Beetlejuice Beetlejuice: A Sequel Overstuffed with Storylines (Blu-ray)

The Film:

Back in 1988, Tim Burton unleashed one of his most popular classics, "Beetlejuice," a delightful blend of comedy & horror that told the tale of a recently-deceased couple who enlist the titular "bio-exorcist" to help get rid of some unwanted guests in their house. With its incredible cast (Michael Keaton, Geena Davis, Alec Baldwin, Catherine O'Hara, Winona Ryder, etc.), remarkable visuals, and amusing narrative, it's one of those beloved films that people still fondly talk about this to this day. Naturally, the idea of a sequel had been kicked around ever since, with many ideas & scripts being considered in the interim, but apparently the right one didn't come around until just the last few years, leading us to the long-awaited follow-up "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice." After 36 years of development hell, could it possibly live up to the legacy of the original?

As the film opens, we find that Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder) is now the host of a supernatural talk show ("Ghost House") and has a strained relationship with her daughter Astrid (Jenna Ortega) after the death of her husband/Astrid's father. Delia (Catherine O'Hara), Lydia's stepmother, informs her that her father died in a terrible accident, which causes them to get everyone together at the house for the wake, including Lydia's boyfriend Rory (Justin Theroux), where he proposes and a reluctant Lydia agrees to marry on Halloween. Also in attendance is Astrid, who wanders off into town and meets a local boy named Jeremy (Arthur Conti), striking up a relationship that has them hanging out together on Halloween.

Meanwhile, in the afterlife, Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton) is in charge of a group of bio-exorcists, and is still obsessed with Lydia all these years later, even going so far as to appear to her in visions recently. Wolf Jackson (Willem Dafoe), a former actor who is now an afterlife detective, warns Beetlejuice that his ex-wife, Dolores (Monica Bellucci), has been resurrected and is sucking souls out of the dead while searching for him. When Astrid's newfound friendship with Jeremy takes an odd turn, Lydia sees no other option but to call on the ghoul for help, leading to what Beetlejuice sees as a potential opportunity to save himself.

Going back to the original "Beetlejuice" for a brief minute, one of the reasons I had mentioned for its classic status was its amusing narrative that had a pair of new ghosts navigating the afterlife and trying to get a family out of their house with the help of a rather eccentric bio-exorcist. It focused some on the new occupants, the Deetz family, as well, but for the most part it was a solid storyline that never strayed too far from its main focus, giving it a feeling of being well-centered as all of the weirdness of both worlds played out.

When it comes to "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice," it would appear that writers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar couldn't think of one good, solid storyline to tell, so instead they decided to come up with about half a dozen mediocre, half-baked ones instead. To put it simply, this long-awaited sequel is all over the place with its various plotlines, giving it the distinct feeling of being very scattershot and unfocused as it jumps from character to character, some of which end up having very little to do. You could even say that Beetlejuice sadly becomes a side character in his own movie for all the time he's given.

It's understandable that, with a large cast of characters, the writers would be tempted to try and give everyone their own storyline, but this isn't "Game of Thrones." There simply isn't enough time in a 100-minute film to give everyone decent plot & character development, which leads to some characters hardly being there at all (Monica Bellucci's Dolores), some being there for practically no reason (Willem Dafoe's Wolf Jackson), and other storylines literally being wrapped up with the simple flip of a switch, as though it wasn't important enough to give any further attention to.

Overall, while it was great to see a lot of the cast return all these years later, it's disappointing to have to say that the film is kind of a mess in that they tried to cram way too much into it. They really needed to take a page from the first film and come up with, at most, one or two storylines to give it much-needed focus, as well as the time needed to properly develop them. As it is, it's basically a hectic hodgepodge that had the writers throwing ideas at a wall and seeing what stuck, eventually putting everything in a blender and hoping for the best. Unfortunately for them (and us), it's a mixture that just didn't work out.

Video/Audio:

"Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" comes to Blu-ray in a 1.85:1, 1080p High Definition transfer of outstanding quality. The film is beautifully vibrant & sharp throughout, highlighting its multitude of zany designs. Likewise, the Dolby Atmos-TrueHD audio is fantastic, giving you all of the dialogue, sound effects, and Danny Elfman's score in excellent quality. Overall, Warner Bros. has done a wonderful job in both areas for this long-awaited sequel's physical home debut.

Special Features:

Commentary by Director Tim Burton

The Juice is Loose: The Making of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (28 Minutes)

The Ghost with the Most: Beetlejuice Returns! (9 Minutes)

Meet the Deetz (7 Minutes)

Shrinkers, Shrinkers Everywhere! (6 Minutes)

An Animated Afterlife: The Stop-Motion Art of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (9 Minutes)

The Handbook for the Recently Deceased (12 Minutes)

'Til Death Do We Park: Beetlejuice and Lydia's First Dance (8 Minutes)

The film comes with a great selection of extras that includes an informative commentary from the director himself and around 80 minutes of behind the scenes featurettes that feature a ton of interviews with the cast & crew. Definitely more than enough here for anyone looking to learn more about the film, with the "Making of" being a particular highlight.

Conclusion:

Tim Burton's "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" may feature much of the same great cast as the original film, as well as some great new additions, but unfortunately it stumbles greatly when it comes to the screenplay, which tries to cram far too many storylines into one relatively short film, ultimately turning it into a disappointingly hectic hodgepodge that lacks the necessary focus & development to make it an engaging experience.

Score: 2.5/5

Available on Blu-ray starting tomorrow.

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