{"id":29403,"date":"2024-09-05T00:05:29","date_gmt":"2024-09-05T07:05:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=29403"},"modified":"2024-09-05T00:05:29","modified_gmt":"2024-09-05T07:05:29","slug":"beetlejuice-beetlejuice-delivers-fun-supernatural-shenanigans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=29403","title":{"rendered":"BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE Delivers Fun Supernatural Shenanigans"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Running Time: 105 minutes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This film from Warner Bros. opens exclusively at theaters\nand in IMAX on September 6th<\/sup>, 2024.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has been some time since Tim Burton\u2019s original Beetlejuice<\/em>\npremiered. I was young when the 1988 feature arrived in theaters, and while I\nappreciated the title character and the movie\u2019s sense of style, it didn\u2019t make\nas lasting an impression as the director\u2019s other titles. So, there was a bit of\ntrepidation watching a sequel to something that didn\u2019t speak to me strongly the\nfirst time out. Perhaps it\u2019s because I can now better appreciate its unique\ndark humor, but Beetlejuice Beetlejuice<\/em> turned out to be a surprisingly\nfun trip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When word is spread that Deetz family patriarch Charles has passed away, wife Delia (Catherine O\u2019Hara), daughter Lydia (Winona Ryder) and granddaughter Astrid are reunited at the family home to start funeral proceedings. As it turns out, there is plenty of family tension. Delia is still butting heads with her daughter, and using grief over the death of her husband as inspiration for a new art project. Lydia hosts a program on communicating with the dead, much to the chagrin of her moody teenage daughter Astrid (Jenna Ortega), whose father passed away in another tragedy. Tormented by other kids because of her mother\u2019s profession, she believes Lydia is a fraud and is also unimpressed by her parent\u2019s boyfriend\/manager, Rory (Justin Theroux). While all this is going on, underworld bio-exorcist Betelgeuse (Michael Keaton), who still yearns for Lydia, is finding himself being hunted by his soul-sucking ex, Delores (Monica Bellucci).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Truth be told, there are a lot of characters and plotlines\nin this picture. However, it doesn\u2019t seem to hurt the film as much as one would\nexpect. The entire cast is excellent and viewers already have a history with\nmost of the individuals. As such, the very quick reintroductions get everyone\nup to speed effectively and amusingly. The new character Astrid makes a\npositive impression as well. Still troubled over her father\u2019s death and the\nfact that her mother can\u2019t or won\u2019t contact him in the beyond, her cross\ndemeanor is relatable and well-established in a short period of time. It\u2019s also\nfun to see her mood start to brighten after meeting unassuming local Jeremy\n(Arthur Conti).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, the title character is also a standout. Keaton\nhasn\u2019t lost a step with the Betelgeuse character, and with the help of\neffective prosthetic make-up looks no different than he did 36 years ago. The\nquips and comments are as rapid-fire as ever and he gets in just as many, if\nnot more, laughs this time out. There is a funny subplot involving his use of\nBob, one of his team of his shrunken-headed office workers, to take the fall if\nDelores finds him. The couple\u2019s backstory is also relayed in a great scene that\nharkens back to old Mario Bava horror films from Italy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

All of the supporting cast are given an amusing moment or\ntwo and the humor on display is still remarkably quirky and delivers big\nlaughs. This film\u2019s use of music in the picture is a highlight, including the\nfun crooning of an 80s pop song, a literal \u201cSoul Train,\u201d being used as a\ntransport device, and a hilarious finale that effectively ties all of the story\nthreads together to an appropriately over-the-top 1970s hit. It\u2019s a memorable\nscene that will be ingrained in this reviewer\u2019s brain for some time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And between all the gruesome gags, there is an affecting\nfamily dynamic on display. The first movie focused on a recently deceased\ncouple dealing with the afterlife. While it isn\u2019t the deepest of presentations,\nthemes of mortality, grief, loss and closure are what is being addressed in the\nthree Deetz plotlines. While the film is forced to deal with certain aspects in\nheart-to-heart conversations between characters, there is always a visual\ncontrast involving something surreal or disturbing occuring on at the same\ntime. So, it feels sweet, but never overly sentimental.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The visuals are also incredible, with nice callbacks to the\noriginal film and a couple of eerie new visions within the supernatural world. It\u2019s\na big screen picture full of striking imagery. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a Hollywood studio film, but director Burton has managed to keep the feel of the original and add a new quirk or two to the proceedings. It\u2019s an enjoyably eccentric effort that revels in its own strangeness. While a few references may go over the heads of some moviegoers, it managed to put a big smile on the face of this viewer. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice<\/em> is a solid sequel that delivers supernatural shenanigans in spades.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Running Time: 105 minutes This film from Warner Bros. opens exclusively at theaters and in IMAX on September 6th, 2024. It has been some time since Tim Burton\u2019s original Beetlejuice premiered. I was young when the 1988 feature arrived in theaters, and while I appreciated the title character and the movie\u2019s sense of style, it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":29404,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[215,2447,2448,2449,2450,2451,2452,4009,4660,7314,9319,10560,11402,13800,14172,18035,19380,22888,24361],"class_list":["post-29403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-215","tag-beetlejuice","tag-beetlejuice-2","tag-beetlejuice-beetlejuice","tag-beetlejuice-beetlejuice-film-review","tag-beetlejuice-beetlejuice-movie-review","tag-beetlejuice-beetlejuioce-review","tag-catherine-ohara-2","tag-comedy","tag-fantasy","tag-horror","tag-jenna-ortega","tag-justin-theroux","tag-michael-keaton","tag-monica-bellucci","tag-sequel","tag-supernatural","tag-tim-buron","tag-winona-ryder"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29403"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29403\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}