IR Film Review: BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE [Warner Bros]
Anticipation for a film like the Beetlejuice sequel has built over a long while especially with stops and starts over the years. “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” tries to do many things and work on the same auspice as the original but it doesn’t fire quite right. Part of it might have been the time period. Part of it also might have been the writing. A lot of it might have been the time inbetween. The original had very different writers in Michael McDowell and Warren Skaaren with Skaaren going on to write the first “Batman”. The sequel feels shoddy despite trying to connect the dots which also might have to do with it was co-written by the writer of the “Wednesday” series. The film needs to be cinematic at times (for this film) and not about character beats.
The first one had a weird logic to it but each spot fed the next. This film feels disjointed. The thought is that it is an amalagation of two scripts. Seth Grahame Smity who worked on “Dark Shadows” fooled around for some years on a draft and he also gets story credits so this might have been piecemealed at parts. The reality is that on the eve of “The Flash” with Keaton returning as Batman it might have seemed like a good idea to get the band back together because the financing was there. But it doesn’t feel like the script was. Michae;Keaton is good but seems less unhinged (granted he is older). Winona Ryder as Lydia just seems weak which might need to be a function of her character but it betlittles her idea of rebellion in the original. Jenna Ortega is apt but feels removed. Her relationship in the story is the most dynamic but it cuts out halfway through making her more saccrine. A certain father figure appears in a weird form for obvious reasons. Monica Belucci has a good introduction but her character is incessantly not more than a small plot motivation.
The two people who know exactly what movie they are in is Willem Dafow and even more so Catherine O’Hata but it is not their movje. Beyond the three leads, Justin Theroux gets the most lines and screen time but his character is utterly annoying. Otho is the original was simply an overwrought clown but he was not overly mean per se. The fiance of Lydia’s character has his motivations but it leaves the wrong sour note. The film builds to a closing sequence that really make no sense even though there is a certain lyricism to it. The whole idea of it plays to Beetjuice as a romantic lead in his own mind. He is not. He is a demon only out for himself. The film overalls seems to forgot we need to fear him. The fact that most empathetic character is a shrunken head guy named Bob says a lot. But it also counts a lot against what the film maybe could have been. As it is, like Bob, it seems hobbled together. C+
By Tim Wassberg
