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Posted in: Movies, Review | Tagged: Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Jenna Ortega, michael keaton, tim burton, winona ryder
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Is Pretty Boring And Forgettable. {Review}
After 36 years, you would think that they could have come with something better than what we are given with Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.
Article Summary
- Beetlejuice Beetlejuice struggles with incoherent storytelling and multiple unnecessary subplots.
- Solid performances by Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, and Jenna Ortega are the film's saving grace.
- The special effects and prosthetics are well done, but zany CGI detracts from the production design.
- Controversial handling of Jeffrey Jones's character adds awkward moments and detracts from the film.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice falls into the same trap that many other legacy sequels have, and that is justifying its existence. The first half of the movie is quite bad, with it being clear that this film has gone through many rewrites and scripts over the years, with bits taken from all of them. Throw in pointless characters, very uncomfortable mentions of a certain actor not directly in the film, and a nonsensical story, and you get a complete mess. At least, for the most part, the actors seem to be having a ball. A shame, really.
Beetlejuice In Hawaii Might Have Been Better
It's been a long time since Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton) terrorized Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder) and her family, so long that they have spread out all over the country. Lydia has a carny-style TV show where she "speaks" to dead people and is being taken advantage of by her manager (Justin Theroux). She is even estranged from her daughter Astrid (Jenna Ortega), who does not believe in her power to see ghosts since she cannot see her dead father. When Lydia's father dies, Astrid, Lydia, and Delia (Catherine O'Hara) return to the old house to bury him and clean out the house for sale. That includes the attic, where the town model lurks, and Beetlejuice lies in wait.
Are you exhausted yet? Because at least four other plots are trying to break through for your attention while all this is happening. Only three writers are credited with the script: Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, and Seth Grahame-Smith, but there is no question that leftover pieces of the story from other torn-up scripts from over the last 36 years are here. This is one of the most incoherent stories put to film in 2024, with whole storylines dropped completely for long stretches of the film that are not necessary in the first place. Tim Burton could not seem more bored here, basically turning on the camera and letting it run for as long as it took for him to call the bank and make sure WB's check had cleared.
There is no other explanation for just how hard it is to follow where this movie tries to go. It is aimless, moving from vignette to vignette like a fever dream episode of SNL. The final set piece is amusing for the first ten seconds, and then it goes on and on and never ends. It is exhausting to watch. Applause goes to the effects team, as some really nifty stuff with prosthetics is used here. But for all the gorgeous production design, the zany CGI takes you out of admiring anything. And the less is more approach to Beetlejuice himself again is even more frustrating,
The cast is the only bright spot here. Ryder and Keaton are great whenever they share the screen, and adding Ortega to the mix was a perfect call. Theroux also matches the script's all-over-the-place vibes, and he ends up stealing a bunch of scenes. Everyone else seems to be having a ball; it is a shame that the movie can't match that energy. The elephant in the room is that Charles Deetz plays a significant role in the film. Now, Jeffrey Jones is not in the movie, but once you know why he is not, it makes how they handle his character icky. Shame on them for having a kid's choir singing a tribute to his character, even if he is dead, and it is his gravesite. Like most things in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, it doesn't make sense to have Charles there at all, especially given the circumstances. It takes you out of the movie, and I wish they had not included him in any capacity.
At the end of the day, like most legacy sequels, it spends too much of its run time trying to fight for its existence and forgets to stand on its own feet. It is sad that this is the best they can come up with after 36 years.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
3.5/10
After 36 years, you would think that they could have come with something better than what we are given with Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. Completely incoherent and forgettable, and also a bit icky.
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