by Nataley Davis | staff writer
Warning: This article contains movie [SPOILERS].
Many key players are returning to their iconic roles this fall in the 36-year Tim Burton sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, including the strange and unusual Winona Ryder as Lydia Deetz, the hysterical Catherine O’Hara as Delia Deetz and of course, eclectic Michael Keaton as Beetlejuice.
The film follows Lydia who has found TV fame sharing her paranormal experiences in her childhood home in Winter River, Conn. in which the self-proclaimed bio-exorcist Beetlejuice haunted her family in the original movie.
Lydia’s family now resides in California, but she must learn to confront her past when she is forced to return to Winter River, where delirium plagues her when encountering Beetlejuice again.
Charles Deetz (Jeffrey Jones), did not make a reappearance because of his 2003 placement on the sex offender registry, forcing Burton to get creative in addressing his absence.
Thus was born the storyline for the film that Lydia’s father has died in a plane crash and the family must return to their haunted house on the hill for his funeral.
To compound her stress, Lydia’s rebellious teenage daughter, Astrid (Jenna Ortega), resents her fame and obsession with the afterlife.
“That was my hook into [the sequel], the three generations of mother, daughter, granddaughter,” Burton told People. “And that [would] be the nucleus of it.”
This conflict between Lydia and Astrid mimics the difficult relationship between Lydia and her stepmother Delia in the original film, offering a full circle moment when viewers see three generations of women in the Deetz family that must work through their dysfunctional relationships with one another.
Viewer satisfaction is largely determined by your pre-existing connection to the original 1988 horror-comedy. Nostalgia is a trademark of any reboot, evident when Keaton reappears on screen in his iconic striped suit, green hair and unsightly appearance.
Despite the happy reunion, mixed reactions are inevitable when following up a beloved classic 36 years later. Critics were less responsive to a forgettable first half and a confusing ending.
“The film’s only flaw is that it has a couple of plotlines too many, which give it a drawn-out middle and a rushed and jumbled finale,” said BBC film critic Nicholas Barber.
However, by giving Ortega’s character an important plot line, Burton attempts to draw in younger viewers. Strategies like this make the sequel feel very separate from the original.
[SPOILER] For example, when Astrid develops a relationship with a boy in Winter River, it is revealed that the boy had actually been dead and was using her ability to see the dead to trick her into trading lives with him.
Though heartwarming, the focus spent on healing the mother-daughter relationship subtracts from the quirky feel of the original movie.
It is also important to note that the modern production value of this sequel takes away from the odd charm of the original. After more than three decades, the quality of special effects and movie magic have naturally improved — which certainly makes this sequel objectively more pleasing to the eye.
However, it could be argued that the lower quality effects and silly looking set designs on the first movie are what made it such a classic.
Burton is famous for his stop-motion style animation, which was utilized briefly in this film.
“Charles’ death sequence in the script is stop-motion. We thought that would be a really fun call back to Tim’s stop-motion movies and a really interesting way to see that depth,” screenwriter Miles Millar told Screen Rant.
Despite the nod, Charles’ death reveals a world building flaw. Because Lydia cannot see her father post mortem, it creates confusion about the concept of purgatory and the afterlife. Is there something specific about the spirits that Lydia can see?
Even so, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is making milestones in the box office as Burton’s highest grossing premiere in his career. Seeing these beloved characters come back to life recaptures the magic of the original and brings viewers back to a simpler time.
Overall, the sequel was well done visually, but unless you are craving some nostalgia, I would wait for the sequel to come out on streaming platforms or skip it altogether and rewatch the original!