Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is the sequel to the film we never knew we wanted or that we needed with the original living cast and some additions.
The original Beetlejuice film was one that my twisted young mind loved and is probably why my tastes tend to lead towards the macabre and twisted. Warner Brothers have brought back the original cast, those that are still living anyway, and brought us the sequel I think no one really expected with Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. The film follows Lydia and her daughter as they learn of their father/grandfather’s death and return to the home where Beetlejuice plagued them all. Astrid, Lydia’s daughter, is tricked by the ghost of a dead boy into following him into the afterlife to see her deceased father with a secret plan to trade places with her. Lydia must call on the one entity she knows she can’t trust to save her.
With Tim Burton at the helm and a team of master effects artists this film was a treat from start to finish. Even better is we are given several behind the scenes features where at least one goes in depth on how some of these effects were made. The shrinking Danny DeVito effect was fascinating to watch how they figured it out but even more so was the reassembly of Delores’ body. As to be expected, the cast was over the top in the portrayals of their characters. If you’ve seen the original film then you know they played them no differently then they had then.
I’ve read numerous reviews that complained about the fact that there were two villains or about how they were each defeated. I honestly felt like this was very on brand for the franchise and the progression of the story it made sense each step of the way. Overall I thought the film was EXACTLY was what I wanted from a sequel of a classic from my youth. Regular callbacks to previous events and natural progression of the characters completed the formula. I thoroughly enjoyed the film and feel that anyone that didn’t wasn’t a fan of the original or went into the viewing with the wrong mindset. Following the naming, does this mean we might get a sequel? I certainly hope so.