REVIEW: BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE IS A SCARILY WELL-CRAFTED SEQUEL

Earlier this autumn, the comedy horror movie sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice was released, a hefty 36 years after the original movie Beetlejuice. Returning from the original include director Tim Burton, and actors Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, and Catherine O’Hara. Introduced for the first time are actors Jenna Ortega, Willem Dafoe, Monica Bellucci, and Justin Theroux among others. 

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is a movie about ghosts, and their various interactions with the living. Betelgeuse (Keaton) is one of these ghosts, a supposed “bio-exorcist” who wants to marry a living woman. He sets his sights on Lydia Deetz (Ryder), whom he previously tried to marry in the first movie. Lydia is the hostess of a paranormal talk show, and the mother of Jenna Ortega’s character Astrid. When new ghostly threats shake the family, they must come together again to vanquish them, and keep the dead where they belong.

I think this movie has many great creative choices, and the actor’s performances are also praise-worthy. Keaton makes Betelgeuse seem like a grimy, ghostly, creep, but also makes you want to root for him, which is something only a great actor like him can accomplish. Also, just take a look at the makeup and costuming in the image above. Look at how Keaton looks “stained” in a way, exactly how someone who’s been rotting in the afterlife for centuries would look. Overall, I think this movie not only matches the original’s magic but sometimes surpasses it with a stronger story and greater stakes, even if the story is a bit too convoluted and some of the writing is stale. I would rate it a 7.5 out of 10, and would highly recommend it to fans of comedy or light horror.