REVIEW: Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
The Juice is loose. Tim Burton returns to the world of his 1988 fan favourite Beetlejuice with Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. I admit that I am not old enough to have seen Beetlejuice on the big screen, but it is a film I love and have watched many times since my teens. I was so excited to get the chance to see the sequel at the cinema, and I think that Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is everything a fan could want from the return of our favourite tricksy demon. It’s an excellent watch for the spooky season if you still wish for some dark humour and horror without having to hide behind your hands.
Burton managed to get many of the original cast to reprise their roles in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, with Michael Keaton returning as the titular Beetlejuice, Winona Ryder as Lydia Deetz, and Catherine O’Hara as Delia. Their return makes the film feel awesomely familiar and adds to my nostalgia while watching. So did Danny Elfman’s fantastic musical score; for me Elfman’s scores are a quintessential part of a Burton film.
The newcomers to the series are a fabulous part of the cast ensemble, with Jenna Ortega playing Astrid, Lydia’s teenage daughter, and Justin Theroux as Lydia’s alarming orange smarmy boyfriend, Rory. Although Ortega fits perfectly visually as Ryder’s fictional daughter, her performance as a sullen eyeliner-wearing teen does not quite match up to that of Ryder’s Lydia in the original. My favourite of the new cast is a hilarious Willem Dafoe as Wolf Jackson, a deceased actor, now dead crime detective. His scenes stand out to me as some of the funniest of the whole film.
The reason the Deetz family returns to our screen is triggered by tragedy. The death of patriarch Charles Deetz (shown through some amusing stop-motion clay animation, no less) means the Deetzs must return to Winter River for the funeral and to clear out the family home, still known locally as the ‘ghost house.’ Lydia has to leave her Ghost Hunting show, Delia cancels her latest art show, and Astrid is taken out of school. Rory is along for the ride, but no one seems to want him around. Demonic capers ensue with Beetlejuice using Lydia’s proximity to a scale model of Winter Ridge to try and win her back, and Astrid finds herself mixed up with supernatural shenanigans.
I accept that Beetlejuice Beetlejuice will not be for everyone. Some will maintain that nothing can compare to the original, or some will find it silly slapstick. Both statements are true to a degree. I would say that the original is still the better film, and although the sequel tries hard to match the original for dark humour and general gothic weirdness, it does not quite manage. It is also endearingly silly in place. If you are after a work of high-brow cinema, this will not be for you. But this is a fun, darkly comedic film that goes in the same vein as the original. Keaton is fantastic as Beetlejuice, and I am so glad Burton said he would not do a sequel without him because no one else could capture the manic energy of Beetlejuice the same way that Keaton does. The special effects are delightfully traditional, making the film visually very similar to the original. There are also many throwbacks to the first film, which, as a fan, I enjoyed spotting while watching.
I am a fan of spooky (but not scary) films, so Beetlejuice Beetlejuice was worth watching. Based on the enjoyment I got out of it; it was even worth the cost of seeing it at the cinema and the overpriced popcorn. If you liked the first film or want to make your weird little self happy for a couple of hours, you should go and give this a chance.
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