I’ll be honest: I didn’t have high expectations walking into Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. Belated sequels – particularly belated sequels to beloved 80s classics – are, as a general rule, a bad idea.
But that’s the thing with general rules: they don’t always apply – and such is the case with Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. Don’t get me wrong: Tim Burton’s latest is loaded with many of the same shortcomings that plague the current crop of late arriving follow-up flicks. It’s got too many subplots and characters. It’s about 15 minutes too long. And it goes off the rails entirely by the end. But unlike most belated sequels, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice successfully captures the quirky spirit of its progenitor – and, just as importantly, has a lot of fun along the way.
In Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the now grown-up Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder) has cashed in on the events of the original 1988 film, establishing herself as a celebrity paranormal expert. On the downside, Lydia’s fame has only deepened the divide between her and Astrid (Jenna Ortega), her ghost-skeptic daughter. She’s also tormented by visions of Betelgeuse (Michael Keaton), the demonic self-proclaimed “bio-exorcist” Lydia helped banish 36 years earlier. It’s a lot to deal with – and that’s before Betelgeuse’s soul-sucking ex-wife, Delores (Monica Bellucci), arrives on the scene, bent on revenge.
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Like I said earlier, there are a bunch of moving pieces in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, which tracks with the production’s protracted development cycle. While writing duo Alfred Gough and Miles Millar are listed as the sequel’s screenwriters, one of their predecessors, Seth Grahame-Smith also snags a story credit. This shows in the film’s story, which feels cobbled together from disconnected parts, not unlike the stapled together Delores. And funnily enough, Delores herself is emblematic of this; a largely inessential villain that feels like a vestige of an earlier draft. It’s as though Burton fell in love with her and the likes of Willem Dafoe’s ghost detective Wolf Jackson early on and couldn’t bring himself to cut them and their associated antics.
But who cares, when Burton is clearly enjoying himself more than he has in years? Certainly not the audience I saw Beetlejuice Beetlejuice with. They lapped up the lip sync musical numbers, the homages to Spanish, Italian, and German cinema, and general madcap energy of proceedings – and I did, too. Admittedly, it’s eventually too much of a good thing; notably, an extended sing-a-long late in the game runs a tad long. Yet the humor is so sly and the surreal swings so big you’ll forgive Beetlejuice Beetlejuice its excesses. Heck, you might even praise them; after all, it’s rare to see such a gleefully ugly, strange, and downright bloody big budget studio sequel. Burton isn’t interested in the reverential nostalgia of, say, Ghostbusters: Afterlife. This is as macabre – as downright demented – as the OG Beetlejuice.
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If anything, Burton saves his veneration for the filmmaking techniques of yesterday. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is a monument to throwback production design. Its ghoulish makeup and prosthetics are skillfully conceived and applied, yet utterly (and intentionally) fake-looking. Ditto its obvious sets and faux-retro CGI, which retains the handmade – and animated – quality of the original Beetlejuice‘s stop motion, scale model, and blue screen effects. Beyond mere pastiche, these elements lend Beetlejuice Beetlejuice a pleasingly distinct visual style. They also keep the movie grounded firmly in “dark fantasy comedy” territory, when it could’ve easily slipped into light horror.
The performances do plenty of heaving lifting in this regard, as well. Naturally, Keaton sets the tone and his Betelgeuse is as delightfully skeezy now as he was back in 1988. Keaton once again goes all in; he’s a manic whirlwind of rapid-fire verbal jabs, so-unfunny-they’re-funny quips, and generally obnoxious behavior. Like Burton, he’s clearly having a ball, and it’s infectious. Ryder, Ortega, Catherine O’Hara (in full Moira Rose mode), and Justin Theroux get their share of the laughs too. Ryder and Ortega also deserve props for making a decent fist of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice‘s emotional throughline. Admittedly, Burton’s follow-up never quite hits the same emotional highs of the original, but its theme of making peace with the past just about works thanks to Ryder and Ortega.
That kinda sums up Beetlejuice Beetlejuice overall: it just about works. Is it the best movie you’ll see all year? Hardly. But it’s an entertaining romp that, crucially, doesn’t step on the legacy of what came before it. Sure, it’s messy and bloated – but as with Betelgeuse himself, that’s part of the appeal.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice arrives in cinemas on Sept. 6, 2024.
Published: Sep 4, 2024 07:35 am