A Reel Review: BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE

Strange and unusual director Tim Burton has not had the best millennium; directing an impressive number of stinkers with only the occasional flashes of brilliance that put him on the Hollywood map. After his disastrous DUMBO remake in 2019, he vanished into the underworlds of streaming with success…and this year he returns to the big screen by resurrecting his most iconic creation…the ghost with the most, Betelgeuse in BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE. 

 

Lydia (Winona Ryder), along with her daughter Astrid (Jenna Ortega), and her stepmom Delia (Catherine O’Hara), return to Winter River for the funeral of Charles. Once back in their old house, Betelgeuse (Michael Keaton), is brought back to the land of the living. 

 

Directed by Tim Burton and set 36 years after the events of the first film, BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE is a loaded film. Lydia these days has her hands full with a new fiancée (Justin Theroux), and dealing with her daughter who hates her guts. Astrid in the meantime gets tricked into the underworld in a desire to see her dead father (Santiago Cabrera), which leads Lydia to seek out help from Betelgeuse. Betelgeuse has his own problems, with his ex-wife Delores (Monica Bellucci), seeking revenge against him, which earns the attention of a ghost detective (Willem Dafoe). 

 

If all that sounds like a lot, it is. BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE is at its strongest when focusing on the family issues of Lydia, Astrid, and Delia. But just when the film finds a good groove, it has to cut away for what seems like an intrusive storyline of Betelgeuse’s revenge-seeking ex-wife who is sucking the souls out of dead people in the afterlife. This leads to even more time having to be spent with the ghost detective. While the ex-wife scenes are well-done and Bellucci is well-cast, there isn’t nearly enough payoff for it all. All of it could be exorcised from the film and it would not affect anything save for the run time. 

 

There is still plenty to enjoy here. The atmosphere of the first film is perfectly recaptured; the quirks, the ghostly bits, and even the old cast seems to slip right back into their roles. There is a commitment to practical effects work that really works and adds to the charm, and the setting of just before Halloween gives it an October watchlist vibe. Burton also does well in exploring and expanding the afterlife world with its inner workings revealed. Flashbacks are handled beautifully using Claymation and black-and-white filming, although an extended song-and-dance routine near the end goes on way too long, and the chosen song is a stinker. There are also some weird editing decisions made; the long-awaited big reveal of Betelgeuse's return is lazily handled. 

 

Acting is mostly superb. Michael Keaton brings back Betelgeuse very well and is a blast, but he seems tamer…likely a byproduct of his age. Jenna Ortega is a delight and carries the film. Winona Ryder and Catherine O’Hara are excellent. Justin Theroux is just annoying. 

 

BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE feels like it was playing with several different ideas and concepts in the writing stage, most of which could have been saved for a third film, but then decided to cram everything in one place in case BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE doesn’t get made. What we are left with is a film that is frustratingly overcomplicated. It’s not dead-on-arrival, but it won’t make your millennia either. 

 

BOTTOM LINE: Rent it