15/36

Beetlejuice: I think that’s what Dostoyevsky said

Tale

After a family tragedy, three generations of the Deetz family return to their home in Winter River. Lydia, still haunted by Beetlejuice, finds her life turned upside down when her teenage daughter Astrid accidentally opens a portal to the afterlife. Jenna Ortega, Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Catherine O’Hara, Justin Theroux and Monica Bellucci reveal why they’ll never forget filming Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice. Tim Burton has said that this film would only be made if Michael Keaton returned to reprise his role. In March 2014, Keaton said that this was the only sequel he was interested in making. The film references « French physics »; Maria Skłodowska-Curie; is actually one of the most famous Polish scientists in history, often second only to Copernicus. Later, damn…

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SPOILER: There’s a dedication at the end of the credits to Bob Skinner, who died in the film. Late Night with Seth Meyers: Michael Keaton / Connor O’Malley (2024). MacArthur Park, screenplay by Jimmy Webb, performed by Donna Summer. Courtesy of Island Def Jam Music Group. Plot After a family tragedy, three generations of the Deetz family return to their home in Winter River. Lydia, still haunted by Beetlejuice, lives are turned upside down when her teenage daughter Astrid accidentally opens a portal to the afterlife. CastKeaton, Ryder, and O’Hara return, unfortunately Baldwin & Dave did not.

Could the characters hold up?

However, I completely understand why Burton did not include them. Ortega, Dafoe, Theroux, and Bellucci are also always great in the lead roles, though she’s completely wasted here. Devito gives us a memorable performance, and Burn Gorman has a few scenes. Verdict Beetlejuice 2 is one of those sequels that people have been talking about for decades, including countless rumors, fake reports, and even fan-made trailers, but I didn’t see it ever coming. When the trailer dropped, it was definitely official, and I was both excited and hesitant. You see, I’m part of the generation that saw the original when it came out and loved it, but 36 years later I got a sequel! Could it live up to expectations?

Well, the answers are very mixed

Over the course of three and a half decades, it’s only logical to play with nostalgia. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice surprised me with how little it did. Yes, there are nods here and there, yes, there are comeback scenes, and yes, there is a song that returns, but for the most part they are really making a movie for a new generation that probably didn’t see the original more than the Beetlejuice fans and I personally didn’t like that and thought it was a misleading choice. The other actor Keaton didn’t feel the same way about Beetlejuice, I’m not sure if it was him or the production, but it wasn’t the charming character we love and know from the 80s. Lydia? Ryder came in and was fantastic, it was a great comeback. O’Hara was very Delia again, but we remember Delia being a very annoying character, right?

And when we do have Beetlejuice scenes, they’re very weak

So having so much screen time compared to the original movie was definitely not a good thing. Theroux was great, Ortega was great, Dafoe was his usual crazy self, and Bellucci was… well, she was there. You see, I love Bellucci, but she’s ultimately cast as the antagonist of the film, she’s barely on screen, she doesn’t contribute anything, and even the characters’ swan song is rushed and, frankly, awful. You can see that the plot is very tired and very generic. I needed that nostalgia, I needed Beetlejuice, but I didn’t have any.