By Sabrina Rogers
Hey Maroons! Welcome back to another publication! This week, we are talking about the newly released film “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice!” This movie debuted on September 6th, 2024, and is a sequel to the 1988 classic, “Beetlejuice.” Both films were directed by the creepily gothic director, Tim Burton. WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!!
The sequel takes us back to the iconic home of Winter River after a tragic family death occurs. Three generations of the Deetz family reunite but still haunted by Beetlejuice, Lydia’s (whose played by Winona Ryder once again) life goes “bananas” when her daughter, Astrid (played by the amazingly talented Jenna Ortega), discovers the portal to the afterlife and all hell breaks loose. This film was good and had comedic timings done perfectly, there were still some qualms with it.
For starters, there are too many plots battling to get the spotlight. From Dolores coming back (Beetlejuice’s first wife), Astrid’s love with a ghost who wants to come back and murder everyone, and Lydia’s whole identity crisis was all too much. As a writer, one of these plots should have been scrapped for the next movie (like Dolores. She was a big part in the first act but was just a side problem with no development once the second act kicked off). Same thing with Astrid’s love interest debacle. While it was nice to see, it was not fleshed out as much as it could have been if one of the other plots was omitted.
The comedy, however, did not disappoint. The whole theater was laughing and giggling at almost every joke, so the target audience was met. The little references throughout the film were also very appreciated. For example, this film imitated the iconic “Banana Boat (Day-O)” near the end of the film which had original fans geeking out. What also had the audience in awe was Lydia in the iconic red wedding dress!
That being said, I highly recommend seeing the movie! The nostalgia, the new comedy, and old comedy really bring this movie to life and make you want to summon Beetlejuice once again!
