There is undoubtedly a ton of hype surrounding Tim Burton‘s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. That was evident when I got to the theater for my showing on Tuesday in Boston and there was a throng of people lined out the door and down the block of the AMC I was visiting. People love Beetlejuice, and it’s clear why. It’s got great performances, especially from the young and (at the time) newly discovered Michael Keaton. The story is engaging and Burton’s atmosphere and style shines through. I adore the original film about as much as the folks dressed as the ‘Juice at the theater, so I was incredibly excited to sit down and see the long-awaited sequel. And folks, it did not disappoint.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice takes place 36 years after the original film. Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder), now famous with a tv show where she contacts ghosts, begins to see visions of her old nemesis. When her father abruptly passes, she heads home with her daughter Astrid (Jenna Ortega) and her boyfriend/manager Rory (Justin Theroux) to comfort her mother Delia (Catherine O’Hara). Meanwhile, in the undead realm, Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton) plots how to get Lydia back, and an old lover returns to take revenge and a new threat emerges.
I was incredibly impressed by how well Burton is able to establish a sense of familiarity while also expanding the universe of the film in very meaningful ways. Both the fictional town of Winter River, Connecticut and the Undead realm feel much more fleshed out. Yet, there’s a great familiarity here in Burton’s sets and design, all the way down to rebuilding the original Deetz house in the same location in East Corinth, VT. That level of detail really comes out on screen. The added screentime for the town and the underworld contributes even more to the “lived in” feeling the film gives off.
I have to give credit as well to Burton’s set and character design. There’s plenty of practical effects and sets used that feel like a breath of fresh air and contribute wholly to his style. The whole movie feels properly weird as only Burton could achieve, and it looks fantastic.
Being able to bring back the original cast also helped the film tremendously. Keaton, Ryder and O’Hara are spectacular and bring so much extra depth to each character. In Keaton’s case, he’s able to channel what made Beetlejuice so popular in the first place. His unpredictably and raunchy humor just works. Again, it contributes to this feeling of “familiar, yet different” from the movie.
The newcomers are great here too. While Willem Dafoe’s “Wolf Jackson” and Monica Belluci’s “Delores” do feel a tad underdeveloped, each give great performances that work incredibly well in Burton’s style. Jenna Ortega really stands out here, as if she was born for this kind of role. She’s already established herself as a “creep queen” with her role in Netflix’s Wednesday, and in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice she’s able to channel that energy in a space that feels perfect. She and Ryder especially work well together as a mother and daughter, and with Ryder having a plethora of experience in that sort of role with Stranger Things, it just feels so natural.
Really what impressed me the most though is how good the writing is. The dialogue is smart and witty. There’s plenty of genuinely laugh-out-loud moments from all of the characters, but especially Keaton’s Beetlejuice and O’Hara’s Delia Deetz. One scene in particular even remixes the famous “Banana Boat (Day-O)” music scene from the original that’s just hilarious. It’s these little moments that break up the film properly, so it doesn’t feel too weird or too scary or too funny. Plus, the story is genuinely interesting too and is just different enough to make it feel like the film isn’t just rehashing the original in a way all too familiar for legacy sequels these days.
It does bear noting, though, that while the story is solid, I felt a bit underwhelmed from some plot beats. I thought that Delores was an interesting new villain, but she really gets very little attention and, by the end of the film, feels wholly unnecessary to the main the story. Same with the addition of Wolf Jackson. They have great moments, but really don’t feel necessary and lead to somewhat unsatisfying payoffs towards the end. That said, the main focus of the story is still really entertaining and fresh. But if there had been a streamlined focus, I really think Beetlejuice Beetlejuice could have been that much better.
Final Thoughts
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is an incredibly worthy sequel to the 1988 original film. It’s genuinely funny and tells an engaging story that doesn’t just feel like a rehash of its predecessor. Fans of the original will love it, and hopefully folks new to the series will find it a fun and easy watch. Everyone from Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder to Catherine O’Hara and newcomer Jenna Ortega are great and it’s certainly become one of my favorite films of 2024.
