‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ a surprisingly lively legacy sequel
Tim Burton and Michael Keaton return with a messy but mostly successful follow-up to their 1988 hit.
I will admit that I’ve been extremely skeptical, for quite a while, about Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Tim Burton’s new sequel to 1988’s Beetlejuice.
I haven’t enjoyed most of Burton’s post-Big Fish output, especially when he’s waded into already well-trodden intellectual property. I didn’t get the sense that the Beetlejuice world had much remaining story left to tell, and I haven’t been impressed with the recent updates of that other 1980s franchise that deals with the afterlife, the Ghostbusters movies.
I’d rather see Michael Keaton do something original than continue revisiting his characters from the late 1980s. The film’s trailers were dire, giving the impression that the film was little more than extended fan service congratulating viewers on noticing callbacks to an exceptionally popular movie from 36 years ago.
So, I was surprised how much I enjoyed Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. It goes beyond pure fan service and nostalgia, finding some creative directions to go with the concept. The production design on either side of the afterlife is always stellar. And the film is surprisingly strong as a comedy.
Sure, the plot could be more organized and balanced, but overall, the film is a success.
The original Beetlejuice, which arrived in 1988, was just Burton’s second feature after Pee Wee’s Big Adventure; he and Keaton would reteam the following year on what’s now referred to as Batman ’89. With its macabre visual style and spooky score by Danny Elfman, Beetlejuice would help cement Burton’s aesthetic signature.
The original film featured Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis as a newly dead couple who find their house occupied by a family called the Deetzes (parents Jeffrey Jones and Catherine O’Hara, with their “goth” daughter Lydia (Winona Ryder). The ghosts summon a havoc-causing demon named Betelgeuse (better known by the spelling of the title), who becomes obsessed with marrying Lydia.
The sequel's plot is much busier, and judging by the complex screenwriting credits, it has been in the works for a very long time.
Baldwin and Davis are absent in the sequel, and needless to say, so is Jones (more on him later.) Lydia is now the host of a Ghost Hunters-like TV show and the widowed mother of Astrid (Jenna Ortega, also the star of Burton’s Wednesday TV show, which was co-created by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, the co-writers of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.)
Lydia is under pressure to marry her scummy manager (Justin Theroux) while her daughter is bullied at school. When a shocking death in the family occurs, that familiar trickster ends up back in their lives as the action shifts back and forth from the “real world” to the afterlife.
I wasn’t sure about this film early on. Still, it won me over when Beetlejuice started speaking German for no reason to introduce a flashback involving his ex-wife (an underused Monica Bellucci). Other inspired ideas include an afterlife detective (Willem Dafoe) who was merely an actor who played a detective on TV.
Some moments feel telegraphed, including a late musical number and various shots and lines that directly reference the original. A “baby” version of Beetlejuice seems destined, like Baby Yoda, to sell many toys. But overall, the film is fun enough to overcome that.
I could tell Keaton was having a great deal of fun playing this character again, while I’ve missed Ryder in movies, although O’Hara gets more to do than either her or Ortega.
As for Jeffrey Jones, the longtime Burton perennial has been persona non grata for many years due to his status as a convicted child sex offender. The film presents an animated version of the character dying violently, followed by a ghost of the character walking around with no head. It might be the most creative workaround for a #MeToo casualty to date, although I’ve heard some grumbling that we must see Jones’ face a handful of times.
Is there hope for Tim Burton yet? Perhaps there is.