We are halfway through September, and the spooky times are almost upon us. One of the most anticipated films for the Halloween season has dropped in the form of a familiar haunt named Beetlejuice.

The sequel to the popular original has been almost thirty years coming. Tim Burton returns to take us on a journey through the spirit world for the recently deceased. I understand it took forever because Burton, Michael Keaton, and Winona Ryder waited for the perfect script to return.

It wasn’t perfect, but it can still be a fun ride to see in theaters.

The discussion will have a few spoilers, so proceed at your own risk.

The main drive of the movie is how Lydia, Delia, and Lydia’s daughter Astrid deal with the death of Charles Deitz. Delia has opened an art gallery, and Lydia hosts a streaming show about communicating with ghosts. One of the plotlines is Lydia could see the dead since her experiences in the first movie. She sees Beetlejuice a few times in the opening scenes leaving her freaking out.

This is where Lydia makes reference to how she suffers from PTSD from her first encounter with Beetlejuice, and it has clouded her relationship with her daughter. This was a point quickly dropped and never brought up again. I felt this was a missed opportunity for the film to have more heart.

In the afterlife, Beetlejuice’s ex-wife is resurrected and searches him out for revenge. Monica Bellucci was great in the role but not needed. This plot didn’t add anything to the overarching story, and if it were deleted, nobody would’ve noticed where the story would’ve played out in the film.

The main action concerns Astrid falling for a ghost. He tricks her into signing over her soul to take his place in the afterlife. Once the switch is made and his passport stamped, he can return to the land of the living. This leads to a chase through the halls of Death, and Lydia makes a deal with Beetlejuice to save her daughter. A chase ensues, the sandworms are brought in, and the wedding becomes a mess of a climax.

I’m not going to get deep into the rest of the movie, as the scenes with Lydia and Astrid being reunited with their husband/father are pretty much only there to give the family closure and advance the plot to the finale. The finale is also where Lydia’s beau and Beetlejuice’s ex are swept from the movie for no reason. They didn’t even need to be in the finale for it to wrap up properly.

The best laughs were from Bob and the rest of the shrunken head crew Beetlejuice employs at his extermination business. I may have laughed a few times during the rest of the movie, but it lacked the same heart and humor as the original film. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoyed it and was glad I saw it on the big screen.

Overall, I would give Beetlejuice Beetlejuice 3 out of 5 tombstones.

Thanks for stopping in, and I’ll see you all real soon,

Brent