Beetlejuice 2: Not Necessary, But Still Funny

Michael Keaton returns as the lead in Tim Burton's 'Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.' Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures.

Despite some good undead makeup and laughs brought back by returning Michael Keaton, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice was not a sequel that needed to happen. Most of the cast was funny and goodhearted, the new addition Willem Dafoe, in particular, but the problems were Beetlejuice being stuck in his old ways instead of evolving, and the plot was confusing. It wasn't better than the first film.

Taking place almost 40 years after the original Beetlejuice, a now-grown Lydia Deetz (played by Winona Ryder) has a daughter, Astrid, played by Jenna Ortega, Wednesday. And though not as big with the undead as in her teenage years, she is still haunted by Beetlejuice, played by Keaton. And Beetlejuice has his own hauntings to deal with now that a soul-sucking ghost, played by Monica Bellucci, has a bone to pick with him.

Catherine O'Hara, Jenna Ortega, Winona Ryder, and Justin Theroux as Delia Deetz, Astrid Deetz, Lydia Deetz, and Rory, respectively in 'Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.' Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures.

The good parts of the film were Justin Theroux as Rory, Lydia's boyfriend, trying to be the hip, yet awkward father figure to Astrid, Willem Dafoe as Det. Wolf Jackson trying to be a macho cop like Clint Eastwood in the undead police department, and a romance blooming between Astrid and Jeremy, played by Arthur Conti, who seemed like a young doppelgänger of Evan Peters from X-Men: Days of Future Past. 

Willem Dafoe as Detective Wolf Jackson in 'Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.' Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures.

Other good parts were when Beetlejuice acted like a couples therapist, there was pop or blues music played during the treacherous scenes, such as Beetlejuice lip-syncing to Richard Marx, and there were some occasional gags such as "Ouija board curfew."

It was funny watching Lydia get panicky when overwhelmed by Beetlejuice's tricks, given how she used to be so dark. And Rory dressed like Shakespeare and John Travolta at the same time while trying to fit in with the Deetz family curse. Another funny part was seeing dead people looking so calm in the waiting room in the afterlife, namely a dead surfer.

It was ironic how Ortega seemed so tame to all this horror and fantasy given her scream queen status. But once she dressed as Madame Curie, teased her hair, and entered the afterlife, her character was like Lydia reincarnated. And as for entering the afterlife, how's that for radiation, Madame Curie?

Despite the zany throwbacks to the original film and good new additions, one problem for me was Beetlejuice was up to his old tricks with the Deetz family and was more a villain than a hero. And the subplots threw me off sometimes, meaning I couldn't tell if it was just about the Deetzes.

Having said all this, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is not something you need to see, and it didn't have to happen. There was good joking and music, on the upside. Good job on the makeup and hair design, Christine Blundell, and the visual consulting work, Bo Welch. 

I give Beetlejuice Beetlejuice a 7/10.