With spooky season right around the corner, it is time to start doing some of your favorite fall activities, like watching Tim Burton films! His newest project,“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” was just given to us and is an amazing mixture of quirkiness, sarcastic humor, spooky aspects and the Tim Burton feel we all love and appreciate. With Winona Ryder starring alongside, Catherine O’Hara, Jenna Ortega, Justin Theroux and the legendary Michael Keaton as Beetlejuice, you will have an unforgettable night of laughs and gasps. Forewarning, I will be discussing some major spoilers ahead so If you are planning to watch “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” in the near future, leave now. Â
The movie begins with Ryder as Lydia, introducing us to her ghost hunting TV show, in which she uses her gift as a ghost-seeing medium to achieve her newfound fame. Her teenage daughter Astrid, played by Ortega, is severely cynical when it comes to her mother’s abilities and believes ghosts are not real, which leads her to being deceived by her supposed romantic interest, a teenage ghost named Jeremy whom Astrid believed to be human. Jeremy tricks Astrid using the promise of bringing her to her dead father and gets her stuck in the afterlife. With her hope of making it back to the living world dwindling, Lydia summons Beetlejuice for the first time in 40 years to help her save her daughter. All’s well that ends well when Astrid is saved, and Beetlejuice is stopped after all his caused havoc. Â
The plot was very entertaining and the twist where Jeremy, played by Arthur Conti, ended up being a ghost and murderer was written very well. It seemed rather predictable after the fact, but while watching the film, I had not seen it coming it at all. The shock value was certainly there. It almost brings you back to the original film and how much of shock it was when Beetlejuice showed up for the first time. Â
The nostalgic feel of the first film from the ’80s is most certainly still there, but there were some minor differences that made viewers disappointed. For example, older Lydia seemed to have extraordinarily little personality for being one of the main characters and many believe that she did not behave or think like teen Lydia at all. Her only plot for the movie is to play the “sad mom” and save her daughter before she goes to the great beyond, which lacks all the fire that Lydia had in “Beetlejuice.” Astrid is not much to talk about as well, as her character felt very bland with no real traits and, despite not believing in ghosts, so willingly followed one into the afterlife? Â
A great number of the characters could have been more dynamic, other than some who stayed consistent and acted like their selves after all these years, like Delia, portrayed by Catherine O’Hara. As entertaining as they were and how excellent their acting was, they needed some more color and layers rather than just being plot devices.Â
When it comes to seeing some of Tim Burton’s movies and analyzing the weird, quirky style we all adore, this movie did a spectacular job at showing that. The animations and the pop-up comedic aspects, like the freaky Beetlejuice baby and the claymation flashback scenes, felt so much like we had teleported back in time and we were watching the first “Beetlejuice” again. Â
Even though, yes, some parts of “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” felt rushed and maybe even somewhat sloppy, I found myself watching with a massive grin on my face the entirety of the movie. I think it is worth seeing with the whole family or with some of your friends, and if you’re trying to get into the spirit of Halloween, this movie is a definite watch. But hey, make sure to watch “Beetlejuice” first! Â