“Beetlejuice” is a fantasy comedy starring Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Jenna Ortega and Catherine O’Hara that was released on Friday, Sept. 6. The sequel is about the mischievous ghost Beetlejuice, played by Michael Keaton, who returns to cause mayhem in the living world after accidentally being summoned by a new family.
Based on the original “Beetlejuice,” which came out 1988, the movie is centered around a new family that is dealing with a death. Ortega’s character, Astrid, falls into a trap, letting a murderer enter back into the human world. While that is happening, Beetlejuice is trying to enter the human world.
The story feels as if it is missing something, and it needed more to make it worth the watch. The horror and fantasy of the movie were eerie, as was evidenced in a scene in which Beetlejuice says “spill your guts” and then ripped open his stomach, letting green organs splatter on the rest of the characters. It looked fake because the organs were green, but young viewers might find it disturbing.
It takes viewers a very long time to figure out the movie’s plot as well as its point.
The movie also has four antagonists, which is three more than it needed. Quite a few characters were unnecessarily brought into the movie, yet they were made the main focus of the movie. For example, the movie kept going back to Beetlejuice’s ex when she was not really a main part of the movie or plot.
Due to the fact that the movie is directed by Tim Burton, one would think that this new iteration of “Beetlejuice” would live up to the original, just with more modern action. However, it did not. Burton is a very talented director with a discography of amazing films, but this one just was not it. The acting was good, but the filming and plot were not.
In some of the scenes, the movie felt very clumsy, and it almost seemed like the characters did not know what to do next. It was almost as if the producers had various scenes filmed, put them together and called it a movie.
One of the only great aspects of the movie was the casting of Jenna Ortega as Astrid Deetz. Ortega is known for her dark, gothic-style roles, such as in “Wednesday,” which is perfect because “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” already has a dark style.
The production cost of “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” was just below $100 million. This was way too much money for how low the production and quality of the story was.
People may suspect that there will be a third “Beetlejuice” film. Seeing as the first one was just “Beetlejuice” and the second one is called “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” the third one will make the series full circle with “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” because you have to say his name three times to make him appear. However, as this movie was not received very well, the chances are slim.
