Worth the wait!
Directed by: Tim Burton
Written by: Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, Seth Grahame-Smith
Cast: Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Catherine O’Hara, Jenna Ortega
Swift shot: All anyone wants to know is, “Rick, was it worth the wait?” Well, considering we waited over thirty-six years for a sequel you’d expect this to be the most amazing movie of all time, meticulously crafted, artistically styled, with enriched characters developed over decades and just enough fan service to keep us pointing at the screen going, “ahhh, yea, I memba!” Look, it wasn’t all that, but it had all those elements and most importantly it was fun!
[Swift aside: Back in 1988 my parents let me go on my first unchaperoned movie excursion with some of my friends. With all the hype building up for Beetlejuice, I was pumped! Sadly, I can’t remember who I went with, but I remember instantly loving the film, and I have probably watched it at least 167 times since then! And I think its rewatch-value is probably the best thing going for Beetlejuice. You can appreciate it for eternity, or however long you have to wait in the Afterlife’s iconic waiting room.]
Another thing we all want to know is what inspired Tim Burton to make this sequel in the first place, in his own words, he wondered too, “What happened to Lydia?” What is she like as an adult? And how has she changed? That’s the movie we all came to see, and that’s the movie we get, thankfully.
Take out the many artistic choices and wacky stylized Burtonesque cinematic puppetry and you are left with a story about a mother, a wife, and a daughter all processing grief in their unique ways.
Burton approaches death in a very frank and indeed humorous light, but it is always grounded in this sweet sadness that is hard to capture. He was clearly inspired by many great cinematic predecessors to convey that macabre message.
Lydia is now a widow and has a teenage daughter who basically loathes her. See, Lydia is a paranormal entertainer, and as far as her daughter Astrid (Ortega) is concerned, a charlatan who bilks rubes and gullible grieving people out of their money. But when it comes to contacting dear departed dad there is a convenient block, which naturally pisses Astrid off even more. “So, let me get this right, you can communicate with the dead, but not dad? Got it!”
And Lydia, in her grief has met a kindred spirit Rory (Justin Theroux) who plays perhaps the most dislikable asshat since Carter Burke. Rory is in touch with all his emotions and is the ultimate soy-boy beta weirdo freak, but not the kind of guy who deserves freakin’ Lydia Deetz! I mean, no way, man!!
Then there’s Delia (O’Hara) who is still an arteest and is currently showing her work at a studio in SoHo when the film starts. It was nice to see that she kind of softened a bit with Lydia and there is an understanding between them about their relationship, distant as it might be. But, it really boils down to how busy they both are in their respective fields.
Let’s also dive into the one thing everyone wants to forget about, Jeffrey Jones was not a good person, but that shouldn’t have any bearing on the wonderfully amusing character he portrayed in the original, Charles Deetz. How Tim Burton and the writers handled his situation in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is remarkably biting satire on the lengths filmmakers have to go through to accommodate such sensitive realities.
You’ll have to see it to get that one, but we also sadly lost Adam and Barbara Maitland for perhaps similar reasons that we should just move past. So, let’s.
And of course, I can’t forget the title character, “Juice, Juice, Juice!” Michael Keaton famously had less than 15 minutes of screen-time in the first film, so you can understand why he insisted on getting a bit more in the sequel. And I didn’t sit there with a timer or anything, but it certainly felt like he was in the movie a fair amount and had a lot of fun with the role.
I could mention the other peripheral characters too, but I won’t. Just see the film to get your fill of them.
And on that note, probably the worst thing about Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is that it suffered from too many characters and did a few too many genre shifts. But, this is a Tim Burton film, so you strap in and enjoy the insanity or . . . you don’t. I wonder if this will have such a tremendous re-watch rate as the classic and if it will inspire any new pop-culture mania. I honestly hope it does, as I already want to see it again!
The heart of what makes this film work is that it is a legacy unto itself that takes characters we have loved for decades and gives them a new storyline but is grounded in the same insanity that we have come to expect. There are twists and turns and crooked floors and musical numbers and nods to classic horrors and just a lot of bold risky choices by Burton.
And rumor has it, like this is shit you can take to the bank stuff, there may be some adults only humor on the deleted scenes once the film comes out for purchase at home! I am very much looking forward to that. Oh, about that adult stuff, there are some scenes that are purely horrifying – like this will fucking scare your kids, so consider that before bringing them. You’ve been warned.
Anyway, go see Beetlejuice Beetlejuice and let me hear what you thought! Oh, and for the love of God, don’t wait to watch this one at home, it’s a big theater movie with big movie elements. You’ll be kicking yourself, which I think Beetlejuice could probably do, now that I think about it.
