Nick’s review published on Letterboxd:
Every piece of criticism Beetlejuice Beetlejuice receives is correct. There are too many plot threads, a seemingly major character can be removed without changing anything else, many jokes fall flat, and the structure is a bit odd. And yet I really enjoyed it.
Willem Dafoe’s character is a Hollywood actor known for playing police in films who then becomes a police detective in the Neitherworld after dying in a stunt accident on set. His catchphrase throughout the film is “keep it real!” And I really feel like that’s what Tim Burton was trying to do here. As a legacy sequel it doesn’t quite succumb to the same tropes noticed in other films. You could argue its callbacks to the original are standard legacy sequel fare but it could also just be staying true to the world established in the first. The film still adds many new characters that are fun and plays with the originals mundane concept of the afterlife in fun ways. Burton also makes probably his best looking film in decades. The film has so many beautiful brightly colored scenes and in many instances we get to see the use of puppetry’s and stop motion where we’ve come to expect ugly cgi. It felt like a throwback to Burton’s old stuff and it was charming and fun. All the actors who return are having a blast, Catherine O’Hara may be the unsung hero of the franchise. And Jenna Ortega gives a solid if surprisingly underutilized performance as Lydia’s daughter.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is a fun time at the movies. That’s what you used to expect from Tim Burton, hopefully after this we can do that once again.
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