctive sensitivity seems to have turned into boring calculations and annoying panicking.
In the end, the whole movie is just a typical modern mid-level Hollywood production, down to the clichéd dialogue and predictable plot twists.
Gone is all the imagination, homeliness and courage familiar from the first film. There are polished special effects, flat humor and well-worn horror visions seen a hundred times before.
A few funny jokes and one likable musical scene can’t save this disappointing sequel.
What’s downright disturbing is how perfectly Willem Dafoen and Monica Beluccin fine actors like
Catherine O’Hara, 70, who only shone in the first film, still manages to steal the show in her own scenes. Instead, the character of Winona Ryder, for example, is written completely straight and the actress mostly seems like she just wants to get home from filming as quickly as possible.
Justin Theroux and Jenna Ortega, on the other hand, are extremely boring, playing exactly the same characters as many times before.
Michael Keaton, who has just turned 73, is of course still very good in the role of Beetlejuice, and his aging is not noticeable except for a few small details. It’s just a shame that the character of Beetlejuice himself is no longer the same mischievous jerk he was in the first movie. The cunning and rude demon has now turned into an old emotional uncle. Keaton plays the role with all his heart, but the script unfortunately only allows him to shine in a few singing scenes.
However, the most eerie and incomprehensible solution in the film is made familiar from the first film by Jeffrey Jones with the family man Charles played.
The 77-year-old Jones could not be brought back as an actor due to his criminal background. Nevertheless, Jones’ character Charles is included in the new film, but in such a form that Jones himself is no longer needed. However, the character of Charles serves as a constant, awkward reminder to the viewer that the real Jones can no longer be seen in the film due to his real-life criminal background.
Could this disaster have been somehow salvageable? Perhaps. At least the role of Jeffrey Jones should have been left out completely, Winona Ryder’s character should be completely rewritten and the plot should have been straightened out. Much more jokes and musical scenes would have been needed. That way, at least the worst taste of financing could have been avoided.
While the first Beetlejuice movie has endured re-watching for decades, its sequel would just like to be quickly forgotten.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice premiered on Friday 6 September 2024.
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