by David Slifer

In the words of Beetlejuice, “It is showtime.” “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” stars Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder and Jenna Ortega, and is directed by Tim Burton. The film is a sequel to the original 1988 film. It has been 36 years since we have seen the “Ghost with the Most,” and it is a pleasure to see him and the Deetz family return to the big screen. There was an attempt in 1990 for a sequel, and it would have been called “Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian.” Although they had a script, that film did not get very far in the production process.  

The beginning of “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” has a nostalgic opening as it is in the same format as the one from the first installment. It starts with the opening drone shot tour of Winter River Connecticut with the classic Danny Elfman score playing over it. It is a great way to bring us back into this world since we have not seen it in a few decades. After Ryder is reintroduced to us the film is off.  

Something that might catch the eyes of many fans are the callbacks to the 1988 installment, including things such as the “Day-O” scene, the popular quotes and the amazingly unique scenery. Burton’s style is very well shown in this film, so you know exactly what you are going into when watching this film. 

Ryder is phenomenal coming back to playing the character of Lydia Deetz. Her character has changed a lot since we last saw her and those changes are great to see. Ryder perfectly continues to show who Lydia Deetz is while also showing how she has changed. 

Ortega was a great addition to this franchise as she perfectly shows what we think the child of Lydia Deetz would be like. Ortega did a fantastic job at moving the story with how her character of Astrid deals with the emotions and events occurring in her life and in the film. Her chemistry with Ryder is great, and you feel the bond they have watching this film. 

Lastly, Keaton’s return to this popular character was amazing. For those who do not know, the character of Beetlejuice was not in most of his own film. He was only onscreen for about 17 minutes. What this shows though is that Keaton left a huge impact with his performance because of how long the character has had popularity. He is definitely given more time to shine, and he steals every scene he is in.  

This film was a great way to continue the Beetlejuice universe and learn more about Lydia Deetz and her family. The story was well written and perfectly showed the connections of family and the lengths people will go for each other, while also having a great twist of comedy sprinkled in there.