Thirty-six years after the original, Tim Burton follows up his supernatural comedy with a nostalgic sequel that enhances the madcap energy of the 1988 film.
Set three decades after the events of the first movie, three generations of Deetz women come together after Charles Deetz’s death. Jeffrey Jones, the disgraced actor in the original, does not appear, although his likeness is used in a bizarre stop-animation montage. Lydia (Winona Ryder) now hosts a supernatural television show with her new-age boyfriend Rory (The Leftovers star Justin Theroux), monetising on her powers of being able to communicate with the deceased. Far from the teenage rebel from the original movie, Lydia is haunted by her ability to see the dead. Her teenage rebellion has been passed onto her daughter Astrid (Wednesday star Jenna Ortega), who has redirected her teenage angst towards her overwhelmed mother.
When Lydia’s eccentric artist stepmother, Delia (Schitt’s Creek star Catherine O’Hara), informs Lydia of her father’s passing, the mismatched family travels to their Winter River home to bury him. Adam and Barbara (the ghosts played by Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis in the original) might not be at Winter River. Yet, the foul-mouthed, sleazy demon Betelgeuse (Michael Keaton) is still lurking. The Deetz family finds themselves once more battling the undead trying to sneak their way into the land of the living. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice repeats many of the gags of the original film, updating them just enough to avoid repetition. There is an odd comfort to returning to the Netherworld, the afterlife full of oddly shaped monochrome corridors and never-ending queues.
The sequel explores more areas of Tim Burton’s version of the underworld, which includes a Soul Train, an immigration queue, and a dry cleaners. This land of the unliving still looks like the handmade world of the original. Burton was smart enough not to replace stop motion and practical effects with modern CGI. The quirkiness of the visual gags is only enhanced by the retro special effects that bring the Neitherworld to life. Although the main players are back, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice introduces new characters. Willem Dafoe is having the time of his life as Wolf Jackson, an undead police chief who lived life as a Hollywood actor famous for playing detectives. A less successful addition is Betelgeuse’s gorgeously gothic ex-wife Dolores (Monica Bellucci), whose backstory is hilariously told in a Mario Bava-inspired Italian flashback. Her full potential as an evil soul-sucking supernatural being is wasted, and ultimately, she is pretty set dressing and nothing more.
Jenna Ortega’s Astrid is a wonderful addition to the world of Beetlejuice. Her sardonic, environmentally concerned teen feels like a modern update of Winona Ryder’s gothic princess from the original. Unlike other instances of older creatives trying to write young women, Astrid feels like a real person and not a parody of a TikToker. Michael Keaton is still as hilarious as Betelgeuse, a career-defining performance that should have earned him more award nominations in the 1980s. He is given more screen time in this sequel, which allows him to indulge further in his performance as the disgusting, deranged demon. A common issue with Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is that it tries to cover too many ideas, meaning it has no time to explore the concepts deeply. The intricacies of the relationships between the three main women were interesting enough that the film didn’t need to add witches and soul-sucking to the plot.
The screenplay by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar might have too many plot points to process, but it certainly manages to land most of the jokes. The humour is still sharp, mixing pop culture gags, visual jokes, and musical cues. The writing is assisted by a cast who knows exactly who they are playing and what movie they are making. From O’Hara’s wacky artist to Theroux’s sleazy new age manager and Dafoe’s film noir pastiche, the cast is having the best fun. While it repeats many of the same beats as the original, the final act pushes Tim Burton’s signature oddball creepiness to a new zany level. Despite being a sequel, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice feels like the most creative movie Burton has delivered since 2013’s Big Eyes.
★★★★
In cinemas now / Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Jenna Ortega, Catherine O’Hara, Willem Dafoe, Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci, Danny DeVito/ Dir: Tim Burton / Warner Bros. Pictures / 12A
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