Fantasy Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice returns!

[Spider-Fan]

Yeah, for me I just think...rather than go "well that thing was pointless"...the fun of it is yep, that's kind of the gag. There is an absurdity to it all that you just have to give into to an extent.

The original is a tighter and more concise story, but at the same time, there is plenty of stuff that has never quite made sense. Those things just add to the movie's sense of whimsey and world-building for me. It's part of the charm. I think some of the people criticizing this film for plot reasons aren't quite fairly weighing it against the original in that regard, probably because it's a film that many of us accepted uncritically as kids, very long ago. And while this movie juggles arguably a bit more than it needed to, I also think it lands more emotionally in places than the original, which was a welcome surprise.

So yeah, not to say there's no valid criticisms to be made, I just think this is a movie that understood the assignment and delivered in just about all the ways it needed to. I'm coming from a place of wishing for some people to be able to allow themselves to indulge in the joys that this movie offers without having to try and outsmart it. I do think overall though the consensus is leaning very positive though.

I think the difference is some of the things that don't make sense in the 1st are more the afterlife in Beetlejuice is very random and lacks logical rules type stuff as opposed to holes or overstuffing the plot itself. Here, there is more of the latter. But yes, the movie sort of just tries to be fun above anything else

 

[Gothamsknight]

Having sat on it a few days, I honestly think this film may end up surpassing the first film for me, personally, over time. I just loved how much bigger of a film it was, and all the afterlife stuff. So many great new characters too!

 

[TheVileOne]

I can't really say I felt the love here. If anything, this movie looked more like Barry Sonnenfeld post-Men in Black trying to direct a Tim Burton movie and mimicking Tim Burton's style.

I did like the use of practical effects, Michael Keaton clearly having fun as Beetlejuice, and some of the other cast members, but the film didn't really have a story here. It meanders so much in the first half and it's just a slog. The subplot with Delores is utterly pointless and goes nowhere. Every character has a pointless subplot here, even Charles Deetz, who they didn't need either.

I think what Burton used to do well is marrying his imaginative darkly humorous and expressionistic style with good storytelling. There was no story or reason for this movie or point for it to really exist. They can't really pick a lane with Beetlejuice. The original film had a tight focused story. This film spends the first half spinning its wheels.

 

[TheVileOne]

In the end, Zaslav is a money stooge and Keaton Batman lost them a historical amount of monet. He ain't approving another one

Thanks but no thanks. Keaton had his moment playing Batman again. He came back as Beetlejuice. I think we're good now.

 

[CB Fan]

This is a no for me. Felt like forever before there was any real movement plot wise. It had me bored which sucks cause I was looking forward to it a lot.

 

[Lily Adler]

This is a no for me. Felt like forever before there was any real movement plot wise. It had me bored which sucks cause I was looking forward to it a lot.

Does Jenna live up to Lydia's dancing in the original?

 

[BatLobster]

I’ve come to the conclusion that this is either a movie you vibe with, or you don’t. Which is fine, to each their own of course.

The thing for me is, I don’t care…the appeal of the original Beetlejuice is not the story. It’s the world, the characters, the imagery, the freak show of it all. The plot is just a delivery mechanism for the former, not the other way around. My formative memories of seeing the movie have everything to do with the visuals and unique tone, and nothing really at all with the story. The other thing is that fundamentally, it’s also a comedy…and those ultimately live and die by how much I laugh. I laughed a lot in this movie.

I think what happened here was, because this movie is a legacy sequel, it did have to do some heavier lifting up front just to get all the pieces in place for where it was going. But I think once that all clicks into place, the payoffs are just a blast. As far as a reason for existing, well, I’m not going to say that this was some deep meditation on the passage of time, grief and mortality (thank god it wasn’t trying to), but I do think it managed to touch on those themes in ways that felt heartfelt without getting too bogged down in it. Which in and of itself I think is an accomplishment, just like how the first film manages to be about a couple that tragically dies young and a suicidal girl who wants to join them and still be a comedy.

 

[blueharvest]

 

[CB Fan]

Does Jenna live up to Lydia's dancing in the original?

Lol It goes for a different ending.

 

[Spider-Fan83]

Was it ever said why Lydia couldn't see her ex husband's ghost? or was it just never explained! I felt like maybe I missed something

 

[Drizzle]

I enjoyed this even more than I thought I would. Just from the reviews I was expecting it to be Burton's best film since Sweeney Todd, which it easily is, but I'd also rank it slightly higher than the first Beetlejuice.

Keaton hasn't missed a single step in 36 years as Betelgeuse. Ryder, Ortega, and Dafoe were all on point but Catherine O'Hara stole the whole show IMO. She was definitely channelling some of that Moira Rose energy here.

Spoiler

There was a lot more going on in this than the first movie but I don't think all the separate plot threads bogged the movie down. Lydia's boyfriend being a ghost was predictable but I liked the dark turn it took. If anything Monica Bellucci's character felt pretty sidelined. I was expecting her to be the main villain but most of her screentime just amounted to walking around searching for Betelgeuse...and the unforgivable act of killing Bob.

The soundtrack choices were also amazing. The "Macarthur Park" dance sequence may not be as iconic as "Day-O" from the first movie but it was still pretty great.

Overall this felt like Burton back to form after 15+ years and it resulted in a rare good legacy sequel.

My only major issue was the need to put the pedos face everywhere.

I was also surprised by how much they showed him, even if it was via CG claymation or as a corpse missing most of his upper body. I still stand by what I said when the first trailer dropped that it is an insane choice to have a children's choir perform at the funeral of a character played by Jeffrey Jones WITH HIS GODDAMN FACE ON THE HEADSTONE.

Was it ever said why Lydia couldn't see her ex husband's ghost? or was it just never explained! I felt like maybe I missed something

I think he said something along the lines of "I've been watching over both of you without you knowing it."

 

[OtherwiseKnownAs]

 

[DarthSkywalker]

I enjoyed this even more than I thought I would. Just from the reviews I was expecting it to be Burton's best film since Sweeney Todd, which it easily is, but I'd also rank it slightly higher than the first Beetlejuice.

Keaton hasn't missed a single step in 36 years as Betelgeuse. Ryder, Ortega, and Dafoe were all on point but Catherine O'Hara stole the whole show IMO. She was definitely channelling some of that Moira Rose energy here.

Spoiler

There was a lot more going on in this than the first movie but I don't think all the separate plot threads bogged the movie down. Lydia's boyfriend being a ghost was predictable but I liked the dark turn it took. If anything Monica Bellucci's character felt pretty sidelined. I was expecting her to be the main villain but most of her screentime just amounted to walking around searching for Betelgeuse...and the unforgivable act of killing Bob.

The soundtrack choices were also amazing. The "Macarthur Park" dance sequence may not be as iconic as "Day-O" from the first movie but it was still pretty great.

Overall this felt like Burton back to form after 15+ years and it resulted in a rare good legacy sequel.

I was blown away by how much I loved it. I know I wanted to but even then, I felt like it was genuinely very good. It didn't try to reinvent the wheel and was probably better for it. It felt like a celebration of Beetlejuice and Lydia and it worked beautifully. Seeing Keaton so effortlessly be Beetlejuice again was truly baffling to me. He really didn't miss one step.

What really got me was their use of Delia, Dafoe, and the invent sequences, like the flashbacks. They felt very much like young Burton. Vibrant, energetic. Bellucci was the only one who stood out as not needing to be there. Though I do think her character was important to the plot, they couldn't of used another 5-10 minutes to flesh her and her chase of B man. She had one mode and it got tired after the second scene . And Beetlejuice seemed to care about her when it started, but then just didn't seem as worried as he should be for the rest of the film considering.

I was also surprised by how much they showed him, even if it was via CG claymation or as a corpse missing most of his upper body. I still stand by what I said when the first trailer dropped that it is an insane choice to have a children's choir perform at the funeral of a character played by Jeffrey Jones WITH HIS GODDAMN FACE ON THE HEADSTONE.

Yeah.

Spoiler

I thought the whole shark thing was great. Need the character but don't want to use the actor? Perfect. Especially with the brutality of it all. I also think the character was important to the story and especially Delia. But the constant showing of his face? Nah. That felt gross. Especially when there was shots where he was center frame and meant to be the focus. No way he didn't get paid.

I didn't even consider the child choir. But Christ, you're so right.

I think he said something along the lines of "I've been watching over both of you without you knowing it."

Way I took it was:

Spoiler

She couldn't see him, because he wasn't haunting Earth. He was on just doing his job in the afterlife, so wasn't an Earthbound ghost.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

100m plus looking good for opening weekend.

 

[samsnee]

Do we get any reference to Alec and Geena’s characters? Are they still in the old house?

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Do we get any reference to Alec and Geena’s characters? Are they still in the old house?

Spoiler

We get two references. Little figures of them can be spotted in the opening and we are told they found a loophole to move on to the great beyond.

 

[Snow Queen]

I thought this was delightful. Had a good time with it. It's the first time in a long time a Burton movie has had a pulse. Think there were a few things that could have been tightened up, but I felt like that was a small criticism in the end.

Spoiler

Every time Willem Dafoe showed up, I was dying. The cutaways to him poking out from behind headstones with his gun and goofy cop music were hysterical. O'Hara was getting me a lot too. I didn't give too much thought to where her character would be at the outset of this, the route they went with her art was a great evolution for her and had some fun mileage. And Keaton didn't miss a beat. The relationship between Lydia and Astrid I found to be a very solid emotional center and Ryder and Ortega play off each other very well. Doing the lip syncing/dance scene was inevitable but I was pleasantly surprised with the execution of it. Thought playing it more for horror/comedy as opposed to straight comedy with a more ominous vibe helped keep it fresh. And I'm glad they resisted the urge to redeem Beetlejuice in any way. Him still being a slimeball piece of garbage is much better.

 

[BatLobster]

The third act of this movie really starts to feel like a fever dream in the best way.

 

[Spider-Fan]

Post Sweeney Todd, I think I saw Alice in Wonderland, Dumbo, and Miss Pergrine's (not sure if spelled right) from Burton. Hated all of them, so this was by far best Burton since Sweeney Todd. Like I said, I don't want people to be confused that I really enjoyed this movie. Very much so. I just didn't think it was perfect, but in the space of legacy sequels flooding the market, this was by far one of the best.

 

[OtherwiseKnownAs]

Spoiler

We get two references. Little figures of them can be spotted in the opening and we are told they found a loophole to move on to the great beyond.

Thought the little line of dialogue was really respectful and more reverential than if they would have just done some CG/AI/De-aging nonsense.

 

[Drizzle]

What really got me was their use of Delia, Dafoe, and the invent sequences, like the flashbacks. They felt very much like young Burton. Vibrant, energetic.

The B&W flashback of Betelgeuse meeting Delores was straight up classic Burton.

I almost hate to say it but as much as I want them to keep it sacred by not turning this into a full-blown franchise, I would 100% watch a spinoff about Dafoe's character.

Spoiler

And I'm glad they resisted the urge to redeem Beetlejuice in any way. Him still being a slimeball piece of garbage is much better.

I agree. Compared to the first one where he was the antagonist, he was basically the lesser of three evils in this movie when compared to Bellucci and the murderer kid but I'm glad they didn't turn him into a "good guy" like the cartoon.

 

[Drizzle]

 

[DarkKnight88]

I’d like to think there’s a WB executive pitching Denis Villeneuve to add Beetlejuice into Dune Messiah.

 

[Drizzle]

I’d like to think there’s a WB executive pitching Denis Villeneuve to add Beetlejuice into Dune Messiah.

Back in the good old days when studios knew how to have fun and weren't run by soulless suits, we would have gotten a custom Beetlejuice 2 trailer attached to Dune: Part Two that would have had Beetlejuice squaring off against a sandworm on Arrakis.

 

[Ninjablade]

This movie is such a ton of fun. Feels like such a blast to the past without having to lean on nostalgia. It's been such a long time since Burton made a film this good, I didn't think he had it in him anymore.

Perfect movie for the Halloween season.