Plot
Decades have passed since the Maitlands perished in a car accident and the Deetz family took over their house.
Charles, the patriarch has perished suddenly, which brings Lydia – now a television star hosting a paranormal show back home – as well as reconnecting with her teen daughter Astrid, and mother in law Delia.
When visions of Beetlejuice occur, she is pressured into a quick marriage by her manager/fiancé Rory which she is reluctant to do.
But those visions of Beetlejuice might come in handy when Astrid’s new boyfriend is more than he seems…
And poor Beetlejuice, well he’s got love troubles of his own, still harbouring his loss of Lydia, now his ex wife is out to find him too!
Direction
Tim Burton returns to direct (who else?) and brings with him his similar charms that he has shown in other films in this genre (the original, and Edward Scissorhands).
There are some fun use of CGI and clay-mation/animations for the sandworms sequences as well as Charles Deetz accident.
I also loved the opening credits, that once again featured the use of miniatures (as the Maitland’s town model is still present in this film).
Danny Elfman’s gothic score is back too.
Cast
Michael Keaton of course is back as the titular character. Despite getting top billing, he is only on screen for just under 20 minutes, but it feels like much more as he is so zany once again in the role.
Returning as the Deetz’ are Winona Ryder and the late great Catherine O’Hara in one of her final roles. They are both fantastic, but I was somewhat disappointed that this was the path they wrote for Lydia as she felt like a completely new character.
Deelia on the other hand hadn’t changed ‘too’ much, but I did find myself feeling this was more moira rose than the previous iteration. Not that I’m complaining because any of Moira is better than none. Her comical abilities are on point here, and used much more than the first film. We will miss you forever Ma’am.
New cast include; Justin Theroux as Rory, Lydia’s manager and fiancé. He is from the beginning the character you can’t wait to see them get their comeuppance.
Jenna Ortega, as Astrid, who is milking her ‘goth girl’ type look and feel from her performance in Wednesday. She is… fine… but she didn’t blow me away…
Monica Bellucci plays Delores – Beetlejuice’s ex-wife (and his creator, as she murdered him in order to take his soul). She is back for ‘revenge’. I’ll comment on this arc later on.
Willem Dafoe plays Wolf Jackson, a fun ‘afterlife detective’ who is investigating the murders that Delores is committing trying to find Beetlejuice. I loved the noir like settings for him, as well as his hilarious over the top antics… as he is not even a cop, but was an actor in life, killed by a live hand grenade.
Other cast include Danny DeVito (as the afterlife janitor) and Burn Gorman (as the reverend of the town).
Breakdown
While it is debatable that this was a ‘needed’ movie, or it was a fan service… what we do get is a mostly fun ride…
We start by meeting these characters 36 years after the events of the first film. Lydia Deetz is now a television host – hosting a television show where she visits homes with ‘paranormal’ activity. I didn’t really buy this characterisation of Lydia – as she seemed more introverted in the first film. She still is mildly introverted here, but she lacks the confidence at times here too. I just found the whole character different.
She has a daughter Astrid, who doesn’t talk to her as astrid is embarrassed by her mother.
They are brought back together by Charles death (his portrayer Jeffrey Jones did not return due to historic allegations about him), which we get a very funny monologue from Delia and (stop motion?) animation. This returns them to their old house (Adam and Barb have since ‘moved on’).
This leads the trio of women in their own “men issues”… Delia is struggling to move on from Charles, Lydia is hounded by fiancé to get married, and Astrid meets the friendly Jeremy – who is more than he seems. Meanwhile… Beetlejuice – still hung up on Lydia all these years later has found a way to come back into her life, while his ex wife (the one he married when human and poisoned him to death, not before he took her out too) is back and taking souls in the afterlife to try to find him.
This all gets a bit much here… I liked the Deeliah moments (and every scene the late great O’Hara is in, is just brilliant). At times she ‘does’ channel her Moira Rose persona a little more than the Deeliah from #1 – but I am not complaining. Deeliah’s death as she is trying to speak to the spirit of Charles is hilarious, and their reunion on the soul train is a great end to their story.
The Rory/Lydia moments are fine, and he becomes the only real ‘human’ antagonist that you can’t wait to see die (more on that in a moment). The Astrid/Jeremey scenes have a few foreshadowing that he is a ghost. He takes Astrid to the afterlife in order to get his life back…. Which fails (more on that in a moment).
There is just so much going on here, it is almost as if the writers forgot about a few characters in the afterlife (Delores and Wolf Jackson) that when they pop up in the final arc (this is all after Beetlejuice has taken Lydia to the afterlife to help save Astrid, saves Astrid from having her soul taken by abruptly ‘killing’ Jeremey).
In the final arc of the film, this “abrupt” exit occurs once again, this time for Bellucci and Theroux, whose characters are eaten by the sandworms – getting a reappearance from the first film. To have three characters removed so abruptly feels… slightly lazy writing.
Also, it is almost as if the movie didn’t even need the character of Delores, because she brings nothing to the table (and Bellucci spends most of her time solo). She barely has any ‘present’ day time with Beetlejuice, and if her character never existed, she adds nothing to any character.. including Beetlejuice. They really could have just had Bellucci be a cameo as his wife who killed him, and that be that!
There are some very funny scenes, like the history of Beetlejuice and Delores (and how she killed him) – and pretty much any time that either Keaton or O’Hara are on screen. I also loved the animated death sequence of Charles (also for a movie that refused to hire Jeffrey Jones, it sure showed a lot of Jeffrey Jones.)
Overall
Fun enough sequel (even if it was a fan service one), with some great moments (and gave us more of the late Catherine O’Hara than we deserved).
Some touch ups on some characters and narrative would have made this much better, but still a fun watch!
3.5/5
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Ryan's Movie Reviews 