i actually did enjoy this! i thought it would suck, but it didn’t. it’s messy, and the first half takes a while to hit its stride, but it’s still easily burton’s best film in ages, and at times, such as the wedding musical sequence or the marriage counseling scene, he starts to strike some of his classic gold. the production is great as well, we see more of the afterlife world and all the caligari-inspired sets are great (though the digital lens is kind of. fugly). also, the soundtrack slaps. and as far as performances go, willem dafoe and catherine o’hara are, as always, wonderful (though the characterization for o’hara’s character feels less like the first film’s delia and more like moira rose (even directly referencing the crow movie she was in in schitts creek lol). i mean i love moira rose, so it worked, but i did feel that a little odd). michael keaton doesn’t hit quite the same electricity as he did the first time, but he’s still fun. winona ryder, and i hate to say this because i love her, kind of disappointed me; seeing her lydia again should be thrilling, but she feels less committed. jenna ortega is a welcome addition, though, and does well as astrid- who i think has the strongest characterization in the film, despite a shaky chatacter set-up. i didn’t care for justin theroux, though. i think the film is surprisingly restrained in terms of legacy sequels, it doesn’t do the whole “play the hits” thing and avoids overt references, except for the banana boat song at the funeral. alien: romulus can’t relate!

unfortunately, the messiness and offices of the first half of the film reallt brings it down; when the film began, i was worried it would be awful from the first impression it gave me. by the third act, the too-many story threads weave together to feel intentionally frenzied in a way that works, but before that the lydia movie and beetlejuice movie just don’t gel. still, i didn’t think this was bad, and the third act was genuinely very fun. in terms of recent halloween cult-classic sequels, i would probably never watch hocus pocus 2 again, even though i didn’t dislike that movie either- but i probably will watch this next halloween. so it has something going for it, at least, even if it doesn’t work all the way like i want it to. i had low expectations, but this did somewhat exceed them, despite the flaws, and it’s the first glimpse of potential at his old ability that burton has showed in like, 15 years. maybe he’ll make something better for the inevitable third movie, or maybe he won’t and it’ll be terrible. i guess we’ll see. but i have hope, at least.