Support NeoGAF

[DetectiveBananas]

Watched both in the last 2 days and the original is still the superior film. Liked the new one (7/10). Just felt off for periods of time. Keaton and O’Hare were on point and the “demon baby” was good for a laugh. Will buy it on Blu Ray when it comes out but it won’t blow your mind.

 

[Matsuchezz]

The movie was boring and all over the place. Good actors. But I was struggling staying awake.

 

[SpiceRacz]

One of the worst Burton films and just worst films in general I’ve seen in a while. They could have removed several of the story threads and made a more cohesive film. Felt like he put together the cast before writing the story and just wrote it around the cast rather than the other way around. Great SFX though.

 

[EviLore]

Just saw it. So many undercooked, pointless plot threads that resolve with a whimper. Not enough Keaton. A few fun bits but overall, thumbs down.

 

[ResilientBanana]

I saw it the other day, while Keaton was great, he didn’t have that energetic spunk as the original. Winona’ performance was also lack luster. Everyone else was great.

I really liked seeing more of the underworld. Great for Halloween. Overall like other La may have stated, 7/10. Liked it a lot but overall the main villain fell flat to the point you didn’t need her. The whole thing should have spent more time trying to find and save her daughter. I feel like that could have been a better adventure.

 

[Ovek]

I agree with RLM that it feels like multiple Beetlejuice 2 scripts merged into one and nothing really has any satisfying payoff as a result.

However if your a fan of Tim Burtons earlier work you will like this.

 

[demon]

Who was even the primary antagonist in this movie? Like what the hell were they doing? I enjoyed it more than any other Burton movie from the past couple+ decades, but that ain't saying much. Almost kinda feels like it could have been a miniseries, with Monica Bellucci being one episode, treehouse kid being another, the dead dad being another, maybe an offbeat more dramatic episode about poor Bob, etc. The plot was such a mess.

 

[Clear]

Weird comparison; Young Frankenstein was basically Mel Brooks' victory lap after the success of Blazing Saddles. Its more than just a comedy, its an exceptionally loving homage to Universal's classics. His devotion to fidelity stretching to getting Kenneth Strickfaden out of retirement to ensure that the lab was authentic to the 30's original.

Beetlejuice was a fun movie, no idea about this new one but its hardly comparable in intent.

 

[Deerock71]

Weird comparison; Young Frankenstein was basically Mel Brooks' victory lap after the success of Blazing Saddles. Its more than just a comedy, its an exceptionally loving homage to Universal's classics. His devotion to fidelity stretching to getting Kenneth Strickfaden out of retirement to ensure that the lab was authentic to the 30's original.

Beetlejuice was a fun movie, no idea about this new one but its hardly comparable in intent.

You're actually hitting on why I feel like this is his Young Frankenstein. This movie is authentic to the original Beetlejuice (just saw it a second time), and he has an unlimited budget for this movie (like how Brooks had an enormous budget for Young Frankenstein), yet he is restrained enough to make you think this movie came out in 88 like the original. Were it not for the obvious slapstick comedy, Young Frankenstein maintains an aura of being filmed right alongside the original horror classic.

Objectively, I believe Brooks to be a superior filmmaker over Burton, but I'm certain some would take umbrage to that. After seeing it a second time, I feel bad for those that can't keep up with the four or five storylines this movie juggles. They are handled with a deft touch, and literally every one of those stories get resolved as neatly as a movie that treats life and death as a mere serving suggestion can resolve them.

 

[Clear]

You're actually hitting on why I feel like this is his Young Frankenstein. This movie is authentic to the original Beetlejuice (just saw it a second time), and he has an unlimited budget for this movie (like how Brooks had an enormous budget for Young Frankenstein), yet he is restrained enough to make you think this movie came out in 88 like the original. Were it not for the obvious slapstick comedy, Young Frankenstein maintains an aura of being filmed right alongside the original horror classic.

Objectively, I believe Brooks to be a superior filmmaker over Burton, but I'm certain some would take umbrage to that. After seeing it a second time, I feel bad for those that can't keep up with the four or five storylines this movie juggles. They are handled with a deft touch, and literally every one of those stories get resolved as neatly as a movie that treats life and death as a mere serving suggestion can resolve them.

When I wrote that post last night I was thinking the Young Frankenstein comparison was inappropriate as much as anything because of the 40+ year gap between the film being made and its inspiration. This morning I realized that Beetlejuice came out in '88, 36 years ago....

Christ, I'm old!

 

[Halcyon]

I thought the movie was legitimately terrible. None of it worked for me. It is like a 3/10 for me and another in the list of unnecessary sequels that kinda spoil my love for the originals.

 

[NahaNago]

You're actually hitting on why I feel like this is his Young Frankenstein. This movie is authentic to the original Beetlejuice (just saw it a second time), and he has an unlimited budget for this movie (like how Brooks had an enormous budget for Young Frankenstein), yet he is restrained enough to make you think this movie came out in 88 like the original. Were it not for the obvious slapstick comedy, Young Frankenstein maintains an aura of being filmed right alongside the original horror classic.

Objectively, I believe Brooks to be a superior filmmaker over Burton, but I'm certain some would take umbrage to that. After seeing it a second time, I feel bad for those that can't keep up with the four or five storylines this movie juggles. They are handled with a deft touch, and literally every one of those stories get resolved as neatly as a movie that treats life and death as a mere serving suggestion can resolve them.

The multiple storylines just ended up being meh. I can see where they were going with it, but they just didn't put it together well for me to find it entertaining enough to want to see more of each storyline.

 

[KaiserBecks]

We went to see it yesterday, had a good time. I don’t know how they marketed this movie (haven’t seen the trailers etc), but there were a lot of kids in the room who were quite loud in the beginning, but then got a lot quieter as they were either shocked by the explicit images or confused by the dark humor.

I agree that the plot is all over the place, but it was worth it for Keaton‘s and Dafoe’s performance. It’s also always nice to see Justin Theroux. Hope there’s going to be a third one soon.

 

[P:axMagellanic]

Michael Keaton is such an underrated actor.

Pretty sure he was once the highest paid actor in Hollyweird.

 

[Mozart36]

I like the movie. Nothing groundbreaking, but I was in the right mood for something like that.
Bob was by far my favorite character. I was really sad when he died

 

[The Fartist]

It was ok, felt like I was watching a decent Netflix movie, this didn't need to be made. 6.9/10

 

[sloppyjoe_gamer]

I saw it over the weekend. I enjoyed it much more than i thought i would.

Spoiler

1. Sad we didn't see Otho again
2. Beetlejuice's ex wife story was underwhelming.....she chases and kills people the whole movie and when she finally finds him, she gets off'd in 10 seconds by that snake
3. Poor Bob
4. The kid's love interest being a ghost was a cool thing that i didn't see coming, cool stuff!

 

[Deerock71]

I saw it over the weekend. I enjoyed it much more than i thought i would.

Spoiler

1. Sad we didn't see Otho again
2. Beetlejuice's ex wife story was underwhelming.....she chases and kills people the whole movie and when she finally finds him, she gets off'd in 10 seconds by that snake
3. Poor Bob
4. The kid's love interest being a ghost was a cool thing that i didn't see coming, cool stuff!

I think it was a masterful twist when the prick ghost got his passport stamped, and it was masterful in this way; Burton had just killed the Grandma in the most blase way, and she just ran into her Dad wherever that place was supposed to be. Burton made Beetlejuice look just like any other generic social worker down there, and I got COMPLETELY suckered into saying,"okay, let's see where this story goes. So Astrid's dead now."

EDIT- Oh, and I think Justin Thoureax's character was the new Otho. It felt like they sat and brainstormed how many different ways to create an utterly contemptible nacissistic prick.

 

[WhatDidHeSay?]

Not good.

It went down about as well as a nazi float at Notting hill carnival.

 

[KaiserBecks]

Michael Keaton is such an underrated actor.

He never disappoints.

 

[VulcanRaven]

I saw the original for the first time a week ago because my local theatre was showing it. It was great and made me very excited about the sequel. I just came back from seeing it and really enjoyed it too. I think I prefer Keaton's performance in this. Will get both on 4K at some point.

 

[Deerock71]

I saw the original for the first time a week ago because my local theatre was showing it. It was great and made me very excited to watch the sequel. I just came back from seeing it and I really enjoyed it too. I think I prefer Keaton's performance in this. Will get both in 4K at some point.

I sincerely think this is the superior film. Not leaps and bounds, but back to my Young Frankenstein analogy, I think Young Frankenstein is just a wee bit better than Blazing Saddles.

 

[VulcanRaven]

I sincerely think this is the superior film. Not leaps and bounds, but back to my Young Frankenstein analogy, I think Young Frankenstein is just a wee bit better than Blazing Saddles.

My only problem was that

Spoiler

Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis weren't in this. Not even a cameo. I can understand why they wouldn't want to use Baldwin but it felt odd that they were just mentioned twice.

 

[Comfortgel]

It was fine, but with all the plotlines it felt like they were trying to set up for the third movie.
because we all know you have to say his name three times

 

[Deerock71]

It was fine, but with all the plotlines it felt like they were trying to set up for the third movie.
because we all know you have to say his name three times

I hope the third movie is called: NOBODY Says the B Word

 

[MrMephistoX]

It would be kind of ironic if the success of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice results in him getting clout to work on Blockbusters again…I’d shill for him to James Gun. to be able to finally make Batman 3 with digitally de-aged Keaton Billy D Williams as Harvey Dent/Two Face just sayin…even a CGI version would be cool. #thiswillneverhappen

 

[squallheart]

Me and my sister grew up as big Beetlejuice fans and I have yet to see since I hate sequels to films that don't need it. She saw it and said it was really disappointing needless to say I'm skipping it lol

 

[Pejo]

For a memberbies movie, I really enjoyed it. I feel Jenna Ortega's character and plot was unnecessary, but it wasn't terrible or overly drawn out. Catherine O'Hara was the highlight for me, and Keaton was fantastic as always. Had a few laughs and the chaos was great in the 2nd half of the movie.

If I had 2 negatives it would be that the first part of the movie was too much setup for plot points that didn't really matter, and that there wasn't enough Beetlejuice. Still, compared to other recent movies I've seen, it was a solid 7/8 out of 10. No regrets seeing it in the theater.

 

[The Fartist]

Me and my sister grew up as big Beetlejuice fans and I have yet to see since I hate sequels to films that don't need it. She saw it and said it was really disappointing needless to say I'm skipping it lol

Yup, that's exactly what this is, a sequel that didn't need to be made. I'd wait for it to show up on streaming, which is what the whole movie felt like to me, a high budget Netflix movie.

 

[kondorBonk]

Saw it last night and really enjoyed it. Lots of practical effects and wasn't a reskin of the originals plot which is always my fear of a sequel. Probably one of the better movies I've seen in the theater in a while.

Criticism; yeah the side plots were not needed as fun as they were. They ended up just feeling a little rushed. You do kind of lose the focus.

 

[Nintendo's Witch]

I enjoyed it

 

[TransTrender]

Saw it on the big screen over the weekend.
It was fine.
Mostly forgettable, nothing remarkable.
Some stuff didn't seem to make sense even in this universe, and the subplot (or plot?) felt like it was added just for more runtime.
I did like the use of the practical effects.
Maybe it was the screen or the projector, but some of the scenes looked out of focus or even the depth of field was wrong in the shoot.

 

[Chuck Berry]

That thread title is a straight up insult to Young Frankenstein

 

[Blade2.0]

It would be kind of ironic if the success of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice results in him getting clout to work on Blockbusters again…I’d shill for him to James Gun. to be able to finally make Batman 3 with digitally de-aged Keaton Billy D Williams as Harvey Dent/Two Face just sayin…even a CGI version would be cool. #thiswillneverhappen

When did he ever stop? He was in Homecoming and The Flash in recent-ish years.

 

[Deerock71]

That thread title is a straight up insult to Young Frankenstein

Read about the context.