Opening Sept. 6, “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” tops the box office on its second weekend, and it’s a fun experience for those who love the original movie.
Being true to the original, the feature film beautifully intertwines practical effects and CGI to create the feel of the original techniques that made the film big in the first place. Adding onto that, the actors still bring the charm and character that they had in 1988.
While not being in the first movie, the new characters bring the same charm that the previous actors sought to showcase. Jenna Ortega, known for her work on “Wednesday” and “Scream 6,” was born to play the goth teen daughter of Lydia and is like an extension of Winona Ryder’s character herself.
Continuing on with new characters, Delores, Beetlejuice’s ex-wife, was a showstopper and was a fun way to answer the question of whose finger that Beetlejuice tossed away during the wedding ceremony in the first movie. While her character mostly existed to be hot and to be a literal “soul sucker,” every scene she was in was pure fun and kept the audience on their toes.
Now onto the main event, the ghost with the most himself: Beetlejuice. While there were some parts you could argue felt a little too scripted for the chaotic specter, he was still the best part out of both movies. My only real complaint is that he fumbled Delores and personally, I wouldn’t have done that.
A few valid complaints that I see being talked about are that there are too many plot points, which also generated plot holes, and that some scenes dragged on too long. If you were to count, there are about ten points happening at once with the focus sporadically shifting among them.
With the plot points making the plot holes, there were questions that the audience was left wondering about after they left the theater. Like what was the loophole that made the Maitland’s, the ghost couple in the first movie, pass on? How did Delia and Charles skip the movie’s afterlife process and go straight to the great beyond? Maybe it will be explored in a later movie but for now it’s still a hole in the story.
For the scenes that drag on, personally, I had no major problem with it. Besides jokes that could have gone on for too long, the main complaint comes from the final act and Delores’ introduction. While a lot goes on in the scene, Beetlejuice singing “MacArthur Park” by Richard Harris while everyone else is dancing to it was a fun way to tie in all the characters, and despite its length, it did not let the audience be bored.
With Delores’ introduction, it could have been five hours long and I still would have called it perfect cinema. Not only that, but it also includes a cameo from a very beloved actor in Hollywood. Even if you are not a “Beetlejuice” fan, I would check out the scene when it becomes available to watch outside of the theater.
Overall, while not a perfect movie, I would recommend “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” to anyone who is looking for an experience that is enjoyable and good enough to come back to again. With Halloween around the corner, it’s a good time to go check it out before it’s out of theaters.
