Spooky season is right around the corner and the new BeetleJuice movie just came out on September 6th (BeetleJuice BeetleJuice), starring Winona Ryder, Jenna Ortega, and Micheal Keaton. Ryder and Keaton were in the original movie and were able to be a part of the sequel with the addition of Ortega playing Lydia’s (Ryder) daughter, Astrid.

The ratings of BeetleJuice BeetleJuice are a wide range of excitement and disappointment.  Personally, I would rate the movie a solid 3. Although I did enjoy the movie, I felt very confused at times. The movie felt really long but at the same time very rushed. When I go watch a movie, I prefer to feel in the moment. I want to be invested in the story. Unfortunately, while watching this movie, I was bored and tired. I didn’t feel any excitement through most of the movie and I kept checking my phone to see when it would be over. Junior Jackson Armona, said, “I’d probably give like a 3.5.” he expanded to say, “I liked most of the storyline, but I wish they could’ve kept it a little smaller. It felt a little rushed, especially towards the end because they tried to tie up every loose end but there were like five different plot lines, and it got pretty confusing.” Armona had watched the original one and was excited to see what the new movie had to bring to the table although, from the sounds of it, the movie didn’t quite live up to his expectations.

Many things that were good in theory, fell short in execution. Like, expanding the number of characters with the new fiancé and BeetleJuice’s ex-wife. I felt they didn’t have big enough rolls for how complex of characters they were. BeetleJuice’s ex-wife was supposedly a terrifying character who had the ability to suck the lives out of people. Watching this, I expected her to have a huge part in the movie but in the end, she was killed in the flick of a switch. As Armona points out, there were lots of loose ends that had to be quickly patched up and it made the movie feel very rushed. He said, “I really liked the ideas they had with the stuff they brought from the first movies. For example, Delilah, Lydia, and BeetleJuice. But I didn’t like some of the new stuff they brought in, specifically the stuff about BeetleJuice’s ex-wife and the random new boyfriend. It all felt like too much happening at one time.” Armona really stresses the fact that they brought too much action into the movie to clean up in time. 

Aside from some of the negatives in the movie, I liked it. The actors were talented, and it was fun to see familiar faces on screen. The costumes really brought characters to life and the emotion behind each scene was outstanding. Armona also seemed to enjoy the show. He expressed this saying, “I liked that they kept the same kind of ‘style’ from the first movie. I know it’s pretty easy because Tim Burton pretty much keeps the same style in every movie, but they still kept the same kind of vibe to everything like, when it came to like the music, costuming, and the use of miniatures and stuff in the shots.” Armona exclaimed his gratitude towards the movie following the same type of style. I feel that although Tim Burton has the same style throughout the movies, he changed it up a decent amount and modernized his style for this newer movie. He goes on to say, “I also like that they kept most of the actors in the first movie, and they all had the same personality from the first movie and none of them seemed off or did things out of character or anything.” From the sounds of it, this movie was enjoyed by many watchers as well as disappointing some original fans. Bits and pieces of the movie are very similar to the original film, but many parts had loose ends and did not exactly follow the storyline the way fans hoped it would.

Even though BeetleJuice was a bit of a disappointment for me, they hit a lot of good marks as well. Beetlejuice is known for its ‘spooky’ and ‘goofy’ feel, and according to his interview, it seems the movie has checked that off the list! Tim Burton’s movies and shows all have a very similar type of style but he definitely didn’t disappoint with the vibe of his new movie. If you are planning on watching BeetleJuice BeetleJuice, you will find the originality you expect to see but might not get the storyline you want.