Run Time: 1hr 44min

I’ll be honest I watched the original Beetlejuice all the way through for the first time this year. It’s one of the classics I hadn’t quite caught up on and I enjoyed it! I really loved the over the top campy scares and jokes. It definitely didn’t age the best in some parts (especially the sexual innuendos/harassment, and child marriage), but I can really see how it gained a cult following. Now onto the sequel. I really have to wonder, why now? The remake or reboot trend was tired 6 years ago. I was also curious how they would handle Jeffrey Jones’ character after everything that happened. The way they went about it was a bit strange but funny and creative. I will say there was just a bit too much happening, it was an incredibly convoluted plot. I’m not entirely sure why Danny DeVito was there for 5 minutes, and if you cut out Willem Dafoe’s entire storyline absolutely nothing would change. Of course Jenna Ortega fit right in. I have to give her acting props, she could’ve given us another Wednesday performance but she actually made this character her own thing. I highly recommend her recent movie the Fallout if you want to be emotionally destroyed. Michael Keaton was also clearly thrilled to be back as the titular character, honestly I haven’t seen Keaton phone it in once(Might I also recommend Birdman). Katherine O’Hara was hilarious as usual, I liked that her character had clearly grown to love Lydia in her own way. Another thing is I’ve always hated when movies and TV incorporate smart phones. It already ages poorly by the time it’s even released. There were a few times Beetlejuice uses phones to haunt people and it was honestly a little cheap and cheesy but not in a fun way. Lastly, I wish there had been more claymation involved like the first one, they did keep some of the same cheesy costuming and practical effects, but some of the CGI was pretty obvious. Overall I had a pretty good time watching, but I wouldn’t clamor to the theater to see it. I think if they had stuck to one plot line it would stuck the landing more and it wouldn’t have felt so overly convoluted. 6.5/10