If you read my column last week, you’ll know that I’ve been looking forward to “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” for several years.
Well, I caught a morning show last week and have the details on the sequel – plus, I loved it!
While making sequel movies is already a daunting task, having them be over 35 years apart produces a whole new hurdle for everyone involved.
However, despite that, I think this is one of the best sequels I’ve ever seen and it provides a chance to continue the Deetz’s family story if that ever happens.
With most of the main cast returning, you’ll get to see all the favorites from the 1988 original along with a few new faces.
I’m also happy to report that they used a lot of practical effects rather than computer-generated ones to keep the authenticity of the story alive.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is a dark fantasy comedy horror film directed by Tim Burton from a screenplay by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar.
A sequel to Beetlejuice (1988) and the second film of the Beetlejuice franchise, the film stars Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, and Catherine O’Hara reprising their roles alongside new cast members Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci, Jenna Ortega, and Willem Dafoe.
The film is rated PG-13 for violent content, macabre and bloody images, strong language, some suggestive material, and brief drug use and is 104 minutes long.
In 2024, Lydia Deetz (Ryder) is the host of a supernatural talk show called Ghost House, produced by her boyfriend Rory (Theroux).
During the taping of a segment, Lydia sees visions in the audience of the ghost Betelgeuse (Keaton), who haunted her family 36 years earlier.
Shortly thereafter, Lydia’s stepmother Delia (O’Hara) shares the news about the death of her father Charles, who survived a plane crash in the South Pacific only to have his head bitten off by a shark minutes later.
En route to Winter River for the funeral services, the surviving Deetz family members pick up Lydia’s estranged daughter Astrid (Ortega), from boarding school.
Following the funeral services, a wake is held at the old Deetz house where Rory proposes to Lydia in front of the attendees.
She ends up reluctantly accepting the proposal and that ends up causing Astrid to flee and meet Jeremy (Conti), who invites her over for Halloween prior to the wedding.
Sometime later, Astrid discovers a box of items belonging to her father Richard (Cabrera) - who disappeared two years earlier in South America and an ad to contact Betelgeuse.
On Halloween, Astrid learns that Jeremy is actually a ghost seeking her help to restore his life.
He promises Astrid that she can reunite with her father on the other side if she helps him.
The two enter the afterlife after Astrid recites an incantation from the Handbook for the Recently Deceased.
Discovering Jeremy’s past as a murderer, Lydia reluctantly calls upon Betelgeuse to help retrieve Astrid.
Betelgeuse agrees but demands that Lydia marry him, allowing him to stay in the mortal world and evade his vengeful ex-wife and murderer Delores (Bellucci) in the afterlife.
Overall, the film relies on its roots with family drama, dark humor, and Keaton’s iconic delivery for Betelgeuse.
I’ve been fully endorsing this film to anyone who will listen and that includes our readership now.
I also firmly believe that “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” serves as a faithful sequel and is worth more watching on the big screen than anything else out there right now.
