With the original Beetlejuice, Tim Burton established himself as one of Hollywood’s most dementedly distinct visionaries. In more recent years, Burton has felt more like a director for hire, going through the motions with studio-mandated projects like Disney’s live-action Dumbo and Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. Netflix’s Wednesday series was a pleasant surprise, but does Burton still have the juice to make a feature on par with his earlier work? Burton is put to the test in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, a legacy sequel in development hell longer than the titular ghost has been in the afterlife’s waiting room. Just as the first film helped jumpstart his career 36 years ago, the sequel shows that there’s still life in Burton.
While Burton plays the greatest hits, he has a few new songs up his sleeve as well. For every blast from the past, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice manages to evolve its concept and characters. Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder) is no longer a gothic teenager. She’s a gothic mother who hasn’t lost her bite, but has also accepted more responsibility. Lydia finds herself growing distant from her daughter Astrid (Jenna Ortega), another sarcastic outsider, although not a retread of her mother. Death brings the two together as Lydia’s father Charles passes on. Given his off-screen controversy, Jeffrey Jones’ absence shouldn’t come as a shock. As for how they dispose of him, let’s just say it’s among the film’s most inventive jokes.
Charles also leaves behind Lydia’s stepmother Delia (Catherine O’Hara). Like the actress who plays her, Delia only gets funnier with age, stealing almost every scene she’s in. Of course, the resident scene-stealer is Betelgeuse himself with Michael Keaton again taking the madcap comedy up to eleven. Lydia has spent the past few decades attempting to forget the ghost who forced her into marriage, although her new fiancé Rory (Justin Theroux) isn’t much better. As hard as Lydia tries to repress the past, Betelgeuse drags her into another scheme involving a vengeful bride (Monica Bellucci), a departed actor who likes to play detective (Willem Dafoe), and a shrunken head zombie named Bob. Wonder if he’s supposed to be Bob the Goon from Burton’s Batman?
Keaton left such an impression in the first film that most audiences failed to realize he was only on screen for 17 minutes. Betelgeuse has more screen time in this sequel, making every second count. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice smartly doesn’t rely on him to carry the picture, however. It takes time to develop Lydia’s relationship with Astrid while expanding upon her rapport with Delia. The film seemingly borrows a few notes from the Beetlejuice stage musical with a family dynamic at the story’s core. Speaking of music, there are several bangers, new and old.
The jokes (most of which are still edgy) and visuals (many still practical) are about on par with the 1988 film. The plot is secondary to the gags and vibes, although the same can be said about the original. The first film was admittedly more focused, however. As enjoyable as these characters are, the cast has one too many players. Multiple villains are introduced only to be taken care of fairly easily after such buildup. This (along with some other familiar beats) prevents Beetlejuice Beetlejuice from surpassing its predecessor, which was always going to be a tough act to follow.
Even so, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice comes about as close as one could hope. It’s nostalgic without over-relying on old tricks, returning Burton to his creative roots. You never get the sense that Burton bent over backward to please any studio heads, making a sequel he wanted to see. It may be an IP throwback, but Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is Burton at his most Burton. We shouldn’t have it any other way. Bring on Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Beetlejuice in 2060!