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Sometimes less is more, and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice didn’t get that memo. While it’s undeniably fun, the film juggles far too many plot threads, making each one feel underdeveloped. It’s as if decades’ worth of potential sequel ideas were crammed into a single movie, leaving the whole thing a chaotic hodge-podge of mismatched storylines.
To give Tim Burton and his team credit, the film commits itself to practical effects and its best moments are in the weird and wonderful Netherworld with its bureaucratic office spaces and peculiar looking residents.
Other highlights include Jenna Ortega, whose casting initially left me feeling skeptical, and Winona Ryder, who effortlessly steals every scene she’s in. Michael Keaton’s portrayal of Beetlejuice is less irritating than in the first film, but the absence of Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis is profoundly felt. Their lack of presence is so significant that it raises the question of whether a sequel should have been made at all, and despite enjoying this (maybe more than the original) I do think Beetlejuice would have been best left buried.
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