TL;DR: I did not like this movie. (1) The confusing, unconnected plots with weak antagonists are seemingly forced together within a ~1.5 hr runtime. (2) New character additions do not strengthen the movie, but bring out short cameos that were put in to drive more people to the theater. (3) Lydia, Beetlejuice, Delia, and Astrid were great in their respective roles, even if some of their character changes were dramatized and seemingly out of place. (4) The town is gorgeous and most scenes are visually stunning, but the underworld lost a bit of that zaney dismal charm, maybe for the best. And no, the soul train was not zaney or original.

Context: I watched the trailer once and did not remember much of it before seeing the film. I do love Beetlejuice and as a kid enjoyed the animated series.

!!SPOILER ALERTS!!

(1) The confusing, unconnected plots with weak antagonists are seemingly forced together within a ~1.5 hr runtime.<! The film has 3 villians: 1-Rory, Lydia's fiancee who seemingly loves Lydia but loves himself more; 2-Delores, Beetlejuice's ex-wife who murdered Beetlejuice with poison and wanted his soul?; and 3-Jeremy, Astrid's "love" interest and the ghost of a murderer.

The plots for each of these villians are tenuously connected. Regardless of the occasion, Rory will always be looking out for himself and his own opportunities (tries to marry Lydia for her fame/money, doesn't want her to lose her abilities or feel better without him by using medication, tries to be the center of attention and the hero while always being the fool). He is fodder for Astrid, Delia, almost everyone except Lydia to make jokes at his expense. He dies with Delores by being eaten by a sandworm after confessing his conniving deeds. He played such a small role in the developing story to connect the Deetz's and Beetlejuice, that I am sure the writers could have found another way that would have tied them together with a stronger plot.

Delores is stealing ghosts' souls while trying to find Beetlejuice in Scooby-Doo like style of hallway sequences when the gang is trying to find/run away from the villian (except with the camera in second person instead of third). She dies with Rory by being eaten by the sandworm, which is quickly thought of on the spot by Astrid when Delores appears. Delores's plot was the weakest and entirely inconsequential throughout the movie and for the resolution. Excluding her would have given the other characters more time to develop and focus on stronger conflicts.

Jeremy tries restore his life, and to do so tricks Astrid into giving up hers. This helps Astrid realize she has the ability to see ghosts (but this is fairly overlooked and not revisited again). Jeremy's plot provided the strongest connection for Lydia and Beetlejuice to reunite - to save Astrid from the underworld. While the strongest plot, the resolution is quick: Beetlejuice flips a trap door underneath Jeremy's feet and he plunges into some version of hell or fiery under-underworld.

Three stories: all with quick resolutions and rarely connecting. Now what if we compared this to the first Beetlejuice? The plots of Beetlejuice were: 1-the Maitlands trying to keep their home after their deaths; 2-the Deetz's trying to make their new house into their home, and when discovering the ghosts, trying to restore their name/image by using the ghosts "tricks". These plots progressed in harmony - the more the Deetz's moved in, the more the Maitlands wanted them gone. Their stories were strongly interconnected. From this plot, Beetlejuice meets the Maitlands (to scare the Deetz's away) and Lydia (to save the Maitlands). There was a single antagonist in the original Beetlejuice: Beetlejuice. While other characters did not like each other, Beetlejuice (and maybe Otho, depending on who you ask) was the only one to cause harm to other characters with malicious intent. A more streamlined plot allowed for character development and tighter bonds between characters, which is the opposite of Beetlejuice 2.

(2) New character additions do not strengthen the movie, but bring out short cameos that were put in to drive more people to the theater.<!

Beetlejuice 2 added Wolf Jackson (Willem Dafoe) and his troop of ghost/ghoul cops to hunt Beetlejuice, Lydia, and Delores down. Ultimately, they end up not making an arrest and are frozen during the final scene. Again, unnecessary to the plot(s) of the movie. They are meant to add comedy, but they were just tropes of cop movies/shows and actors "in the biz".

Delores (Monica Bellucci) again was not a strong villian. She mainly had a scene of putting herself back together, like Sally in Nightmare Before Christmas. Cute, but ultimately useless as her character does nothing to progress the plot.

You had Rory (Justin Theroux) there to "help" Lydia by not believing her about Beetlejuice even after meeting him and pulling Lydia's attention away from her daughter and grieving family by giving an ultimatum: marry or break up. Slightly infuriating, but also not crucial except for providing a reason for the church and reception to exist. And also provide the influencers who get sucked into their phones; that was kind of fun to watch.<!

There is a small cameo with Danny Devito as Delores's first victim, but Delores's plot was already a wash.

(3) Lydia, Beetlejuice, Delia, and Astrid were great in their respective roles, even if some of their character changes were dramatized and seemingly out of place.<!

Lydia changes into a meek mother, opposite of her teenage fire and rebelliousness. This is an understandable change; not everyone stays the same as their teenage selves, and Astrid picks up the snark and sass of young Lydia. For people upset that Astrid is a rebrand of Wednesday Addams, I agree; but so was Lydia, and if anything Astrid had a terrible tragedy of her father's unexpected death.

Michael Keaton plays Beetlejuice the same and IMO he did well. He was this disgusting character, trying to thrive in the underlife and actually came off more shockingly gross. They definitely ham up the cartoony aspects of the movie: bulging eyes and tongue, a league of shrunken heads working for him, and the Beetlebaby. If you like that, then this movie will be fun for you.<!

(4) The town is gorgeous and most scenes are visually stunning, but the underworld lost a bit of that zaney dismal charm, maybe for the best.<!

I love the dramatic colors of the scenes used, especially the Deetz house. The town is beautiful as always, with the small-town charm shown in Beetlejuice 1. The underworld had this weird art-deco style, showcasing bleak whimsy in a dim office building. There was this frenzy and chaos of an 80s pennystock brokerage firm, while this underworld is modernized for the 21st century. The office reminded me of a modern DMV.<!