In the now infamous words of a loved one, I went to the movie theater and saw “Apple Juice”.

Although I do love apple juice, I don’t think I’d drink Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. It was way more enjoyable to watch it on the big screen, drink a Diet Pepsi, and eat popcorn and gummy bears. Yes, my stomach is probably in the same fashion as some of the digestive organs Tim Burton directed in the film.

I went into the theatre knowing what to expect.

First, it’s a Tim Burton movie (see the original Beetlejuice, The Nightmare Before Christmas, or Sleepy Hollow). Second, Michael Keaton is one of my favorite actors (he is the one and only Batman). Third, Winona Ryder had the same haircut with the weird bangs. Fourth, Jenna Ortega has become the new Hollywood version of Ryder and shines in bizarre roles. Fifth, I still wish Catherine O’Hara is my mom (sorry mom).

With those statements basically etched in stone in my thought process, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice didn’t let me down.

I wasn’t expecting an award-winning movie heralded by the Academy Awards, Golden Globes, or even MTV Movie Awards. Also, I didn’t think Rotten Tomatoes would rate it high unless voters were related to cast members or Burton.

I just checked, Rotten Tomatoes gave the movie released September 6 a 77 percent Tomatometer and an 81 percent Popcornmeter. I’m actually surprised it’s that high because usually comedies or super far-fetched from the reality films don’t score well. My guess, they were paid off by someone who died 700 years ago and dances in an underworld subway station.

I thought something zany was going to happen. I wasn’t wrong.

I thought Keaton would do what he always does, shine. He glowed.

My anticipation perceived the graphics and special effects would be better than the first movie in 1988. It would be almost impossible for them not to be better. They were.

Characters being unforgettable, grotesque, morbid, and almost gross, check.

Musical composition placed in curiously comical scenes, check.

If I had a different checklist, oh, it would have missed the mark, and I would have been uncontrollably outraged I wasted time and money to go see the flick.

However, the incoming expectations were catered to exactly what I saw. Hint, this is how everyone should watch movies, we probably wouldn’t have as many bad reviews.

I laughed, I looked away, I made contorted facial expressions, and I saw all the same from the two family members next to me. Just the way I thought it would be.

The story line and plot were OK.

There were new characters to both like and hate. Love was already taken by the above mentioned.

The only thing I didn’t like was how the actor Jeffrey Jones (played Charles Deetz, Catherine O’Hara’s husband) was replaced. I understand why he wasn’t asked to be in the movie since he was convicted of possessing child pornography and sentenced to five years of probation, counselling, and is now a lifetime registered sex offender. I get how having him in the movie may not be a good idea.

But how Burton and crew went about it was stranger than normal, even for a movie called Beetlejuice Beetlejuice featuring death in crude hilarity.

They portrayed his death, the initial plot of why the family and friends are rejoicing, with an animation likeness of Jones, but a fake voice. Then at the end, it was a very campy, eh, representation of him in the dead world.

I’ve seen plenty of movies where they had to replace actors/actresses, find ways to write them off, or not include them. The plot could have been the same, but we didn’t need to see a bad animation scene or an idiotic symbolism of him to know what was going on.

Say his name, what happened (his death, not the conviction), mock him, and go about the rest of the solid movie without being weird about what happened in real life.

But, weird is the entire premise of the movie, the characters, the directors, and how we’re supposed to feel about Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.