REVIEW — “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice”

It’s (finally) showtime! For the first time in 36 years, visionary director Tim Burton and star Michael Keaton dig up their best creation for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, a fun and ghastly legacy sequel joyride that doubles the weird before running out of juice.

With the career resurgence of its main cast over the last decade, the stars finally aligned for the return of Beetlejuice — appropriate for a character named after the Betelgeuse star. The mischievous and devious bio-exorcist ghost created by Burton was last performed by Keaton in 1988’s groundbreaking horror/comedy Beetlejuice.

A long time coming, Keaton finally exhumes his best character, bringing the depraved and vile Beetlejuice back to (after)life. As the ghost with the most, the Birdman and Batman star’s still got the juice, but, again, we are grave-robbed of enough time with him. However, we are treated to a mini-origin story for the character and Keaton’s performance is worth the wait.

Returning alongside Keaton are Winona Ryder (Stranger Things) as Lydia Deetz and Catherine O’Hara (Schitt$ Creek) as Delia Deetz. They are joined by Jenna Ortega (breakout star of Burton’s Wednesday) as Lydia’s rebellious teenage daughter, Astrid. As three generations of the Deetz family, the femme trio play well off each other’s eccentricities.

Reluctantly exploiting her gift for seeing ghosts, Lydia now works as a cheesy TV medium for her enabling boyfriend, Rory (hilariously played by Justin Theroux). Still haunted by Beetlejuice, Lydia’s life is turned upside down after the untimely and grisly passing of her father, Charles Deetz (an unfeatured Jeffery Jones). To bury their family patriarch, the mourning women must return to their Winter River home, the setting of the original film.

When Astrid discovers the Maitland’s town model in the attic, a portal to the Afterlife is accidentally opened. With trouble brewing in both realms, Lydia must say Beetlejuice’s name three times and rely on the mischievous demon’s brand of grotesque but clever mayhem to rescue her daughter.

Unfortunately, the film suffers from few too many subplots that feature fun-but-underserved ancillary characters that are hot on Beetlejuice’s trail, like Willem Dafoe’s hammy undead movie cop, Wolf Jackson, and Monica Bellucci’s soul-sucking jilted bride, Delores.

However, the most interesting subplot involves the introduction of Astrid’s love interest Jeremy (Arthur Conti) and the pair’s descent into the underworld. This nefarious storyline (and Lydia’s ensuing rescue attempt with the help of Beetlejuice) is when the film really gets going as it introduces real peril and emotional stakes for our heroines. While this subplot reaches a satisfying conclusion, it is wrapped up much too early, and the rest of the film suffers for it.

A highlight of the film is Burton’s return to practical effects, stop motion animation, animatronics, and puppetry with the help of Oscar-winning creature effects and special makeup FX creative supervisor Neal Scanlan (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory). The film features new and creepy undead creatures, gory sight gags, and beautiful gothic scenery. Burton directs the Warner Bros. Pictures release from a screenplay by Alfred Gough & Miles Millar and a story by Gough & Millar and Seth Grahame-Smith, based on characters created by Michael McDowell and Larry Wilson.

For fans of the first film, the goosebumps will appear as soon as Danny Elfman’s main title theme kicks in. In the original film, Burton’s go-to composer (Big Fish, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Batman) used Harry Belafonte’s hits “Jump in the Line” and “Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)” as musical motifs. In the sequel, he turns to the infamous 70s ballad “MacArthur Park” for inspiration. While the melancholy song about lost love at an ex’s wedding is fitting for its intended scene, the sequel’s obligatory possessed lip-syncing musical dance sequence overstays its welcome, especially when paired with a prolonged disco-fueled Soul Train joke that is as jarring as it is loud. Such strange choices in the film’s final act just for the sake of keeping things weird only serve to slow any earned momentum, drifting the film to a listless and confusing finale. Speaking of weird, Weird Al already perfected the MacArthur Park musical parody 30 years ago.

While it’s an often fun and frantic joyride into the underworld, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice could use a better final act. Perhaps an assumed Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Beetlejuice will be the third time charm for the franchise to get its groove back, pay due respect to Lydia’s co-parents the Maitlands (Alec Baldwin & Geena Davis), and seek justice for Bob. Here’s hoping they don’t take another 35 years to summon the juice to complete this trilogy. 3.5/5

Rated PG-13 with a running time of 1 hour, 44 minutes, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice opens in theaters nationwide September 6, 2024.