Review of 'Beetlejuice Beetlejuice'
Set a number of years after the events of the original “Beetlejuice” film, Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder) is now hosting a supernatural chat show where she struggles to fend off the attentions of needy producer Rory (Justin Theroux) and recent visions of Betelgeuse (Michael Keaton) the ghost who originally tried to marry her. Informed by her step-mother, and modern artist, Delia (Catherine O'Hara) that her father Charles (has died Lydia and her estranged daughter Astrid travel to the funeral in Connecticut. At the wake Rory unexpectedly proposes to a confused Lydia who (very) reluctantly agrees with the wedding date set in two days - Halloween. Astrid meets attractive local boy Jeremy (Arthur Conti) who invites her to spend Halloween with him rather than at the wedding. Meanwhile, in the afterlife Betelgeuse now manages an office of shrunken head “bio-exorcists” assisted by the nervous “Bob” (voiced by Nick Kellington). He learns that his former wife Delores (Monica Bellucci) has escaped, draining the souls of the dead in search of him. Astrid learns that Jeremy is not who she thinks he is and it is up to Lydia to save her daughter…and, to her dread, she will need the help of Betelgeuse to do it.
It is great to see another “Beetlejuice” film though I am not entirely sure there was a huge demand for it. This sequel perhaps does not have the sheer mania of the original but it still is a lot of fun and does feature much of the original cast with an impressive return to the leading role by Michael Keaton (with the amount of makeup he wears, he looks exactly like he did in the first film). It is great to see how the characters from the first film have evolved since we last saw them with Catherine O'Hara still incredibly funny as the ditzy modern artist mother while Winona Ryder's Lydia struggling to shake off the trauma of the first film though seeking to make a living by hosting a supernatural talk show. It takes some time to get going but the last third of the film moves along at quite a clip with the return of the original film's whit (the “soul train” bit is quite funny though perhaps more than a bit over-egged) and occasional shock-horror (“let me spill my guts”…ewww!).
The story is perfectly suitable though not really that interesting other than a few slightly shock-y twists (me and my companion turned to be correct in guessing that something was not quite right with one of the characters) and the whole episode is tidied up quite satisfactorily in the end complete with an elaborate sequence in the church. In the first half of the film there is the frequent switching between our world and the supernatural world which is a bit of a relief as the real world is quite mundane but when the two come together the film really comes alive. As an aside, oddly, there are an unusual number of musical numbers where Keaton mimes to the music of the 90s…which I do not really remember from the original film and seem a bit out of place, but are amusing anyway.
With Tim Burton running to the director's seat in this sequel (unusually) we see his whimsical fingerprints everywhere including his use of stop-motion animation and, of course, gothic themes. Truth be told, here the mania is somewhat muted as we are treated to some amazing views of New England in the fall and spend a bit more time with people in the real world while flashing in only brief episodes to the OTT vision of the after-life where Burton is his most Burton.
Good lot of fun that should not be taken too seriously but will keep viewers, particularly those of the original film, quite entertained with the return of Burton's quirky character and world. Those who have not seen the original should be able to pick up what is going on with a moderate amount of exposition here though they will likely miss a number of the in-jokes.
Rating: “Nearly perfect, but not quite”
Review Date: 2024-10-05
Directed by: Tim Burton
Studio: Warner Bros.
Year: 2024
Length: 105 minutes
Genre: Comedy
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2049403/
Other reviewed films by Tim Burton:
- Big Fish (2003)
- Alice in Wonderland (2010)
Other reviewed films by Tim Burton and Mike Johnson:
- Corpse Bride (2005)