Thu. September 5, 2024
By Jerry Nunn
It's showtime for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice and now over 35 years later the pressure is on. There's currently a massive wave of nostalgia from Generation X fans wanting to see their past favorites reappear in the media. Sometimes it succeeds onstage as with Back to the Future: The Musical and sometimes it fails like transferring The Addams Family from television to a musical. Beetlejuice the musical provided a modern take on the ghoulish character and added memorable tunes back in 2016.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice missed the boat on that aspect and instead relied on a built-in fanbase to keep it afloat. The popularity of Betelgeuse grew quickly after Michael Keaton brought him to life during the run of the original film and in 2024 he returns to play the ghostly prankster once again. In this version, he's not evolved in any way and isn't even granted a grand entrance when he finally appears onscreen.
This twisted tale begins with Lydia Deetz, once again playing Winona Ryder sporting a choppy haircut and hosting a Ghost House program on TV. The black and white striped demon continues to plague her and pop up in the most unlikely of places. Deetz returns to Winter River for the funeral of her father accompanied by her daughter Astrid and is reunited with her stepmother Delia on their homestead's hallowed grounds.
Hijinks eventually ensue involving dead characters attempting to come back to life and multiple attempts at having them remain in the spirit world. The players lip-synch for their lives to retro tracks just like in the first film and sandworms once again snake into the picture at random moments.
This follow-up project has been attempted several times over the years by Tim Burton's team who thought Betelgeuse should travel to Hawaii, among other places. Burton directed the material that was given to him, just like the original, but this time he used Alfred Gough and Miles Millar as writers. The duo have teamed up with Burton before for Netflix's Wednesday hence the connection with Jenna Ortega, who plays Astrid.
There are some glaring problems immediately besides the fifth-grade level writing and unnecessary dream sequences. When the plot piles on too many players it limits the screen time of others and creates pitfalls like Ghostbusters. Old pros like Danny Devito and Willem Dafoe have their talents wasted then Bram Stoker's Dracula star Monica Bellucci sucks up random souls as a plot point.
Convicted sex offender Jeffrey Jones rightfully doesn't return and neither does the ghostly Maitland couple, but many involved in the initial project did and are underutilized. Shifting the focus to the primary cast would have done wonders for Beetlejuice times two.
Catherine O'Hara could make reciting the alphabet entertaining and Ryder works hard to keep her goth girl roots alive.
What should be a celebration winds up feeling awkward as the performers grab a paycheck and then hit the road.
Unfortunately, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice isn't twice the fun of the first film and that will shock some eager ticket holders. Avoid speaking his name three times at all costs now or a third instillation might appear in the future from this freaky deaky franchise.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice haunts theaters beginning September 6, 2024.
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