More Than Three Decades Later, Beetlejuice is Summoned Once Again

Michael Keaton in "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice"
Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com

In 1988, director Tim Burton treated audiences to the devilishly entertaining horror-comedy, “Beetlejuice.”  Focusing on a ghostly husband and wife who must face off against the titular demon, we had a film that showed us the first real glimpses of the macabre style that we would see in Burton’s films over the decades that followed.  Between his unique visuals, darkly funny tone, and quirky characters, this movie became a staple of Burton’s filmography and remains as fun as ever.

Burton now returns to helm the long-awaited sequel, “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.”  While not as fresh as its predecessor, it’s nevertheless an enjoyable pre-Halloween treat that harkens back to Burton’s earlier dark fantasies.

Thirty-six years after the events of the first film, Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder), her daughter Astrid (Jenna Ortega), and her stepmother Delia (Catherine O”Hara) return to their family home in Winter River after a loss.  When circumstances arise that bring Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton) back into their lives, the Deetz family must find a way to stop his latest round of fiendish tricks.

Although Keaton didn’t have a lot of screen time in the first movie, he was the standout of the cast, making the most of every minute with his character’s delightfully cartoonish and rogue personality.  He gets much more screen time in the sequel, easing back into the character with a clear love for this role.  In doing so, Keaton is endlessly fun to watch as he interacts with the characters and settings.  With his off-color dialogue and comical movements, Keaton inhabits every bit of energy playing this role as he did in 1988, and you’re sure to become giddy whenever he invades the screen with his wicked antics.

As the mother and daughter at the center of the story, Ryder and Ortega have a fine chemistry that both encapsulates the loneliness and sense of loss that each of them feels, while also showing the rift between them that’s caused by Lydia’s belief in the supernatural and Astrid’s disbelief.  When they have a heartfelt moment here and there, the two do well in exhibiting the tension and love between them.

For the supporting cast, we have some amusing performances from Justin Theroux as Lydia’s boyfriend; Willem Dafoe as a ghost detective in the afterlife; and Monica Bellucci as Beetlejuice’s vengeful ex-wife, who has an excellent introductory scene.  However, O’Hara is the highlight, as she always makes you laugh at her character’s overdramatic persona, exposing everyone to her attention-grabbing ridiculousness as O’Hara revels in the material that she’s given.

The screenplay by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar offers entertaining scenarios for the characters, but it often tries to do too much.  It has several plot threads going on at once, with most of them feeling underdeveloped.  This is especially true for the storyline involving Bellucci’s character, who had the makings of a great secondary villain, if only she was given more time to grow.  Each of the subplots has potential for its own “Beetlejuice” movie, but it seems like the screenwriters were trying to make up for lost time between the two movies by including as much as possible.  As a whole, the narrative has creative parts to it, but those parts needed to be more fleshed out.

While the story might be the weak link of the movie, Burton’s direction helps elevate it.  With Burton back as director, the movie emphasizes practical effects over CGI, calling to mind the old-school movie magic of his ‘80s-‘90s era.  These effects are both used with the makeup for the ghostly characters of the afterlife and the production design of that setting, capturing that feeling of the actors being in those environments and conversing with those entities, just like the characters in the original film.  Burton’s signature weirdness is allowed to thrive as it welcomes audiences back into this world, and between the production design, costumes, makeup effects, and musical score, we get a movie that’s very much a Burton film in the technical aspects.  Aside from that, it’s great to see how his darkly comic sensibilities are still as finely tuned as ever, exhibiting his well-known filmmaking persona that encourages you to give yourself over to his inventive strangeness and have a good time.

Although “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” has a few drawbacks, you can still see everyone’s love for the characters and their world, delivering a sequel that’s still a worthy welcome for the fall season.  While Beetlejuice’s first go-around might be the preferred outing in the end, this continuation is a fun revisit to the afterlife as only Burton can envision it.

Grade: B