It seems as if Jenna Ortega wears her Disney channel origins on her sleeve as her and Winona Ryder stumble through an already clunky script, that their co-stars don’t seem to have nearly as much trouble with. I’m not accusing either woman of being a bad actress, but I am suggesting that they were near entirely unbelievable in their roles.
Ryder reprises her role as Lydia Deetz, and Ortega plays her (goth enough to be annoying, but not goth enough to be interesting) daughter Astrid. I may just not be a fan of Ortega’s acting, but she carries in her same cerebral and just-emotionally-constipated-enough quality that prevents me from finding her characters as anything other than obnoxious. Heightened by Astrid’s tendency share shallow and semi-classist takes about her classmate’s lack of attraction to ‘high art’ by humble bragging about reading Crime & Punishment twice, and not by making any comments about banging tennis coaches, much to the trailer’s dismay.
Characters react as if they are… not human. A character says Betelgeuse 3 times directly in front of Lydia’s face (unearthing, and forcing her to relive quite possibly the most traumatic moments of her life) and she barely reacts at all. Ghost-atheist Astrid encounters a ghost for the first time in a shocking reveal, and she’s taken aback, yes, but hardly even surprised. This thread continues throughout the film where characters have very unbothered reactions to things that should be much more concerning. And it doesn’t necessarily read as an intentional tonal or comedic choice.
Michael Keaton mumbles through comedic beats, some funnier than others, some that I missed entirely because I couldn’t hear them. Pedophile Jeffery Jones is killed off in a way that feels very funny if you know the reason why. Monica Bellucci staples herself together and turns a white dress black due to the sheer power of her edginess. She eats souls and makes them look tasty! Catherine O'Hara puts on a hilarious performance that uncannily reminds me of my school’s theater director.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice flexes its own nostalgia factor. It parades around an ensemble of shrunken heads because it knows you find them unequivocally cute (or I do, and mine is the only opinion that matters). It hands you a few obvious “clap now!” moments. Lydia I mean Astrid hates her mother as much as, if not more than Lydia hated her dad. And they for whatever reason (I couldn’t possibly imagine why) couldn’t think of an original personality for Lydia’s child to develop. Off topic, but Astrid resents her mother and idealizes her father in the same way that Jesse Eisenberg resents his mother and idealizes his father in The Squid & The Whale, but in a far less subtle and/or clever way.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is able to bask in its own style, and in the moments where it leans into that, the film can be gorgeous and a lot of fun, but in the moments where it can’t do that, it kind of shits the bed. Its visual identity in the overworld and in the quieter moments, is nearly non-existent. Perhaps there’s something there, but if there is it’s so subtle that it reads as non-existent juxtaposed to the vibrant underworld.
I have no issue with the new time period, and I actually found that element of the film quite well done and quite enjoyable. Its playoff of modern tropes probably made for some of the best jokes in the film.
But beyond a few jokes, and the positive elements of the production design the film has a weak plot, that feels a touch careless.
I sincerely hope that now that the film has come out they can STOP playing the GODDAMN CARMAX advertisements before every SINGLE film please if I have to watch it one more time I don’t know what I’ll do.
6/10
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