When the Beetlejuice Beetlejuice trailer was introduced to screens, I was looking forward to watching the movie since the original Beetlejuice was well delivered. With the first movie, I quickly fell in love with all the characters, and yes, that includes Beetlejuice himself.
In light of that, the cast for Beetlejuice Two was impressive. The movie featured most of the original cast, including Michael Keaton as Beetlejuice, Winona Ryder as Lydia Deetz, and Catherine O’Hara as Delia Deetz. Jenna Ortega also played a role in the movie and happens to be my favorite actress.
Seemingly, this movie contains all the ingredients for a good sequel and its arrival was exciting. However, after waiting two weeks since the release date to watch the movie, I found myself disappointed.
The beginning of the movie begged the anticipation of something great to come; it wasn’t a slow burn but had an engaging hook.
However, as the movie progressed into the storyline it became confusing. The focus on each character continually changed, making it difficult to follow the story. It felt like the characters were on completely different pages and were unrelated.
At one point in the movie, the camera angles switched nearly every second, giving both my friend and I a headache. The way it was filmed felt overstimulating.
The resolution of Beetlejuice Two was somewhat boring- though that was expected because it never had a good flow. It started slow, then went way too fast. The ending didn’t do a good job of summing up the story, and it was hard to tell what happened to the characters who were left in the underworld.
Regardless, the film did an amazing job at carrying the story further into Lydia’s life as a grown adult, battling struggles with family and her past. This aspect of the story made complete sense, though it most definitely could’ve been conveyed better. The movie could’ve paced the story instead of quick and random scenes such as the ending church clip.
Though the movie wasn’t as exciting as expected, the actors did an excellent job. Specifically, Jenna Ortega, an actress who has recently been in many trending movies, also played a lead role.
Jenna Ortega played Astrid Deetz (daughter to Lydia Deetz), and she did an amazing job in appearing as an antisocial teenager, with a deep hatred for her mother. Her character had to go through many challenges, not only with the underworld but also with her family. Ortega performed perfectly by creating a believable, and maybe even relatable, character.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice was overall casted wonderfully but lacked quality scenes capturing the storyline. I give this movie a 3.5/10.
