Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024)

Directed by Tim Burton             Comedy/Fantasy/Horror         PG-13

1h 44m

From Dostoevsky references to a Mario Bava parody, Tim Burton’s long-awaited Beetlejuice Beetlejuice delivers a ghoulishly good time at the movies! After three decades, audiences have returned to everyone’s favorite haunted house. In said house, is everyone’s favorite demon/bio-exorcist, whose name you dare not udder three times! 2024 has seen its fair-share of aptly named “legacy-sequels” and this one is by far the best.

From the opening moments, Burton transports us right back to 1988 – or in my case, right back to the age of eight, when my grandmother first rented the original Beetlejuice for the two of us to watch on Halloween. Rather than attempt to craft a new bold story, screenwriters Alfred Gough and Miles Millar take the humble step of allowing the lure and nostalgia to speak for itself. This is achieved by many of the original’s team – behind and in front of the camera – reprising their roles. From the score and cinematography right down to a bulk of the principle cast. The production design, the soundtrack (although lacking in Harry Belafonte needle-drops) is lovingly lifted from thirty-six years ago. I was beyond relieved to see Burton return to form in his use of puppetry and practical effects. One such use, in the film’s first act, nearly made me do a “spit take” from laughter. To that, I say job well done!

The only part of the film that was lacking is the execution of the plot. Because Gough and Millar relied so heavily on the mechanics of the original, they overlooked one aspect that made it an instant classic. The sharp quips and genius one-liners are all but absent, but mercifully not entirely so. This is thanks to the glorious line delivery of Michael Keaton, and one Catherine O’Hara, whose past decade has bolstered her even higher into the stratosphere of comedy legends. Even Willem Dafoe, who I was surprised to see, has some genuinely hysterical moments as an actor whose death sent him into the afterlife as a beat detective. But Winona Ryder’s reprisal of Lydia Dietz is what dragged the movie down the most. Only in the moments when she was allowed to appear sinister, or a scene where she reminisces about going into labor during a midnight screening of a Mario Bava film, does her youthful energy emerge. Jenna Ortega, as Astrid, Lydia’s daughter, shows potential, but feels under-utilized, especially for someone who watched her burst onto the scene in Netflix’s Adams Family spin-off, “Wednesday”. Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci and a hysterical Danny DeVito cameo round out the rest of the ensemble cast. The talent involved in all realms of this film, is through the roof.

At the end of the day, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is a comforting return to form for one of the world’s craziest and most beloved filmmakers. Personally, I was transported right back to my childhood from the opening Warner Brothers logo to the final moments of the end credits. It is one of those movies that reminds us not all art has to be examined in an academic or critical lens – I could write extensively on the brilliance of the original Beetlejuice and its commentary on exploration, discovery, immortality, happiness in a material and commerce-driven world, and teenage angst. But the real genius concept of the 1988 film is that it doesn’t definitively establish its genre. Is it a funny horror film? Or a spooky comedy? It’s up to the viewer to decide, because in the 1980s, filmmakers trusted that audiences would take partial responsibility for creating the filmgoing experience they wanted to have. 

Similar expectations exist in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. While it may not be as sharply clever as its predecessor, it is still devilishly fun. Go see it in a theater, with a room full of people who want to laugh. Trust me, you will be purely entertained and will leave tempted to dance along to the PHENOMENAL soundtrack and wish you could spend even more time with the “ghost with the most”. Will there be a third movie? I have my doubts, but I too, would be tempted by making a movie called Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Beetlejuice just to see what crazy shenanigans would ensue!

★★★★

Friday September 6, 2024

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is now available to rent or buy on Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video, VuDu, or any VOD service.