It's very rare these days that people have to wait a long time for a sequel especially when it comes to Hollywood. Yet that's exactly the case with the film that i'm going to be talking to you all about today as audiences have had to wait since the eighties to see the ghost with the most return in live action form as while yes there was the animated series to tide people very that show ended in the nineties and since then there was nothing and so then join me as I review the film that with recent events in mind now has a slightly sadder ending with the film in question being called simply just "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" enjoy.
The plot of this film is after the death of her father Charles Lydia who now hosts a paranormal TV show goes back to Winter River with her mother and her teenage daughter Astrid but when Astrid meets a boy and goes to the underworld Lydia has to team up with the one person she's been trying hard to forget Beetlejuice. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. This films plot is to be quite frankly just as much if not more fun then the plot of the film was with it feeling like that the writers of Alfred Gough and Miles Millar really were fans of the first film as they do go out of there way to craft a plot that does feel the next natural step for these films to go and while there are some plot choices that don't make sense like why is Lydia the host of a TV show when her whole thing was taking pictures and why aren't the Maitlands in the film as they are bound to that house for hundreds of years. The films plot is one that does still work despite these small short comings as it does feel like a plot that is true to the spirit of the first film as you can tell right from the very start of the film that the makers of this film still do know how to make a Beetlejuice movie as this films plot does feel right at home when sitting next to the plot of the first movie and while yes this film would have been better if certain plot elements were given more time and more scenes for a film that nobody really expected to work it's plot does work really well with the plot of this film also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Starring in this film is Michael Keaton as Beetlejuice , Winona Ryder as Lydia Deetz and the late Catherine O'Hara as Delia Deetz. Also starring in this film is Jenna Ortega as Astrid Deetz , Justin Theroux as Rory , Willem Dafoe as Wolf Jackson , Arthur Conti as Jeremy Frazier , Burn Gorman as Father Damien , Santiago Cabrera as Richard , Nick Kellington as Bob , Amy Nuttall as Jane Butterfield Jr. , Paul Warren as Tom , Mark Heenehan as Charles Deetz , Charlie Hopkinson as the voice of Charles Deetz , Danny DeVito as a Janitor and Monica Bellucci as Delores LaFerve.
Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. The fact that we manage to have good acting in this film is something that isn't all that surprising given the fact that all of this films main actors are a bunch of really good actors whom we all know can turn in a good performance and while yes there are some actors in this film that don't get as much of a chance to shine as others like for example Delores they all do get a good chance to show us just what it is that they can from an acting point of view. With the best actor in this film being quite easily Michael Keaton as Beetlejuice as even tho he hasn't played the character since the first film he so easily slips back into that character that it's actually quite terrifying with doing such a good job as this character that you actually want to see more scenes with him in the film and while the film does hold back quite alot on showing him this is something that does make Michael's acting in the film alot more better as now he has to bring his A game every single time that he's own screen and my god does he do exactly that. With it feeling like that he just got through making the first film a year or two before filming this one as that's just how good he is as this character. With the acting that's in this very film really bein helped but the fact that this films script is just so good that all this films actors have to do is just say the lines as they are written and a good performance will come out of them naturally which is something that really does help to raise the overall quality of the acting that's in this very film.
Doing the CGI for this film is the legends and the greats that are currently over at Framestore , One Of Us , BUF , Red Visual Effects and Goldcrest. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual CGI that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual CGI that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. While the film does use alot of CGI it does also make more use of practical effects with the film really only using CGI in scenes where they have to use it with this being something that does give the film more of a handmade look as it does make it look like that we the audience could make any of the films effects at home ourselfs. Yet when the film does use CGI like for example the death f Charles it is something that does feel right as home with the first film as it has that handmade look to it where it looks stop motion and yet it quite clearly isn't with this being something that does work well enough for this film as this film does prove that not everything needs to be CGI due to the fact that the film does make use good practical elements like for example alot of the sets are real and while yes the film does make use of CGI it's only used in scenes where it would be impossible to do it for real like for example the scene where all of the influencers get sucked into there phones there would be no way to do a scene like that for real and therefor it is something that would need to be done in CGI with the films computer effects blending in really well with it's practical effects not to the point where your questioning which is real and which is practical but rather it's to the point where you can see that they are well blended.
It is safe to say that there is one character in this film that is woefully underused in this film that being the character of Delores. As this character had all of the potential to be this really fun and funny character and yet the film barely has her in any scenes with her only showing up every so often and when she does show up the character barely talks which makes you wonder why they got someone like Monica Bellucci to play her as you could have cast any actor in that role and not have to change a thing about the character infact out of the whole film the character only has just over a line of dialog total as that's how little impact that this character has on this films plot. With it being made clear pretty much right away that she is meant to be the underworlds version of Rory as both he and Delores share very similar characters traits as they both want to stop the wedding between Beetlejuice and Lydia and they are both selfish people and while Monica does look really good as the character there was no need for her to be the one to play the character when you could have had any actor play this role. With the only thing that makes the character be somewhat interesting being the fact that she and Beetlejuice got married hundreds of years ago during the black plague and even then the film does nothing with that idea due to the fact that it keeps both of the character separated for alot of its running time which fair enough they do provide an in story reasoning for that but they still should have given this character some more time to show us just what she's really like as she does come across as being one character to many for this film and therefor she does end up getting the short end of the stick this is despite the fact out of all the small time villains in this film she is the better one.
As alot of you will no doubt remember earlier this year we di loose the great Catherine O'Hara which is a really sad thing in it's own right. Yet her passing now makes the ending of this film be even more sadder then what it already is as in this film we do see her character die on screen with her going to the afterlife with her beloved Charles at the end of the film this is a sad scene in it's own right as it is something that the film didn't really build towards until maybe the final fifteen minuets of the film and yet now not only does serve as way for us the audience to say goodbye to this really funny character but it also serves as a way for us the audience to say goodbye to this painfully funny actor on top of that while this is something that of course would have been the furthest from the minds of the makers of this film it is also something that is an oddly fitting end to her as both a character in Delia and as an actor as she gets to be both funny heartwarming in the same scene. This was something that the makers of the film didn't have to do as just having the character be funny would have been more then enough and it would have been true to her character from both this film and the first film as well but the fact that they took the time to let her and Lydia have a small moment together before she does board the wonderfully punny Soul Train is something that does make Delia seem more then just a one dimensional character as we get to see how much she has grown inbetween films and the fact that she does care for Lydia with her last great act being to hire Beetlejuice herself to help her find Lydia as deep down she knows that she's died but isn't willing to admit it just yet with it only being once Lydia is safe and once she thinks that she is on her own does she fully admit to the undead Charles that she's died.
Where the film does both somewhat sine and somewhat faulter is with the plot between Lydia and Astrid as they both o have to learn to get along and trust each other after possibly years of growing tension between the pair of them. This something that does feel like its one plot to many as all of the characters in the film have a plot and they really don't need to and while the Lydia and Astrid plot is tied to the main plot in a major way as without them having there friction that Astrid wouldn't have run of and met Jeremy and been seduced by him yet at the same time it is something that could have been handled alot more better due to the fact that there plot arc together does seem forced and unneeded in the grand scheme of things. Yet at the same time it does shine really well due to the fact that there aren't that many good Tim Burton films that tackle the idea of a mother trying and failing to connect with her daughter and therefor seeing it done and done fairly well in this film is something that does make this film stand out for it but in saying this tho this plot arc is one that really could have been done alot more better due to not only the fact that there are so many plot lines in this film that is hard to keep track of them all but also due to how closely ted into the main plot of the film that it is and therefore there should have been alot more thought and effort put into making it not only as believable as you can do with a Beetlejuice film but also make it as fun and as weird as you should be able to do as this is a Beetlejuice film and yet the makers of this film don't really do all that much with it which is something that does make it feel like it was only added to the film just to give Jenna Ortega something to do in the film.
Now then this film has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly one hour and forty five minuets and three seconds. Which is also pretty much the same running time as the first film as well and yet you hardly feel it as the film does move really quickly with none of the films scenes lasting either two long or two quickly and while yes there are certain advantages that the film could have had if it was a few minuets longer if this film was even ten minuets longer all of the issues that people have the film would now be magnified to the extreme due to the fact that people are now forced to focus on them alot more then what they already are with this film having the right amount of plot to cover that amount of running time in the first place. Yet even with the fact that the film doesn't feel as along as it is alot of the time the film still doesn't use it's running time all that wisely as while the films plot is as well developed as it was ever going to be the film spends alot more time in setting up and devoting time to all of the characters other plots all of which don't add all that much to the main bulk of the film and all of which do eat up screen time that would have been better spent on giving it's main plot alot more plot development as while the films plot is about as well developed as it was ever going to get that is only due to the fact that it's fighting for screen time with all of the other several dozen or so plots that are also competing for screen time in this film. This is something that does also effect the films character development as now none of the films characters can get the character development that they really needed which is fine for characters like Delia , Lydia and Beetlejuice as then you could argue that they got there character development in the first film and therefor they don't need it in this one but all of the films new characters get nothing interms of character development with the only one that we really know something about is Astrid and that's it and that's not enough to make her a memorable character in this film but I really will admit that this film really does have some really good pacing to it tho.
So now then as this is a comedy that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. While yes granted alot of this films jokes aren't going to be as funny as the ones in the first movie due to the fact that the first movie despite it having a PG rating did manage to tell alot of adult jokes all of which not only worked back then but still work to this very day while this film on the other hand despite it not having as many adult jokes in the film is still painfully funny with alot of what made the jokes in this film be as funny as they are is the performances from all of the actors in this film as they all do give us these wonderfully funny performances that help to make the jokes even more funnier then what they already are. With the best joke in the whole entire film being the wedding scene near the end of the film as we get to see Beetlejuice force not only himself but also Lydia , Rory , Astrid and Delia sing the song "MacArthur Park" by the singer Richard Harris with alot of what they are saying being tied to what's happening on screen and while yes the whole number is very much a rip off of the Day-O scene from the first film it still a really funny scene in this film with all of the films actors really committing to it with that being something that does help to tip it over the edge and be this painfully scene with the only thing that would have made it even more funnier being if they they somehow got Willem Dafoe's character to sing apart of the song as well with the rest of the films jokes being just as painfully funny as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Overall this is film is just as funny as the first one and while the first film does have the added advantage of being out longer and therefor people would have a chance to love it for the type of film that it is there is still alot of really good things to be found in this film as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well aa all of the bad things that are in his very film in this very review and as such tat really does mean that this very film really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 7.5 out of 10 from me.
Now then ass for where I personally got all of the images hat I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very revie from Tenor , Blogger , IMP Awards . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get images from this film being Google Images simply because Google Images actually has images from this film really are up and on Google Images and plus pretty much much all of the images that I personally found on Google Images were all really very fairly high quality and as well as being as really very fairly high definition as well and so then horror fans we end this review as we always do with really our one and true goddess Elvira wishing us all some really very unpleasant dreams.
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