Director: Tim Burton
Starring: Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Catherine O’Hara, Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci, Jenna Ortega, and Willem Dafoe
Movie Length: 1 hour 44 minutes
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is Tim Burton’s and Warner Brothers’ sequel to 1988’s Beetlejuice, but honestly I would call it more of a reboot because I don’t think you need to watch the first movie to understand this one. Sure it will definitely help and fill in some gaps but I don’t think it’s required, and I think that’s how it was designed. It’s nice when a movie does call backs to the original but still does its own thing and doesn’t dwell on the past.
So if you’re wondering, “Do I want to bring my friend or significant other to this, even though they haven’t seen the first one?” The answer is, if they like horror comedies they will be right at home here. Now I definitely wouldn’t recommend bringing your parents, grandparents, or kids to see this movie unless they have seen the first one and they really like it.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is a fun movie and it definitely gets you in the Halloween spirit. I laughed quite a few times but was grossed out as well, and I believe that’s what the movie set out to do. Now just like every movie it’s not without it’s flaws, I feel like this movie was kind of all over the place to the point where after the movie was over, my dad asked me what was this movie about?
And I had to sit there for a minute and put all the pieces together, and to answer his question I basically gave every character’s motif and why they were doing what they were doing. But there wasn’t really a straight narrative, it was mostly like this happened so we have to do this and then that happened so then we have to do this. I followed it and nothing was confusing to me, but I guess for some it can be. I am trying to be as vague as possible because I don’t want to spoil the movie.
The plot of the movie is that there was a death in the family and the whole family has to come together to grieve and to overcome this family tragedy, while Lydia is still hunted by Beetlejuice and she has this daughter that gets in more trouble then she can solve, so they ask Beetlejuice to help. So in a way Beetlejuice in this movie is more of an antihero than a villain.
And let’s talk about the daughter, I think Jenna Ortega was great in as Wednesday as the title character. and I liked her in some of her other performances, but I feel like she was the weakest link in this cast. She meets a boy and their whole interaction was so rushed it kind of pulled me out of the movie how unnatural it was. In a movie about ghosts and demons I found their relationship the most far-fetched and fabricated. The way they spoke to each other and acted didn’t feel realistic.
But my biggest gripe with the movie could be considered a spoiler, so please skip this paragraph if you don’t want the movie spoiled for you.
I feel like in the end the main plot wasn’t really resolved, and it feels like the whole movie was a subplot and the main plot wasn’t resolved. But I know exactly why they did this, it is because they want to make another movie. And honestly I’m for it, I had a good time with this movie.
Now there are a lot of formats you can see this movie in, and I decided to see it in ScreenX. I personally believe this is the best format to watch this movie in, that is if your auditorium works right. Unfortunately mine did not. Apparently the manager said the studio didn’t send them the right copy. So your results may vary. If you’re not aware what ScreenX is, it’s the world’s first multi-projection theatre technology. This technology provides you with a 270-degree panoramic viewing experience. But it’s only in certain scenes and not throughout the whole movie. What I like about it is it makes you feel like you’re in the movie more than in traditional single screen movie theater.
In conclusion this movie feels more gross than the last one so if you’re squeamish or don’t like snakes or gross zombie babies this movie might not be for you, but as always I always recommend people to check the movies out for themselves. Ultimately I think this is a great Halloween movie and I had a great time watching it and I would definitely watch it again.
I give it a B+ for Betelgeuse.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is now in theaters.
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