The Reel Review
An unexpected family tragedy leads three generations of the Deetz family to return to their abandoned Connecticut home, still haunted by the gleefully mischievous demon Betelgeuse. When Lydia’s teenage daughter discovers a portal to the afterlife, Betelgeuse (aka Beetlejuice) is released, unleashing his unique brand of mayhem. Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Catherine O’Hara and Jenna Ortega star in director Tim Burton’s sequel to his popular 1988 fantasy/comedy.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is as pitiful a sequel as the original was interesting, fun and charming. While Burton again smartly leans into the practical effects and kooky visuals that made the original film so unique, the screenplay itself is incredibly weak – a blatant cash grab lacking the cleverness of the original. To compensate for a boring, virtually plot-free story we get a lot of moronic and corny gross-out humor.
Acting wise, Keaton and Ortega are two bright spots – most others just have too little to do. The pointless subplot featuring Monica Bellucci, who started a relationship with Burton during filming, could easily have been cut. Hopefully if we say it three times we won’t be subjected to a Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Beetlejuice anytime soon.
REEL FACTS
• In the film, Lydia is the host of a ghost hunter TV show called Ghost House, a cheeky nod to the movie studio executives who wanted that title for the original Beetlejuice.
• When actor Glenn Shadix (Otho in the 1988 film) died from hitting his head in an accidental fall in his home in 2010, he left instructions that “The Banana Song” be played at his funeral.
• Jeffrey Jones (Deadwood), who played Charles Deetz in the original Beetlejuice, became a registered sex offender in 2002 after soliciting a 14-year-old boy to be photographed nude.
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