BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE picks up 36 years after the 1988 film. Teenager, Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder), is now a mom to teenager Astrid Deetz (Jenna Ortega). Lydia’s ability to see ghosts and being the host of her show “Ghost House with Lydia Deetz,” is one of the reasons she and Astrid are estranged. Astrid doesn’t believe in ghosts because after her father Richard died in the Amazon, her mom Lydia hasn’t seen him. However, during her show, Lydia begins seeing Betelgeuse, I love the spelling, (Michael Keaton) in the audience. Also, a problem is Lydia’s obnoxious boyfriend and show producer Rory (Justin Theroux).

Stepmom and artist Delia Deetz (Catherine O’Hara) calls to say that Charles, Lydia’s father died at a bird mating exhibition when his boat sank, and he was half eaten by a shark. The family goes back to Winter River, Connecticut, to bury Charles. Rory proposes to Lydia, and she reluctantly accepts, Astrid takes on a bike and runs into a guy named Jeremy.

It’s already a lot and we haven’t even gotten to Jeremy tricking Astrid into the afterlife, Betelgeuse having a soul-sucking ex-wife that he met during the Black Plague and chopped up, the Bobs, Lydia calling Betelgeuse to help her find Astrid, Wolf Jackson  (Willem Dafoe),  a ghost detective who, in life, was a B movie action star, as well as Astrid discovering she can see ghosts like her mom. 

The acting is great. The main characters and actors pick up seamlessly from the 1988 film. They are fun to watch. I can’t get over how Michael Keaton is a chameleon in every role he plays. The problem is there is too much going on in the story. Directed by Tim Burton, screenplay by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, it’s just too many things going on which makes it cluttered. It was nice the way they depicted Charles with the likeness of the original actor Jeffrey Jones.

A highlight is at Charles’s funeral and the youth choir singing “Day-O.” It was beautifully done and will truly make you smile.

The 1988 film I can watch over and over again. The sequel, I don’t think so.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice gets 3 out of 5 winks of the EYE.

Until next time, keep your EYE to the sky.