Beetlejuice (1988) was one of my favorite movies growing up, so when my daughter was old enough to enjoy something from my childhood, I jumped on the chance to watch it with her. She is seven but absolutely LOVES anything weird and creepy, which makes Halloween incredibly fun. I figured the original Beetlejuice movie would be a great introduction to everything I loved while catering to her love of creepy things at the same time. She obviously loved it.
When we found out that Beetlejuice was getting a second movie made, we were so excited. We absolutely couldn’t wait! BUT…as we all know, most of the time, sequels don’t tend to capture the magic of the original, and considering this was almost thirty years AFTER the original, I was excited but also VERY skeptical.
Nostalgia, take me away
We journey back to the famous ghost house to celebrate the life of Lydia’s father, Charles. Everything that happens up to and after this point is pure afterlife chaos. As always, Michael Keaton is brilliant as the bat-shit crazy ghost demon, Beetlejuice. One thing I loved was that so many of the original cast came back, minus the original ghosts…boo. There were so many fun moments, and the nostalgia was real. The strained relationship between Lydia and her daughter Astrid felt real and palpable. It was a throwback to the relationship between Lydia and her stepmother, Delia, in the original film. I loved how over-the-top eccentric Delia had become with her art, and Lydia is clearly struggling mentally with her ability to see ghosts. I’m trying not to spoil anything here, but it was crazy fun, just like the first movie. It seemed much gorier than the first movie, which was pretty great, and more than once, I could hear my daughter quietly say “ewwww” in the seat next to me. Now that’s entertainment.
So many ghosts, so little time
There were so many missed opportunities with some of the characters. Beetlejuice has an ex-wife who I thought would be a BIG BAD. She was amazing, beautiful, and scary (I mean, she freaking stapled herself back together….what a badass) but they didn’t do much with her. She could have been SO MUCH MORE. The ghost boy that Astrid falls for does a seriously awful thing, and then, poof, nothing more is done with his character. It was like he was an afterthought. I guess Astrid had to get to the ghost world somehow. Willem Dafoe’s character is entertaining, but that’s it. He’s an actor who plays a cop in life and in death, apparently. I don’t feel like he served much of a purpose. There were so many jokes that fell a little flat. We all know that one of Beetlejuice’s favorite tricks is to take people over during a song but this song and dance seemed to go on a little too long. I needed more “Day-o” in my life. Short and sweet.
All in all, I can say that Beetlejuice Beetlejuice was an enjoyable movie. I ran into someone else who had gone to see it because Beetlejuice was her favorite movie as a kid. She was smiling. And that’s what mattered. Many of us who went to see it and helped it hit US box office records had fun. It was crazy and zany, and we laughed. Was it as good as the first one? No. Did it get me in my nostalgia feels? Oh, absolutely, and it is something that I can share with my daughter just like I shared the original. It’s something that cross-generations can enjoy together. So if you just want some happy entertainment, go see it. Enjoy the trip down memory lane. RIP Bob.
I gave it an 8/10 for the pure feelings of nostalgia and giving me and my daughter something we can continue to enjoy together!
How did you feel about the movie? Was it a hit or a miss for you? Let us know in the comments below!
