Say his name three times and Michael Keaton’s madcap demon prankster appears. Say his name twice, and you have Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, a sequel that — surprisingly — is as bright as it eerie.
The deeply weird and softly familial 1988 cult hit Beetlejuice has had a strange impact on popular culture since its debut so many years ago. That ranges from its iconic title character and Michael Keaton’s star-making performance to its impact cementing Tim Burton as a heartfelt director with a taste for the macabre.
Burton now returns to one of his biggest treats in a rare career sequel for him, but here’s the trick: this return of Beetlejuice, while less defining and urgently attention grabbing, is a well-produced evolution of all the parts that made the first film so likeable.
There are two parts that make the snarky titled Beetlejuice Beetlejuice as fun and inventive a success: the first is the combined commitment and talent from the returning and new cast alike. The second is sharp, playful and re-energized direction from Burton, with his most engaging film in several years, if not longer.
For anyone who wasn’t alive when the first film came out 36 years ago, the basic idea is that a teen named Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder) and her family moved into a house newly haunted by good-natured ghosts and the recent summoning of the meddling demon prankster Betelgeuse.
In this freaky follow-up, a now grown Lydia returns to the town of Winter River to help with funeral arrangements of her father, only for fractures between her and her stepmother Delia (a still hilarious Catherine O’Hara) and daughter Astrid (Jenna Ortega, of Wednesday fame) to require Betelgeuse’s summoning once again.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’s story offers a few surprises which I won’t allude to, but what caught me off guard was how sincerely funny and sweet the story was. There’s one or two too many subplots, but the main focus is clearly on the trio of women at the heart of the Deetz family and Ryder, Ortega and O’Hara are spellbinding together.
Keaton is clearly having a blast stepping back into the suit of one of his most famous characters, and they only lead an otherwise flawless cast. Danny DeVito has a hysterical cameo near the start, and newcomer Arthur Conti gives a great turn as Jeremy, the new boy in Astrid’s life (with whom Ortega has great chemistry.)
All of these individual parts only work, however, due to Tim Burton freeing himself from the confines of studio interference into his truly original style on screen. His confidence is more refreshing than arrogant, and that’s evident from the fun the cast and crew are having.
The living and undead Beetlejuice world is cool, foreboding, sticky, funny, and a little spooky all at once. That mix is only interesting to be in so long as there’s an undercurrent of hope that the haunting is temporary, and that the familial bonds of the Deetz women will overcome Betelgeuse’s antics.
When writing about Burton and Keaton’s Dumbo remake five years ago, I called the film disappointing based on it’s unrelenting darkness. But Beetlejuice has a greater balance that makes the movie funny, creepy and sincere all at once. Sure it’s wacky and a bit incoherent, but it’s also a lot of fun to watch.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is a great new Halloween movie, though its humour is edgier and slightly more adult than the original’s, meaning even though the film is PG it pushes the boundaries of that rating quite seriously — it’s more like 14A-lite.
The return of Beetlejuice caps off what’s been a cautiously optimistic summer for sequel films, but unlike the bio-exorcist’s striped suit, that endorsement isn’t wholly black and white. If you didn’t like the first film, this won’t change your mind.
For those looking for a silly, slapstick spookiest, just say a certain spectre’s name three times, and enjoy watching hell let loose.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
8 out of 10
Rated PG, 1hr 44mins. Fantasy Horror Comedy.
Directed by Tim Burton.
Starring Winona Ryder, Jenna Ortega, Michael Keaton, Catherine O'Hara, Justin Theroux and Willem Dafoe.
