SPOOKTOBER DAY 14

Beetlejuice 2 is Tim Burton returning to his roots even if the result is a bit of a mess. Thankfully there are still elements that work well about it. The visuals are still great and perfectly fit this gothic dark fantasy. Danny Elfman's score is fun and it's nice he returned to this legacy sequel. Speaking of returns, Michael Keaton, Catherine O'Hara and Winona Ryder are all back from the first film and haven't missed a beat. They all fit right back into the roles they played thirty-five years ago. Just Like the first Beetlejuice Keaton steals the show as the titular character. Still as politically incorrect as he was before and that's what makes him such a charming scumbag.

It's unfortunate that the new characters aren't that great. Apart from Bob none of the new characters stand out. Monica Belluchi's Dolores is a wasted villain as despite having a huge history with Beetlejuice she does nothing for most of the runtime. There are also two other villains who aren't interesting or entertaining and yet they get more spotlight than Dolores which makes her even more wasted. Willem Dafoe's character feels like he could almost be written out with how little he does. Jenna Ortega's Astrid is yet another teen activist character and even if she's not the worst one she's still not particularly compelling either. The emotional bits with her and her mom Lydia don't really hit all that hard and it just comes across as forced. Now it does make sense that Astrid and her mom would reconnect but the way the story goes about it with all the subplots happening makes it feel messier as a result.

Even though this is rated P3-13 it strangely feels more sanitized than the first Beetlejuice. There is still that dark sense of humor, but it feels somehow more toned down then the first as that one really went all out. Here even with the PG-13 rating it doesn't feel nearly as demented as the first one was, which might have something to do with the many subplots. There is just a lot happening here and it makes the film drag as a result. Still even with the lackluster new characters and too many subplots there is still some creativity here. Everybody is still giving it their all and Keaton, Ryder and O'Hara are still fantastic in their roles. In some way it feels like Burton just wanted to get back to the type of creative films he used to make with actors he liked working with and that's what Beetlejuice Beetlejuce feels like. Just an excuse for Burton to have fun with his cast and crew and I don't mean that as a negative though. It does feel like Birton is having fun in the director's chair and despite a lot of my issues I did still find some enjoyment in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. It's a bit messy at times but still has a lot of passion behind it. Also, Lydia makes a great goth milf.