After the classic “Beetlejuice,” when I heard of its sequel, “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” I was thrilled. But, knowing that it has been over 35 years since the original movie, I wasn’t prepared for an outstanding sequel. After watching the film, though, I was pleasantly surprised.
“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” follows the story of Lydia Deetz with her career as a talk show host on a paranormal show in New York City. After a tragic event, she has to return to her old house where she had initially met Adam and Barbara in the first movie. Sadly, in the sequel, we do not get any return from the two ghosts who introduced us to the afterlife, but they are mentioned throughout the film. After, we find that Lydia has a daughter named Astrid, who goes to a private school while her mom works in New York. Due to the tragic event, though, both Astrid and Lydia find their way back to the original town of Winter River. While this takes place in the land of the living, in the land of the dead, we see an evil force begin to wreak havoc upon the dead. Through Beetlejuice, the character, we learn that this evil force is his wife returning for revenge. The movie continues with Lydia and Beetlejuice trying to save Astrid from her bad choices and stop this evil force from terrorizing the Land of the Dead.
This film is jam-packed with action and riveting characters. This movie’s visual effects, claymation, and costume design were phenomenal. The choice of actors for each role also helped bring this film to a new level. Willem Dafoe’s character, which replaces Sylvia Sydney’s character Juno from the original movie, was entertaining to watch. Winona Ryder, Catherine O’Hara, and Micheal Keaton’s acting was as remarkable as in the first movie. The music choices of “Tragedy” by the Bee Gees and “Cake Out in the Rain” by MacArthur Park and how they are implemented into the scenes were engaging. Like the original “Beetlejuice” with “Day-O” by Harry Belafonte, the music used in this movie will forever be associated with it and cherished by its fans.
One criticism I have is that there were too many great characters, but they needed to have more screen time. With the amount crammed into this film, a few characters didn’t seem to get as much attention as they deserved. One of which was the main antagonist of the film, played by Monica Bellucci. She was brought in as an essential character, but there was not enough attention given to her as there was so much more happening in the film to see her character in action. Even with that, this movie is a must-watch for any Tim Burton and “Beetlejuice” fans or fans of the Halloween season.
