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INTRODUCTION TO BEETLEJUICE 2: CAST AND TRAILER
After years of rumors and anticipation, here’s Tim Burton’s sequel of the cult classic Beetlejuice in 2024. The project hinged on the return of Michael Keaton as the titular ghost – a condition set by Burton himself. Keaton agreed without much persuasion, knowing how rare the role was.
In any case, the return of Beetlejuice promised to be nothing less than eccentric.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice replaces the original cast that was spearheaded by Winona Ryder as Lydia Deetz and Catherine O’Hara as Delia Deetz. New faces in the sequel include Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci, Jenna Ortega, and Willem Dafoe. The highly-anticipated movie is directed by Tim Burton and written by Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, and Seth Grahame-Smith.
Beetlejuice 2 hit theaters on September 6, 2024, including IMAX, 4DX and ScreenX engagements and after some time in theaters, find its way onto major streaming platforms. It is rated R for language, gore, and violence.
Though Beetlejuice was made into a very popular Broadway musical, Beetlejuice 2 has nothing to do with it-this is purely a movie sequel.
To the fans of this franchise, Beetlejuice, the resurgence of Michael Keaton into the role of Beetlejuice, added to these exciting new cast members, has made the Beetlejuice 2 trailer a hot topic of discussion across the internet.
A GLIMPSE AT WHAT TO EXPECT FROM BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE’S PLOT
Years after what happened in the original film, the Deetz family returns to their ancestral home in Winter River. Lydia Deetz, now a grown woman, is still living under the shadow thrown by Beetlejuice’s chaotic influence. Astrid, her teen daughter, is an angst-ridden teenage rebel; her curiosity leads her to the attic where the model town from the first film resides.
By accident, Astrid opens up the Afterlife portal again and unleashes chaos that threatens to spill over into both the living and dead worlds. Confronted with the aftermath of Astrid’s actions, the Deetz family now finds Beetlejuice claiming the advantage of such a situation to find his way back and ensure chaos ensues once more.
Will the Deetz family be able to shut the portal in time? And will they finally be able to dismiss Beetlejuice for good this time?
MY THOUGHTS ON BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
The new Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, is a much-anticipated sequel to finally bring Tim Burton’s peculiar world onto the big screen after 36 long years. The movie is fun and visually capturing, though it doesn’t live up to the charm of the original.
There is nostalgia here for the long-time fans, yet at times, it can feel a little disjointed in terms of storyline. The movie has its great moments, but as a whole, it is mixed.
CHARACTER PERFORMANCE: MICHAEL KEATON, WINONA RYDER, AND THE REST OF THE BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE CAST
Michael Keaton returns to reprise his role as Beetlejuice with that very wild and unpredictable energy that defined the original. It’s been 36 years since audiences have seen the bio exorcist, and Keaton hasn’t lost his touch, delivering the very chaotic, fun character audiences fell in love with back in 1988.
Winona Ryder as Lydia Deetz, thrown this time into the new role of mother. She is subtle and vibrant in representing ways in which her character has evolved, even more so in the connection to that zany Beetlejuice. Audiences who loved her in the original surely will again here.
Newcomer Jenna Ortega plays Lydia’s truly rebellious daughter, Astrid. Sure enough, Ortega does a really fine job, but the character can feel a bit predictable, like a latticework of “troubled teen” attributes. That said, Ortega does sparkle in those select scenes.
Others like Catherine O’Hara and Willem Dafoe have interesting performances. With her trademark quirkiness, O’Hara brings humor and style to the movie, while Dafoe gambles on making his character-one ghost of a cop-really comic.
VISUAL DESIGN AND CINEMATOGRAPHY: GOTHIC CHARM IN FULL FORCE
Visually, Beetlejuice 2 delivers in spades. Tim Burton’s trademark gothic style is fully intact, with eerie sets, peculiar costumes, and practical effects that blend seamlessly with modern CGI. While the effects have cleaned up a notch from the 1988 original, the film retains that homespun quality that made Beetlejuice so memorable.
From the bizarre and brilliant afterlife to the nondescript world of the Deetz family, the cinematography of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice carries the audience along. For anyone who loved Burton’s earlier work, an extremely welcome return from that era is his dark, kooky visual style.
WRITING STYLE AND STORY: A MIXED BAG
One of the weaker points of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is the writing. This film is saturated with subplots that, quite often, feel thrown together rather than fit into the story. While this movie started very strongly, it felt cluttered through the middle part, and then at the end showed that the writers bit off more than they could chew.
Times, it genuinely feels like several different movies have been thrown together into one.
It’s just not as full of heart as the original, and while it may have fun moments, it feels somewhat shallow. It never really ramps up to anything, and some of the characters feel like they weren’t fleshed out too well, with the new ones being especially underdeveloped. The humor can be a bit hit-or-miss at times; a couple of gags do feel like they get recycled from the first.
That said, there are flashes of brilliance. Moments of fan service are peppered throughout, but rather than be overbearing, they pay a respectful homage to the original film. The movie doesn’t take itself too seriously, which works in its favor, but at the same time, it never quite reaches the cleverness and wit of the original.
THEMES OF BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Thematically, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice covers very familiar territory: life, death, and that strange in-between. Burton has always been great at using the afterlife as some kind of playground for his characters, and this movie is no different. Family, legacy, unfinished business – these themes are central as Lydia and her daughter navigate their issues with the help or rather, interference of Beetlejuice.
These themes are there, but they’re just not dug into quite as deeply as they really could or should have been. The emotional beats don’t land with quite the same heft as they do in the original, which balanced the film’s concept of mortality with both humor and heart. Here, it serves mostly as a backdrop to the chaos on-screen.
CONCLUSION: IS BEETLEJUICE 2 WORTH WATCHING?
Is the new Beetlejuice movie good? Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, taken all together, is fun enough for an evening out or with your really scared friend, you can watch them scream and maybe hide under the duvet. It recaptures some of that 1988 magic, if not quite enough to make it a truly great sequel.
Still, this is a fun nostalgic joy at times; the performances of Keaton, Ryder, and O’Hara are tops, but due to the plot and lack of depth, it becomes hard to make it something more.
If you liked the original, you’ll appreciate the callbacks and visual panache, but it won’t outshine its forerunner. The movie is a fine sequel and worth seeing for its offbeat humor and Tim Burton’s gothic charm, but in the main, it serves to show just how much things have altered in cinema since 1988.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is a fun, silly romp through the afterlife, but it is not the timeless classic its predecessor became.
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