Beetlejuice makes an iconic return to the screen with a fun and creative continuation of the story we have grown to love. The Deetz family returns to Winter River, the iconic ghost town, after an unexpected family tragedy. Soon, Lydia, the protagonist, takes a short visit to her hometown, which turns into an undead adventure when her daughter Astrid travels to the underworld. The movie has the return of our favorite actors Micheal Keaton, Winoya Ryder, Jeffery Jones, and Cathorine O’Hara, as well as some new ones, including Jenna Ortega, William Defoe, and Monica Bellucci. 

“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” does not fall flat with its comedy. The comedic timing is everything in this movie, with major hats off to O’Hara with her performance as Delia; it truly is timeless and a seamless continuation of her in the original. As a huge fan of the original, I adored the little Easter eggs and nods to the original movie. For example, the “Day-o” song makes a comeback and a classic possession scene with ”Beetlejuice.” 

The set design also included immense detail that immerses you within the world with their costume and makeup, going that extra mile and really paying attention to detail, letting the character’s personalities and storyline shine through with their decisions. 

The plot is gripping, with lots of twists and turns that leave you with your jaw dropped. The tension and conflict leading up to the climax of the movie create the perfect recipe for chaos. With all the positives in the beginning and the climax of the movie, the resolution had jam-packed negatives. The end of the movie feels very rushed, lacking to keep the same tension that was in the climax. It was almost as if they couldn’t decide on an ending in the writer’s room, or they got really lazy. The “Beetlejuice ex-wife” plot that they had been building up from the beginning of the movie didn’t pose as much of a threat as they were making it seem to be. This made watching it seem like drinking a flat soda. 

The cherry on top is the random dream sequence that adds nothing to the plot but is simply just a nonsense time filler. We see a time jump of Astrid getting married and eventually giving birth to what is revealed as a Beetlejuice baby. Watching it crawl around and yell was just a little too brazen and I think that it was simply just a waste of time. They could’ve used this extra time to fully execute the ending properly to deliver a true action-packed resolution. Instead, it was very disappointing after seeing how well the plot had been executed thus far just to let it be spoiled by lack of effort.

 Overall, I do believe that, as a whole, this sequel has done justice to the original and is an incredibly fun watch to see with family or friends, especially during this fall season.

⅗ paws