In mainstream cinema, there are few filmmakers with a style as loved and instantly recognizable as Tim Burton. With numerous classics like Edward Scissorhands, Beetlejuice, Corpse Bride, and the Michael Keaton Batman duology under his belt as a director and with his heartwarmingly ghoulish Nightmare Before Christmas Art and designs lining Hot Topic shelves for decades, the pop cultural significance of Hollywood’s favorite goth can not be denied. With that said it is no small secret that his stock as a creator has fallen over the last twenty years with uninspiring remakes and studio slop like Dumbo or Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children and high profile fumbles like 2014’s Dark Shadows overshadowing even his more contemporary hits like Corpse Bride and Sweeney Todd.
Even through these rough patches however, longtime fans of the director continued to follow his work with great interest, holding out hope that the auteur would make his comeback. This comeback would come in the form of the 2022 Netflix series Wednesday, in which the Gen Z scream queen Jenna Ortega (X, Scream VI) won over audiences as a teenage Wednesday Addams navigating life and solving mysteries in a boarding school of monsters and eccentrics. With a fittingly macabre sense of humor, a viral dance, and the revival of Burton’s classic gothic aesthetic, the show, while initially met with skepticism from longtime Addams Family fans, quickly became a viral sensation.
Riding high off of Wednesday’s success, Burton and Ortega’s on screen collaboration continues in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, which assembles Burton’s stable of longtime comrades and collaborators to revisit one of the director’s earliest hits in a long awaited legacy sequel 36 years in the making. With a star studded ensemble cast and a blank check from the studio for Burton to do whatever he wants, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is already a great success, garnering a positive reception from critics and audiences and scaring up the second highest September opening weekend in history, with the titular ghost with the most trailing only behind another malicious supernatural clown with 2017’s IT. The question remains however, in a market oversaturated by fan service and legacy sequels, is this phantasmagorical farce worth the wait?
36 years have passed since the events of 1988’s Beetlejuice and Lydia Deetz is still haunted by her memories of Betelgeuse, the twisted mold encrusted Bio-Exorcist. Under the thumb of her manipulative boyfriend, played easily and sleazily by Justin Theroux (Mulholland Drive) Lydia has thoroughly sold out with her ghost whispering talents, hosting a trashy paranormal investigating TV show that keeps her distant from her estranged and unusual daughter, Astrid, played by Ortega. However, the Deetz family must return to their classic haunted house for the funeral of its patriarch, Charles Deetz, whose stop motion animated death leaves his bumbling ghost headless (which is certainly an inventive way to cut Jeffrey Jones out of the sequel). Meanwhile Betelgeuse, who now works at an undead call center, is on the run from his literal soul sucking ex-wife, seeking to escape to the land of the living while being tailed by a B-movie star turned ghost cop, played by serial scene stealer Willem Dafoe (Spider-Man, The Lighthouse) When a scheming spirit spirits Astrid away into the afterlife, Lydia has no choice but to make a deal with Betelgeuse to venture into the land of the dead and save her daughter.
Michael Keaton returns to one of his iconic Tim Burton roles… again as Betelgeuse, the mysterious demonic trickster who gets a surprising amount of lore for the sequel that makes for some great laughs but robs the character of some of his mystique. Keaton tackles the role with just as much energy and enthusiasm as he brought to his first outing as the character. With more scenes and screentime to devour the expertly crafted and designed scenery, Keaton rarely misses a beat, carrying much of the film’s dark, edgy, yet somehow charming humor, serving up comedy gold with Betelgeuse’s slick, oily charisma. Keaton’s over the top mannerisms find an equally strong foil in Winona Ryder, who also slips effortlessly back into her role as Lydia Deetz as if she never left. Meanwhile Jenna Ortega continues to amaze and cement herself as a generational talent as a newcomer to the world of Beetlejuice. Veteran character actor Willem Dafoe also makes himself right at home in Burton’s magically mundane afterlife in a scene stealing, albeit inessential supporting role, and the comedic talent of Catherine O’Hara is utilized much more here than in the original.
Behind the camera Tim Burton gets back into his groove as an artist, bringing a reinvigorated energy to Beetlejuice Beetlejuice that hasn’t been seen from him on the big screen in a long time. With a bigger budget and increased creative freedom for the sequel, for the first time in over a decade, the audience truly feels like Tim Burton is trying and having fun as he brings this dead world back to life. The difference in energy between Beetlejuice Beetlejuice and some of his more recent, phoned in studio fare is night and day. This time Warner Bros. has given Burton free reign over this story and world, which works to both the film’s benefit and detriment.
Unlike many recent legacy sequels that hide a disappointing lack of fresh ideas behind cheap fan service and schmaltzy reverence to the original to cash in on the nostalgia trend, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice brings many new ideas to the story of its sequel; Though perhaps maybe too many. An overabundance of disconnected subplots messily pile up on each other only to be anticlimactically resolved in a rushed third act. While these subplots are all compelling, the lack of focus makes the movie feel less like one Beetlejuice sequel and more like three or four sequels Frankensteined together into a chaotic hot mess. In contrast with the original’s tighter, more focused narrative, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice occasionally buckles and stumbles under the weight of its dramatically increased scale.
These shortcomings are outweighed however by the film’s rich worldbuilding and dark sense of humor. Like its predecessor, the plot of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is mostly a means for its loveable characters to interact and explore the dark world of Tim Burton’s dark and edgy imagination. The jokes are as consistent and strong as they are gruesome and grotesque, and coupled with the zany pacing of the story, come in quick enough succession that even if one gag does not land, another that does will quickly follow. While the film’s madcap, farcical pace might be tiresome for some, the witty dialogue coupled with spirited performances that truly sell it more than compensate for it.
Another strength of this film is its striking visuals. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice makes the wise decision to go practical for the majority of its effects. The makeup and prosthetics used for the movie’s ghosts and ghouls make it a strong contender for a best makeup Oscar. Meanwhile, the famous sandworm, once again appearing in stop motion animation, has never looked better. Thanks to these visual effects, coupled with Burton’s classic style and flair, the land of the dead has never felt livelier, in spite of existing in a literal bureaucratic purgatory.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’s greatest strength however, may just be its infectious energy. There is an artistic enthusiasm and honesty to this sequel that elevates itself above its peers not only in the oversaturated legacy sequel market, but in Burton’s filmography. For the first time in years, Burton and his company of creeps genuinely seem to be having fun in what will be seen as a return to form for the filmmaker.
All in all Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is a zany, ghoulish, sidesplitting event, as imaginative as it is messy, which is just the way it’s the ghost with the most would like it. Its convoluted story and lack of focus is counteracted by witty dialogue, ghostly gags, and vivid, visceral visuals. A cinematic experience that proudly isn’t for everyone, this spooky, spectral comedy never ceases to entertain, serving as a great way to kick off the Halloween season.
