The movie “Beetlejuice” was produced in 1988 starring Winona Ryder and directed by Tim Burton. While the movie was instantly a cult classic upon release, people remained interested in the world of “Beetlejuice.” In response, Tim Burton released an official announcement for a second “Beetlejuice” movie in February 2022 with Jenna Ortega playing Winona Ryder’s character’s daughter.
“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” was released Sept. 6, and it’s a comedic horror that’s absolutely to die for, much like the first movie. Dubbed “Quirky, Spooky, and Brash” by IMDb in a nutshell, the film follows Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder) and Astrid Deetz (Jenna Ortega) as they go back to Winter River, Connecticut after the passing of Charles Deetz (Jeffery Jones). Astrid is emotionally withdrawn from Lydia and the people at her boarding school due to the passing of her father and the belief that her mother cannot see ghosts.
During Charles’s funeral, Lydia gets proposed to by Rory (Justin Theroux), her manager and boyfriend. Astrid gets upset by this and takes off, landing in the backyard of Jeremy Frazier (Arthur Conti). The two become friends and make plans to hang out on Halloween, Halloween being the same day as Lydia’s wedding. Astrid and Jeremy go and hang out together at his house, but meanwhile, Lydia continues to get notifications from Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton). Lydia tells Rory about Beetlejuice, only making Rory say Beetlejuice’s name three times.
In the movie, I love how much Delia (Catherine O’Hara) stays true to her role and how Delia and Beetlejuice mostly carry the movie. A key part that stuck out to me is when Beetlejuice gets introduced once again in the movie, his role being extremely important yet hilarious. I also love the scene where Lydia and Rory get into the model of the town that was in the attic after Rory calls out for Beetlejuice. It’s such a good moment with Beetlejuice to show how chaotic his energy is.
I would recommend the movie, but only for people in the teenage demographic. While the movie was funny, it has extremely raunchy jokes. If you look too deep into the characters and plots, it’ll be more confusing than anything. Like, while I enjoyed the movie, I didn’t quite understand why they stuck Lydia in a love triangle with Beetlejuice and Rory because, to me, she isn’t the type of character to be even remotely interested in Rory. In an interview with Winona Ryder, she states that she wanted Lydia and Beetlejuice to end up together.
All in all, I believe that if you watch this movie in theaters, you’ll get a good laugh out of the jokes in the movie.