Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024) | REVIEW

Directed by Tim Burton — Screenplay by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar — Story by Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, and Seth Grahame-Smith

It has been thirty-six years since Tim Burton — from writing by Michael McDowell, Warren Skaaren, and Larry Wilson — wowed audiences with his dark horror-comedy film about the afterlife, Beetlejuice. A lot has happened since then, for instance, Michael Keaton — the actor portraying the film’s zany titular character — became a household name and Batman (and Birdman!) himself, and Burton’s career rose and fell as he navigated the studio system with varying success. Despite having struggled critically over more than the last decade, Tim Burton remains an auteur with a distinct style and, as luck would have it, a new generation has embraced it following his Netflix hit Wednesday starring Jenna Ortega. This welcomed career resurgence has now led to the long-awaited sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, which welcomes back most (but not all) of the principal original cast. And, although the film isn’t quite as good or instantly iconic as the original film, Burton’s long-anticipated sequel has the right energy and sense of style to make it a thoroughly good time, despite how messy it sometimes feels.

Set in the present day, Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice follows adult Lydia Deetz (played by Winona Ryder) who is now both a mother and a talk show host and medium. When we pick back up with Lydia, she is dating her producer (Rory, played by Justin Theroux), while her daughter (Astrid, played by Jenna Ortega) is at boarding school, and her father has just died. When the entire family — including Lydia’s mother Delia (played by Catherine O’Hara) — returns to Winter River to hold the funeral and mourn, Rory proposes to Lydia, which irks Astrid, who soon begins to fall for a local teenager (played by Arthur Conti). Meanwhile, Betelgeuse (played by Michael Keaton) is afraid of being confronted by his vengeful ex-wife Delores (played by Monica Bellucci), who is coming after him in the afterlife.

There is a lot to love about Burton’s Beetlejuice sequel. Not only does it mark the return of a mostly (but with notable exceptions) beloved group of characters, it also feels like a much-needed jolt of energy to the iconic filmmaker with which to revive his sense of style. In Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, we get returning glimpses into Burton’s distinct love for German Expressionism, some dark or disturbing sequences, appropriate and great sets and costumes, and delightfully dark and irreverent humor. In addition to all of that, the film frequently recaptures the spirit of the original film thanks, in large part, to Michael Keaton and Catherine O’Hara, both of whom deliver incredibly entertaining performances that showcase that in the last 36 years, they haven’t lost a step. Newcomers to the franchise such as Jenna Ortega, Justin Theroux, and, especially, Willem Dafoe also have moments in which they nail the tone of these films in their own ways, with Dafoe being particularly memorable despite not playing the most important new character. 

It should be said that Burton and the credited writers opted not to include the Maitlands — the actual main characters from the original film — but while it would’ve been nice to see them, their story has been told, even though their absence is felt. Burton’s film doesn’t make as much of a point to emphasize their absence as he does with the absence of Jeffrey Jones, the actor who portrayed Lydia Deetz’s father in the original film. Jones is not featured in the film due to the crimes he has committed, and so his character has met his end when the film begins, and Burton plays the actor’s absence as a repeated joke, thus putting a spotlight on it. And, although Jones isn’t in the film, Burton does find a way to include his character in unexpected ways.

Although it feels so good to see Winona Ryder return to her iconic goth part (and she does deliver a solid enough performance), Ryder is let down by poor characterization, which makes it so that this film’s Lydia feels too much like a different character — and although there are instances when it feels like it’s meant to be integral to a character arc, such an arc never fully materializes or works here. This is largely because the film is just overcrowded. Although the film recaptures the energy of the original film, the sequel feels a little bit too messy — it’s almost as if they had too many ideas for a sequel but didn’t know which one to focus in on. There are so many characters in this that feel unnecessary, ultimately, or that don’t receive the proper pay-off necessary for them to merit their inclusion. That is easily the biggest problem with the film, which also suffers from pacing issues. 

Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice — a sequel so hotly anticipated they named it twice — does sometimes feel like it is the product of numerous screenplays for a sequel that have been stapled together. It’s messy and overcrowded, and the ultimate climax of the film, which is the point of the film that feels the most like a trite and safe legacy sequel, isn’t as fresh as you would’ve hoped. That said, there is more than enough in this doubly named sequel that works — with Burton’s style and both Keaton and O’Hara’s performances being the highlights — for it to be a genuinely entertaining sequel that I’d happily watch again in the future. I think most will agree that this is the most they’ve enjoyed a Burton film in years. It feels like a successful comeback despite the film’s flaws. So, it probably won’t have to take another 36 years for Hollywood to say the titular character’s name three times.

7 out of 10

– Review Written by Jeffrey Rex Bertelsen.