REVIEW: “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” (2024)


WRITER’S NOTE: The following was originally posted on my Facebook page on September 9, 2024. 

In the same category as other long-awaited sequels released decades after their respective predecessors (Mad Max: Fury Road and Top Gun: Maverick, anybody?), director Tim Burton returns to his roots with the much-anticipated follow-up to his 1988 supernatural horror-comedy Beetlejuice. Michael Keaton is back as the titular “trickster demon” (“The Juice is loose”), as are Winona Ryder and Catherine O’Hara (as goth girl-turned-paranormal TV show host Lydia Deetz and her eccentric, artsy stepmother Delia, respectively). Joining them are Jenna Ortega (as Lydia’s moody teenage daughter Astrid), and Justin Thoreaux (as Lydia’s TV producer/beau), in a story that follows three generations of the Deetz family returning to the sleepy town of Winter River, Connecticut, for a patriarch’s funeral (two days before Halloween, no less). Then, when Astrid mistakenly ends up in the Neitherworld (this franchise’s version of the afterlife), Lydia reluctantly calls on the infamous “bio-exorcist” to find her daughter and bring her home. 

Like the aforementioned tentpoles (and last year’s Barbie and Oppenheimer), Beetlejuice Beetlejuice relies heavily on practical effects and large-scale set pieces, including unique stop-motion creatures (who could forget those giant sandworms?) and a wildly absurd and darkly comic atmosphere. Burton has said that working on this movie (as well as the Netflix series Wednesday) reinvigorated his love for filmmaking. It shows, and not just through the eye-popping and colorful production design and art direction. 

Likewise, Keaton is clearly having a ball with his iconic and electric role; ditto Willem Dafoe as a former movie star-turned-private eye. In fact, the whole cast (“Bob” included) is certainly terrific. It should also be noted that screenwriters Alfred Gough and Miles Miller have a knack for reinventing classic franchises. (Remember Smallville and Spider-Man 2?) They help give the unpredictable plot an unexpectedly (and strange) emotional core, with character-driven arcs about rekindling familial bonds and believing in what is unseen. 

The thing is, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice feels like an overall lackluster (and fast-paced) outcome, and doesn’t quite leave the same lasting impression that the first movie did. It would be hard to top the “Day-O” dinner scene from the original. That’s not to say the new movie has its moments. (That “couple’s therapy” scene is crazy and unhinged.) 

More importantly, while the new film’s cartoonish nature isn’t meant to be taken seriously, its spiritual influence—passive, misguided, and problematic—should be. A subplot involves a “soul-sucking demon” woman (Monica Bellucci) with a personal bone to pick with the Juice—and who literally staples herself together. Then there’s the 70s-inspired “Soul Train,” along with visual (macabre) gags referring to various forms of demise. But the way the movie treats eternal damnation as a joke is deeply disturbing. Did I mention there’s a creepy baby as well? Like this year’s Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, this legacy sequel may make some fans (and general moviegoers) question if it was worth the wait. 

#filmfreeq #bekerianreviews #21stcenturycinema #warnerbros #geffencompany #timburton #beetlejuicebeetlejuice2024

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

REVIEW: “The Substance” (2024)

Image
WRITER’S NOTE: The following was originally posted on my Facebook page on February 28, 2025.   Very rarely does a horror feature make such an impact in the film industry that critics and audiences can’t help but notice, whether we like it or not. In a case where such a film has been making numerous rounds in the awards and critical circuits (including this season’s Oscars), Coralie Fargeat’s excessive and repulsive body horror extravaganza, The Substance , stands out as a satire on beauty, appearance, and media pressures when it comes to body standards, especially for women.  The small cast includes Demi Moore as aging movie star-turned-fitness instructor Elizabeth Sparkle, who is told by her chauvinistic, greedy, and over the top boss (played by Dennis Quaid, whose shrimp-gorging scene should be enough to convince you of such) that her best days are behind her. After miraculously surviving a horrible car wreck, she hears about an underground experimental drug that can revive ...
Read more

REVIEW: “Sing Sing” (2024)

Image
WRITER’S NOTE: The following was originally posted on my Facebook page on August 26, 2024.  Based on the remarkable true story of the theatre program at the titular maximum security correctional facility and a few of the prisoners that occupy it, Sing Sing features actors Colman Domingo (as inmate/performer John “Divine G” Whitfield) and Paul Raci (as program director Brent Buell) in a cast that largely consists of real-life former inmates (playing themselves).  The film follows the development of a new stage production through the “Rehabilitation Through the Arts” (RTA) program, with a majority vouching for and collaborating on an original comedy, with elements of time travel and historical figures thrown in—partially due to the fact that they (and the world in general) deal with drama every day. First-time actor Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin is a superb standout, giving a transformative performance among the infectious camaraderie and support of the other members. It’s a tes...
Read more

REVIEW: “Transformers One” (2024)

Image
WRITER’S NOTE: The following was originally posted on my Facebook page on September 24, 2025.  This CG original story marks the first animated feature in the Transformers  film series since the inaugural 1986 adaptation of the popular Saturday morning cartoon. The Hasbro toy brand has arguably been on an uphill climb since the live-action Bumblebee  (from 2018) and Rise of the Beasts  (from last year).  For longtime fans who thought the previous movies spent more time with the human characters than the titular bots, they will not be disappointed by Transformers One . In fact, I may go as far as to say that director Josh Cooley’s take on these characters and their home world (brought to life in a retro and state-of-the-art look—and a real sense of depth and vertigo in 3-D—by Industrial Light & Magic) is the most invested and dimensional version by far. And there’s not a single human character in sight.  Like Chris Pratt did with Mario, Chris Hemsworth su...
Read more