Beetlejuice 2

[JediMichael]

Seeing what random people are saying on FB. Its ranging from terrible, alright, really liked it, to better than the first.
Soooo, opinions are all over the whole table, and floor, and front lawn.
Going to have to be one everyone just sees for themselves to decide.

 

[knightdriver2001]

Just got back from seeing it. Not as good as the first. It's very slow to start.
Doesn't have the same upbeat magic the first one had.
It's like they really didn't know what they wanted to do with it.
It was a good watch but not something I would ever sit through again.
Keaton did fall right back into the role though which was a plus.

 

[Sundowner]

I just saw it and I really enjoyed it. There was A LOT of different directions in the plot that might have been a bit too busy. But I really liked it and personally think it lived up to the hype. Winona is still a dream

 

[renaissance_man]

Minor Spoilers ahead.







My fiance and I rewatched the first film on Netflix yesterday in anticipation of going to see the new film today.
The sequel is a bit overstuffed and has plot threads that could easily have been trimmed in the edit without having any impact on the overall film.
The entire side plot with Monica Bellucci's character was totally extraneous and irrelevant to the rest of the film.
Willem Defoe's side plot could also have been trimmed out as it also had no bearing on the main plot.

The rest of the film was pretty decent, Winona Ryder's TV show was a logical progression for the character in a modern setting.
The Jena Ortega plot was a good way of having a younger angle in the same way as Ryder's character was for the original.
Catherine O'Hara's character brought them back to the original house.
Keaton brought his A game again.

Overall a C+, it had good parts but it was all just overstuffed with plot threads that didn't need to be there and detracted from the main story.
I wouldn't be in a hurry to watch it again.

 

[blewis17]

Minor Spoilers ahead.







My fiance and I rewatched the first film on Netflix yesterday in anticipation of going to see the new film today.
The sequel is a bit overstuffed and has plot threads that could easily have been trimmed in the edit without having any impact on the overall film.
The entire side plot with Monica Bellucci's character was totally extraneous and irrelevant to the rest of the film.
Willem Defoe's side plot could also have been trimmed out as it also had no bearing on the main plot.

The rest of the film was pretty decent, Winona Ryder's TV show was a logical progression for the character in a modern setting.
The Jena Ortega plot was a good way of having a younger angle in the same way as Ryder's character was for the original.
Catherine O'Hara's character brought them back to the original house.
Keaton brought his A game again.

Overall a C+, it had good parts but it was all just overstuffed with plot threads that didn't need to be there and detracted from the main story.
I wouldn't be in a hurry to watch it again.

Thanks for the honest review.

Even when you bring the original director and cast back together decades later, it's hard to recapture that initial magic.

 

[Moviefreak]

My wife and I just finished watching it, and at the end we turned it off and laid in bed in silence for a while. Eventually, my wife, who’s a huge Beetlejuice fan, broke the silence with a "WTF did we just watch?" I’m feeling numb and didn’t know what to say. We really wanted to like it, but it seemed poorly written and disorganized. I saw three or four people were credited for writing, and it seemed like they took three different versions of the story and just shuffled them together. As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t get into it, especially the climax performance. I’m still processing it and might need to watch it again tomorrow. I’m sure many people liked it, as I’ve read reviews online but I was disappointed. Bummer!

 

[Kylash]

Really fun, got a few good laughs out of me. Had maybe 1 or 2 too many sub plots that I forgot about halfway through the film. Musical number near the end went way too long. But I really enjoyed it overall

 

[renaissance_man]

I know it's a kooky fantasy world in the after life and you can hand wave a lot of things with that . But how and why are there multiple versions of Bob? We saw him as a very minor side character in the waiting room in the original film, yeah sure that makes sense.
But how does Beetlejuice have multiple copies of the same character working for him?
If there had just been Bob and then a host of other underlings with Bob in charge that would have made sense. It just felt like these were a cheap Easter egg reference to the Minions cartoon characters, especially having them in yellow.
Probably just me being a bit cynical, but it didn't make sense, it felt cheap and lacking in originality which is crazy given the variety of ghosts in the queue for the passport control.

 

[renaissance_man]

My wife and I just finished watching it, and at the end we turned it off and laid in bed in silence for a while.

How did you watch it at home?

 

[Moviefreak]

How did you watch it at home?

There are ways. IYKYK

 

[renaissance_man]

There are ways. IYKYK

View attachment 1858687

Gotcha.

 

[CopperRevan]

I am not able to go until maybe some time next week, my friend told me to brace myself and not go in expecting much

As long as Ortega is in it I’m going to be basis lol

Now now ...Jennifer Beals is going to be pretty upset at you for saying that...lol.

Now tacos being my favorite food, it took me a minute to interpret what you meant by "Ortega" but now I get it...the actress. ( forgive me I'm slow) but I will tell you...
When I found out they were doing a sequel I naturally rolled my eyes but I've always liked Michael Keaton. Sooooo...I decided to watch the trailer and I was like..WAIT!!! IS THAT MONICA BELLUCCI? I guess we're from different generations lol.

 

[JiminSTLouis]

It was just OK, not as good as the original. It seemed a little long. I like that they made the production look like a movie from the 1980’s. I don’t know if the sand worms were stop motion models, or CGI made to look that way. I didn’t care much for the Delores character. It seems like the movie plot wouldn’t have been very different if she was left out. Performances by the original actors were good, Jenna Ortega however stole the show. Michael Keaton seemed to have no problem jumping right back into the role. A fun ,if not gross, cameo. I won’t give that one away.

When you go see it, during the opening credits there’s a fly over of the town. I swear I saw the Keaton Batmobile parked on one of the streets.

Off topic: Are movie theaters exceptionally cold lately? Every movie we see we’re freezing. My wife started to bring a throw with her.

 

[greenmachines]

It was just OK, not as good as the original. It seemed a little long. I like that they made the production look like a movie from the 1980’s. I don’t know if the sand worms were stop motion models, or CGI made to look that way. I didn’t care much for the Delores character. It seems like the movie plot wouldn’t have been very different if she was left out. Performances by the original actors were good, Jenna Ortega however stole the show. Michael Keaton seemed to have no problem jumping right back into the role. A fun ,if not gross, cameo. I won’t give that one away.

When you go see it, during the opening credits there’s a fly over of the town. I swear I saw the Keaton Batmobile parked on one of the streets.

Off topic: Are movie theaters exceptionally cold lately? Every movie we see we’re freezing. My wife started to bring a throw with her.

Thanks everyone for the reviews, I am leaning towards finding it in our local listings because it sounds like, at minimum, a good movie for a night out. I loved the first one but was never a fanboy of it so I think our family would be the right audience to enjoy some strange and funny. And, seeing Rider never hurts matters. Depp may have removed her from his tattoo but I am still solidly "Winona Forever".

 

[renaissance_man]

Why are the ghosts so scared of the sandworms? We saw Beetlejuice get eaten by one at the end of the first film and he seemed to come back without any problem.

The boyfriend gets very conveniently dispatched to a fiery hole by Beetlejuice, but is he permanently gone or is it just another sandworm analogue and he can come back?

Then there's the Soul Train. Which seems to be another layer of uncertainty.

There's no established lore or structure in the Beetlejuice afterlife other than when you die you seem to go back to your own home (even though the Maitlands died on the bridge, why didn't they just haunt the bridge) and that just undermines aspects of the film for me.

 

[JiminSTLouis]

Then there's the Soul Train. Which seems to be another layer of uncertainty.

The movie quickly shows the Soul Train destinations. I couldn’t remember them so I had to look it up.

What The Soul Train Is & Where It Takes Ghosts In The Afterlife​

“These locations include the Great Beyond, Pearly Gates, Elysium Fields, and the Fires of Damnation. The Great Beyond is where most ghosts are likely sent, simply the afterlife after the afterlife. The Pearly Gates is likely heaven, as that phrase is often used as an informal term for the gateway to heaven. The Elysium Fields are a term for the afterlife stemming from Greek mythology, a place where heroes would reside after their life was over. Finally, the Fires of Damnation is likely hell, in this case, the opposite of the Pearly Gates and Elysium”.

SOURCE:
LINK: ScreenRant

 

[Moviefreak]

The movie quickly shows the Soul Train destinations. I couldn’t remember them so I had to look it up.

What The Soul Train Is & Where It Takes Ghosts In The Afterlife​

“These locations include the Great Beyond, Pearly Gates, Elysium Fields, and the Fires of Damnation. The Great Beyond is where most ghosts are likely sent, simply the afterlife after the afterlife. The Pearly Gates is likely heaven, as that phrase is often used as an informal term for the gateway to heaven. The Elysium Fields are a term for the afterlife stemming from Greek mythology, a place where heroes would reside after their life was over. Finally, the Fires of Damnation is likely hell, in this case, the opposite of the Pearly Gates and Elysium”.

SOURCE:
LINK: ScreenRant

I always thought of the “waiting room” realm in Beetlejuice, as Purgatory. It is where you wait until it’s your time to move on to Heaven or hell

 

[renaissance_man]

The movie quickly shows the Soul Train destinations. I couldn’t remember them so I had to look it up.

What The Soul Train Is & Where It Takes Ghosts In The Afterlife​

“These locations include the Great Beyond, Pearly Gates, Elysium Fields, and the Fires of Damnation. The Great Beyond is where most ghosts are likely sent, simply the afterlife after the afterlife. The Pearly Gates is likely heaven, as that phrase is often used as an informal term for the gateway to heaven. The Elysium Fields are a term for the afterlife stemming from Greek mythology, a place where heroes would reside after their life was over. Finally, the Fires of Damnation is likely hell, in this case, the opposite of the Pearly Gates and Elysium”.

SOURCE:
LINK: ScreenRant

But you can seemingly just go straight to the soul train as Jena Ortega managed to get there very quickly as did Catherine O'Hara's character, not to mention Winona 's character, it sort of renders the scenes in the waiting room a bit pointless.
It all just seems very messy and not overly thought out.
Areas of the afterlife seem to be whatever the plot at the time needs them to be.
Or I'm just overthinking it all.

I think I like things to have logical structure.
Probably just over analysing it.

 

[Knightmare]

This film never had a chance to be good . Show me a film from the 80s that was that great that can have a sequel now and not be terrible .
Look at Aliens and Predator and they still keep pumping out this complete trash.

 

[renaissance_man]

This film never had a chance to be good . Show me a film from the 80s that was that great that can have a sequel now and not be terrible .
Look at Aliens and Predator and they still keep pumping out this complete trash.

Prey was good.