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Didn't have particularly high expectations going into this one. I greatly appreciate both the original film and Tim Burton as a director, but I would never call myself a real fan of either. Maybe that's why the first 30 minutes or so of the sequel really didn't go over well with me.
The return to the world of Beetlejuice started off with a series of uninspired gags, weak jokes and reintroductions of characters that weren't landing with me or with the packed theater I saw it with. But when I was just about ready to give up on this being anything worthwhile the film found its footing and started bringing that fun and imaginative afterlife-themed adventure that I came for, eventually becoming........a copy of the original.
Yes, this is another "legacy sequel" remaking and building on the original at the same time. Once the realization set in I just wished that I didn't rewatch the 1988 classic just last year as this new film wholeheartedly repeats a lot of its beats. I'm thinking I'd enjoy this effort more if I couldn't see all the repetition.
But this one's still alright for what it is. Some of the cast are great - Keaton and O'Hara. Some are alright - Ryder and Ortega. And some are criminally wasted - Dafoe and Belucci. Fortunately the fun imagination and visuals are mostly all there, so I'll say it does it's job fine, even while being an absolutely unnecessary exercise in nostalgia.
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