Daniel’s review published on Letterboxd:
"I can't believe I'm doing this ... Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice!"
36 years after she found out she can communicate with ghosts, Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder) hosts a supernatural talk show. When Lydia's father dies, she returns home to her mother Delia (Catherine O'Hara) for the funeral, and so does Lydia's estranged daughter Astrid (Jenna Ortega). However, Lydia also has visions of the ghost Betelgeuse (Michael Keaton), who tried to marry her three decades earlier ...
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is a fantasy horror comedy film directed by Tim Burton. It's a sequel to Beetlejuice (my review).
I'm a huge fan of the original movie, as well as director Tim Burton, and I've been really looking forward to the sequel. I can also happily report that Beetlejuice Beetlejuice not only met, but surpassed my expectations.
And it doesn’t just have a brilliant title, it’s also the most Tim Burton film in quite some time, there's no doubt whatsoever this is Burton's vision - bold, uncompromising, crazy, funny, and utterly wonderful to look at.
Keaton, Ryder and O'Hara all returned for the sequel, and they're joined by Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci, Willem Dafoe, as well as Jenna Ortega, all delivering outstanding performances.
Cleverly, Keaton's role isn't expanded that much in comparison to the first movie, the story is primarily about the three generations of Deetz women, which was wise, because their relationship forms the movie's beautiful emotional core. It's just wonderful to see Ryder (who only joined Stranger Things under the condition she'll get a leave in case Burton ever makes a sequel to Beetlejuice) back as Lydia, and she's fantastic. O'Hara is brillant as well, and so is Ortega as Lydia's teenage daughter, a role no one else could've played.
In fact, come to think about it, it's pretty obvious why we had to wait that long for a sequel: Jenna Ortega had to be born, grow up, and meet Burton.
Still, the sequel manages to get by without leaning heavily on nostalgia or fanservice (don't expect appearances from Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin), it just feels natural how the story is being picked up now, and how it develops.
Furthermore, there's another wonderful song and dance number in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, and the updated production design, especially for the afterlife, is utterly brillant. The script is clever, hilarious and witty, Danny Elfman composed another wonderful musical score, and the mostly practical effects are beautiful to look at.
I really have to think hard to find anything I didn't love, anything only remotely negative to say about the film. Maybe the subplot about Bellucci's character feels a bit underdeveloped, maybe it's resolved a bit too quickly at the end, maybe the story could've done without it. But, on the other hand, this would've robbed us of Bellucci with staples in her face.
And I sincerely hope we won't have to wait another three decades for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. Luckily, we only have to write down the title often enough on Letterboxd to make it happen ...
In conclusion, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is a wacky, crazy, hilarious sequel with many wonderful surprises, that lives up to its iconic predecessor, with Tim Burton and his outstanding cast in top form, and the juice indeed being very loose.
I added the movie to my Liked Films - the movies I enjoy the most, regardless of their rating, and could watch again and again.
