‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ Review: The Juice is Back But Will This Legacy Sequel Quench Anybody’s Thirst? | Venice

Thirty six years have passed since audiences were introduced to the weird and wonderful mind of filmmaker Tim Burton. His sophomore feature Beetlejuice – a supernatural comedy about an undead ghost couple and the demented “bio-exorcist” demon they hire to scare the new lodgers away from their home, really put him on the map as a visionary filmmaker.

What audiences didn’t know at the time was Burton was also fundamentally laying the groundwork for what would become his signature style; macabre and gothic sensibilities, eccentric and often misunderstood characters and his penchant for old-school techniques like stop-motion animation and special effects have all become synonymous with his cinematic brand – all of which originated in Beetlejuice. 

It was also the beginning of his frequent collaboration with actor Michael Keaton who starred as the titular clown-ghoul Beetleguese (or Beetlejuice if you’re nasty). Despite only having 17 minutes of screentime, Keaton’s wily and wacky performance left an indelible mark on audiences and has become one of his most treasured and recognisable roles. Second only to his subsequent Burton-collaboration as the titular Batman.

Both of Keaton’s biggest Burton-helmed characters have been brought out of retirement recently for a victory lap. Keaton reprised the role of Bruce Wayne in 2023’s multiverse-hopping The Flash and now he’s stepped back into the pin-striped suit once again to cause havoc for the town of Winter River and the Deetz family. 

Set thirty years after the events of the first film, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice sees the return of a now grown up Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder) working as a professional psychic mediator with her own TV series. Her dreary teenage daughter Astrid (Jenna Ortega) believes her mother is a fraud and resents her for both her occupation and for her romantic relationship with her slimy manager Rory (Justin Theroux).

After the loss of a family member, Lydia must to return to Winter River with her daughter and callous stepmother Delia (Catherine O’Hara), where she must confront the trauma of being betrothed to the demented Beetlejuice as a teenager, make peace with her past and heal her current relationship with her daughter.

Meanwhile Beetlejuice (Keaton) is having marital issues of his own, after his literal soul-sucking ex-wife Delores (Monica Belucci) breaks free of her prison and seeks revenge on her ex for dismembering and separating her body parts. Belucci’s entrance to the film where she reattaches said body parts with a staple gun (to The Bee Gees’ “Tragedy,” no less) is easily the highlight of her entire character arc. After such a strong introduction, it’s disappointing that she is given nothing else to do other than wander around looking for Beetlejuice with venomous eyes. What a waste of a perfectly good Belucci. 

This sadly isn’t the only subplot that feels underbaked. Astrid’s crush on a cute emo boy called Jeremy (Arthur Conti) has no time to blossom or breathe and ends as abruptly as it starts. The original Beetlejuice screenplay had very little plot but Alfred Gough and Miles Millar screenplay is guilty of having too much of it. 

Legacy sequels these days tend to fall into two categories; soulless cash grabs or Top Gun: Maverick and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice falls somewhere in the middle. It is evident there was passion behind the project with plenty of visible attempts from Burton to recapture the magic of the first film with lots of silly sight gags, off-kilter set designs and the frantic score from Danny Elfman. 

The production values of the film are a visual splendour. One can’t help but let their eyes scatter around the screen at Mark Scruton’s opulent underworld sets and Colleen Atwood’s kooky-spooky costume designs. Also one has to applaud the heavy usage of practical effects, miniature models and practical special effects makeup which are the building blocks of Burton’s world-building.

The actors are all clearly onboard for a good time and everyone is well suited for their roles particularly Justin Theroux as the meddling fiancé Rory and Willem Dafoe as the wannabe cop Wolf Jackson who is just an undead actor in the role of his lifetime. But even in the hands of the original director, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice simply doesn’t feel as fresh the second time around. Nods and playful references to the first film are abundant but the gleeful chaotic energy of the first film feels unmatched in this followup – and that’s with Beetlejuice getting a more front-and centre role in this outing. Even with a spirited turn from Keaton, it just goes to show that less sometimes really is more.

The beautifully bonkers Calypso scene is given an upgrade here, this time with the MacArthur Park song but what was wonderful about the original was how that scene caught us so off guard. In a sequel, references to fan-favourite moments or lines are expected but rarely topped. 

The original Beetlejuice was quite frankly an anomaly and also a quintessential movie of the 1980s. In fact it’s a film that could only have been made in the eighties – back when studios were more prone to taking risks on up-and-coming filmmakers and original zanier concepts. The fact this weird comedic fantasy crossed over into the mainstream is a miracle in and of itself. 

The sad truth is a film like Beetlejuice would struggle to get greenlit today. But in an age where established IP and franchises are the order of the day, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is another in a long line of legacy sequels that offers the viewer a morsel of what they love but will walk away from it feeling ultimately unnourished. Like the haunted Deetz household, it’s fine for a visit but you wouldn’t want to stay there. 

Grade C

This review is from the 2024 Venice Film Festival where Beetlejuice Beetlejuice premiered out of Competition. Warner Bros will release the film theatrically September 6.