Beetlejuice Beetlejuice review

BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE: 

TIM BURTON AND MICHAEL KEATON SPOOKS GALORE IN VERY FUNNY SEQUEL! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

WARNER BROS. PICTURES

Michael Keaton in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

 

            The Ghost with the Most is back to cause more mischief in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the long awaited sequel to the 1988 Tim Burton (Batman 1 and 2, Edward Scissorhands, Big Fish) horror-comedy classic, Beetlejuice. As someone who has admired Burton’s work for a very long time, it should come as no surprise that I love the original Beetlejuice and will gladly hail it as one of the funniest horror-comedies of all time with imaginative worlds and character designs bursting with gothic atmosphere, amazing practical effects and stop-motion, lovable characters both dead and living, and an outrageous and scene-stealing performance by Michael Keaton (Night Shift, Batman 1 and 2, Birdman) as the titular character that’s the very definition of iconic. 

            Beetlejuice was such a massive critical and commercial success (And this was only Tim Burton’s second feature film after Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure in 1985) that it spawned an animated sequel series, a hit Broadway musical adaptation, and now a legit film sequel with Burton and Keaton returning. Despite many of Burton’s recent efforts being hit or miss lately, I was interested when the sequel was announced especially after seeing Keaton reprise his role as Batman in last year’s The Flash which was one of the best aspects of that movie. 

            Naturally, I was very curious to see Michael Keaton’s return as Beetlejuice and I have to say, this was the most fun I’ve had at a Tim Burton movie in a very long time. I don’t think it’s as good as the first film and it does often repeat similar notes as its predecessor, but it’s just a funny and creative movie that not only made me laugh but I howled at a lot of its jokes. 

            The film follows Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder-Edward Scissorhands, Little Women (1994), Frankenweenie; who reprises her role from the original) who is now the host of a supernatural talk show and has a teenage daughter named Astrid (Jenna Ortega-Scream 5 and 6, Wednesday, X) who doesn’t believe in ghosts (Oh, and Lydia’s father is dead now because f*ck Jeffrey Jones!). But when Astrid suddenly enters the Land of the Dead, Lydia is forced to resummon the mischievous ghost, Beetlejuice (Keaton) and form an alliance with him in order to rescue her daughter. All the while, Beetlejuice’s soul-sucker ex-wife, Delores LaVerge (Monica Bellucci-The Matrix 2 and 3, The Brothers Grimm, Spectre) is on the loose and seeks revenge on Beetlejuice for leaving her at the altar many centuries ago and Astrid falls for a boy (Arthur Conti-House of the Dragon) who is not as he seems. 

            The film also stars Catherine O’Hara (Home Alone 1 and 2, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Argylle) reprising her role as Lydia’s mother Delia Deetz, Justin Theroux (Mulholland Drive, The Girl on the Train, Bumblebee) as Lydia’s television producer boyfriend Rory, Willem Dafoe (Platoon, Spider-Man, The Lighthouse) as ghost detective Wolf Jackson, Burn Gorman (The Dark Knight Rises, Game of Thrones, Pacific Rim 1 and 2) as Father Damien, Amy Nuttall (Emmerdale, Downton Abbey, The Keeping Room) as real estate agent Jane Butterfield Jr., and Nick Kellington (Star Wars franchise, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, Slaughterhouse Rulez) as Bob. 

            Overall, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice probably won’t go down as a classic like its 1988 original, but as a legacy sequel released over 30 years later and a new Tim Burton movie, it’s a lot of fun and a worthy continuation of the Beetlejuice storyline. The movie retains a lot of aspects from the original film and they’re mostly done well without feeling like a cash grab such as an opening credits sequence reminiscent of the first movie set to the Danny Elfman theme music, using as little CGI as possible, and filling the movie with a ton of sight gags whether in front of you or hidden in the background. 

            Honestly, one of the most consistently funny things in the movie is looking at all the different dead people in the underworld and seeing how they died whether it’s someone whose mouth is filled with hotdogs after a hotdog eating contest, a surfer dude who’s literally just a torso, or someone whose head was eaten by a shark and now communicates with gargled blood spurts. Tim Burton once again fills the scenes with zany, kooky, and unique-looking undead beings that guarantee laughs when you see them. 

            Other gags that had me laughing hard were a segment in stop-motion animation showing how Lydia’s father was killed that was genuinely hilarious and a literal Soul Train with disco music playing and dead people dancing. There’s a ton of others but talking about them here would not be doing them justice, just go watch the movie. 

            In an age where CGI dominates modern filmmaking, I praise Beetlejuice Beetlejuice and Tim Burton for utilizing a lot of practical effects, stop-motion, makeup, and otherworldly set designs (With the original film’s production designer, Bo Welch being credited as a consultant) and all of it looks incredible even when it’s cheesy and campy-looking. It’s 100% pure Tim Burton insanity on the screen and more Burton films (and modern films in general) should take notes on this. 

            Unsurprisingly, Michael Keaton quite literally kills in his return as Beetlejuice as if he never left. He is once again excellent in the role and brings a ton of cartoonish and mischievous energy to the film whenever he’s onscreen. 

            The movie is definitely fueled on visuals and laughs, but admittedly the plot is pretty indifferent and at times unfocused. You have scenes that feel ripped out of the original like this movie’s version of the Beetlejuice scary face gag, another wedding climax (Which is not a spoiler because the trailers showed Winona Ryder in the red wedding dress again), and another sequence where the characters have to outrun the sandworm. 

            There’s also a lot of plot threads that make the narrative feel messy and characters that were introduced that are sometimes forgotten about until reappearing in the climax. To the point where I was predicting when this character was going to reappear in the movie and most of them I called. 

            Still, despite a few shortcomings, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is a blast and Tim Burton’s best film since probably Big Eyes. It’s not a great movie and the original will always be the definitive Beetlejuice, but if you’re a fan of the 1988 film (or Tim Burton in general) then you got an appointment with the kookiest trickster ghost of them all.