Movie Review: Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

https://open.spotify.com/episode/3W78teNM3qvEvBUBG5TixY?si=63Vq08rETv2d4udUIQi0yg

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is kind of a quintessential four star movie on our scale because, while the effects look great and a lot of the visuals make it worth seeing this movie in a theater but almost the entirety of the first and second act are forgettable. Michael Keaton is great when he is given room to occupy the role of Beetlejuice but there is just far too much going on in a few too many subplots that make the story too convoluted.

Arguably Monica Bellucci can be removed from the plot with minimal impact to anything but the runtime and Astrid's plot should have been the entire movie instead of kind of a weird side quest. We don't need a backstory for Beetlejuice in any capacity, especially one that is kind of offhandedly dismissed later on in the movie. More of an explanation about where the Maitlands went would have been nice and the offhanded explanation that "we found a loophole to send them to the afterlife" feels worse than just not acknowledging them because I'd rather just watch that movie.

This is yet another legacy sequel that works best if you haven't seen the original in quite some time because (like Jurassic World where the canon doesn't feel like it 100% lines up) the movie assumes you know the first one exists but may not have seen it since you watched it on VHS. The comedic moments mostly land which makes the movie worth a watch but it feels kind of like Twisters where it will be mostly forgotten in a few months.

★★★★