Rafael "Parker!!" Jovine’s review published on Letterboxd:
So as someone who not so long ago finally watched the original film after seeing the iconic table dance scene countless times on TNT TV spots, I came into this film with very little to no expectations. I do remember seeing a lot of people craving a sequel, and now we got it. But after seeing the mixed to positive reaction to the movie, I was hoping I was going to have at least a good time.
And you know, I did. The theater wasn't packed for my screening, as it was a very slow day, but everyone who was with me was laughing quite frequently during the second half. When that twist happened, you could hear one or two even gasping, I myself didn’t see it coming. I had heard and read complaints about Ortega being an "annoying angsty teen," so I was prepared for the worst. However, to my surprise, her level of annoyance was merely average. O'Hara was really funny whenever she was on screen, her facial reactions, especially, were soo good. I believe this is the most we’ve seen Jeffrey Jones in a film in a long while. Very creative way of “bringing him back,” lol. The practical effects were top notch, from the classic stuff from the original to even the few CGI stuff was really good, like the whole sucking into the cellphone thing that can be seen in the trailer was creepily fun. The soul sucking aftermath. Bob and the gang were a hoot. The score was pretty good, as were the few needle drops, we received, especially the whole serenade song, which was funny too—except for one, but I'll get to that later. “Beetlejuice Jr.” was disturbingly cute. And, hands down, the biggest surprise for me was seeing Brad Pitt's name in the credits (missed the Plan B credits).
As for the not so good. I like me some Winona Ryder and she got the look, but her character sums up to nothing. Whatever "agency" or "spunk" she had in the original is gone and everyone raises above her. I'm not sure if I'd call her dumb or stupid, as I've seen some claim, but for someone who's been dealing with this for a long time, she seems to act up like this is the first time she's facing all of this. A bit too clueless. They come with some “explanation,” but it didn’t do it for me. Justin does his best with the material she’s given, though they made him so cartoonishly douchebag that when they did what they did at the end was supposed to be like shocking? We all knew that! Monica pops up, looking stunning, getting close enough to put her lips in a lot of lucky bastards and making me wonder how and what Tim Burton did to get her to become his partner? Willem is also here, he does his best, but he also gets criminally underused. The script has plenty of good moments, again, funny lines and scenarios but a lot of it I feel felt very rushed. They tried to shove in so many storylines and stuff that ultimately a lot of the film often came off feeling pretty unfocused. So, you got scenes that were building up to be these very emotional scenes that left me in the cold. The whole wedding thing was neat, but the song they chose, I guess to replicate the iconic Belafonte song, was nowhere near as great. I loved the whole Italian retelling flashback; that was awesome, and it opened the room to so much for Bellucci’s villainous character, but ultimately whatever frightening and menacing factor she had dissipates very quickly. The other villain was more menacing, and we get to hate them more. Maybe they should have stuck with that and maybe built the film around them.
All in all, despite its many flaws, I still had plenty of fun. Keaton seemed very exciting to be back, and he nailed the role, almost as if he never left. Not perfect by any means and definitely will not hold nowhere near as much as the original. But as a sequel, its serviceable.
Also, RIP to that character.
TODAY SCHEDULE
The Devils
Dust in the Wind
Ride with the Devil
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
