BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE (2024)
New this week in theaters from Warner Brothers!
Directed by Tim Burton.
Written by Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, Seth Grahame-Smith (story/screenplay) from characters created by Michael McDowell, Larry Wilson.
Trailer: https://youtu.be/CoZqL9N6Rx4

After 36 years, the ghost with the most is back. Though he only has 14 minutes of screentime, which is 30 seconds less than he did in the original, Michael Keaton returns as Beetleguese, who is resigned to managing a call center for the recently deceased, which seems like a fitting and hellish punishment. The film opens with the accidental resurrection of Beetlegeuse’s long dead wife Delores (played by Monica Bellucci) which also happens to be the worst kind of ghost—a soul sucker. And Delores goes on a rampage to find her lost lover. Meanwhile, in the world of the living, Lydia Deitz (Winona Ryder) is the host of a ghost hunting show and still maintains the ability to see ghosts, though constant pill popping dampens that power—don’t’ worry, this film doesn’t get much into her drug addiction…this is a feel good horror comedy after all. Lydia is contacted by her stepmother Delia (Catherine O’Hara) who bears news that her father Charles (played in the original by Jeffery Jones) has passed away, leading Lydia to contact her estranged daughter Astrid (Jenna Malone) at boarding school and bring everyone back to the house on the hill for a cemetery. All of these characters and more along with many plotlines come together to make this long-awaited sequel, BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE.

I loved BEETLEJUICE and even though I was getting too old for cartoons, I loved those as well. And while I am always cynical approaching sequels and reboots of eighties properties, since it seems much of the cast that made the first film so good are back. Now, I’m not a fan of horror comedies, as the balance between horror and comedy is rarely made, with many horror comedies toning down the horror in order to lighten the mood and cause a laugh. But Tim Burton is cut from a different cloth. He lives a dark and morbid life, or at least grew up with one. He is able to juggle laughs and gasps deftly, even quite ingeniously at times. While his work hasn’t been as impressive over the last few years, he’s crafted a lot of great films in his day. BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE is another one of his good ones. And I’ll get into all of the goods in a second, but let’s get the not so good stuff out of the way first.

BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE suffers quite a bit from BATMAN RETURNS-it is, meaning there’s an overabundance of distinct characters. This film is cluttered with not only a whole lot of characters, but a bunch of storylines that really don’t have a lot to do with the main story. Now, Burton and his writers do a pretty strong job of juggling these different characters, allowing their various stories to crisscross and meet at various points in the story in logical and entertaining ways. This is mainly because the charisma of the entire cast, so I often didn’t mind that the film was spending some time with this sideplot or that one, because the actors were fun to watch and it was obvious they were enjoying themselves and giving it their all. But when they introduce Astrid’s love interest Jeremy (HOUSE OF DRAGONS’ Arthur Conti) and Wolf Jackson (Willem Dafoe) as the investigator who chases after souls escaping from the afterlife and then we got into their backstories and motivation, I was beginning to feel overwhelmed at the amount of story, character, and character backstory this film tries to cram into an hour and forty-five minutes. Sure, somehow, Burton and Co. made it all fit, but I feel some characters, like Belluci’s Delores gets the short end of the stick as she features prominently in the beginning and then disappears until the last act. Had there not been so many characters brought back from the original and new characters introduced in this one, I think the more compelling and more horrific aspects of the film (at least to me) might have given a little more time to flourish. Unfortunately, Delores is not only scuffled off stage, but she’s taken care of way, way, way to easily and quickly in the end.

I also wasn’t a huge fan of the soundtrack, save for a damn near perfect use of the song “MacArthur Park” by the late Richard Harris—a rock opera sequence which shows some of Burton’s imagination maniacally untethered. It may not be as iconic as the Day-O sequence from the first one, but this new musical sequence is quite a glorious watch. The rest of the soundtrack was comprised of 90’s emo bands like Stone Temple Pilots, early Sigur Ros, and the like. I just feel that any time a pop song from whatever era is played, some Danny Elfman scores would have done the film much better. Elfman’s BEETLEJUICE score is present, but many of the scenes, at least in the middle portion of the film, are established with 90’s nostalgia. There’s a reason for the use of this era’s songs in the story, but still, it took me out of the movie.

Finally, in the critical department, but more of a curiosity than a critique, though Jeffrey Jones does not appear in the film as the actor has been banished from Hollywood for some very atrocious acts, his character, name, and likeness is featured extremely prominently in the film. Now, they came up with some pretty creative sequences to work around the appearance of Jones in this film, but while this might be a common way to get rid of a problematic actor, most times the character’s demise is mentioned and then the story moves on. Here, Jones’ character Charles factors greatly into the story itself, his face is featured on the gravestone, his name pops up in every other conversation. Burton might as well have brought Jones back for the amount of times he is mentioned or shown in some form in the film. Now, if I were a suspicious man, and sometimes, who am I kidding, often I am, the frequency of the mention of Jones’ character in this story feels like some kind of “eff you” from Burton to the establishment for Jones’ exile. I don’t know anything for a fact and I certainly am not giving Jones any kind of pass for what he did, but it just felt odd that so much time was given to this actor on screen. I’m sure Burton was friends with Jones (he did star in BEETLEJUICE, ED WOOD, and SLEEPY HOLLOW, after all) and maybe this was his way for sticking up for the outcasted actor. I don’t want to talk out of school but with Jones’ illegal issues, the funeral scene has little boys singing over Charles’ grave, the fact that the original BEETLEJUICE was all about an older man attempting to marry an underage girl, and Burton’s tendency to cast young, pale brunettes in his films throughout his entire career…well…it’s just something that makes ya go hmmm.

After that disturbing detour, let’s move on to the positive. As I said before, everyone in the cast seems to be having the time of their lives, and even better, the material they are working with may be better written than the first film itself. I mentioned the multiple plotlines and characters, but somehow, someway, Burton and his writers pull the whole thing off by the end of the movie—giving each character their own arc, thing to do with the story, and scenes highlighting just what makes the actor and the character they play so special to warrant a sequel all of these years later. Winona Ryder is the best she’s been in ages—though I know she’s already kind of made a comeback in STRANGER THINGS, here she feels like a big screen movie star and I hope this kind of reinvigorates her film career. She brings a wonderful contradiction to Lydia, who is still haunted from her encounter with Beetlejuice. Seeing her own daughter rebel against her as Lydia did with Delia gives a wonderful symmetry to the character. Jenna Ortega was over exposed about a year or two ago, but she has developed into a very talented actress and is given some complex hurdles to leap in this film. This is very much a movie that revolves around Ortega and Ryder and the really deliver in their roles.

Catherine O’Hara has always been fun and has seen quite a bit of notoriety from her role in SCHITT’S CREEK. I liked the evolution of her character, though she still remains the same shallow artist she was in the first film. A strong subplot of both BEETLEJUICE and its sequel is the vapid and vile nature of the modern art scene and Delia represents all of that well while still offering up a character worth caring about. And Justin Theroux has a smaller role that is less developed, but still plays Rory, the smarmy husband to be to Lydia, maybe too well. The film is filled with a cameo or two that I found to be wonderful, but I won’t spoil the surprise here.

Finally, Michael Keaton, who as I mentioned earlier, only appears in 14 minutes of this movie, is still ever present as the titular character. Even though a lot of his antics are revealed in the trailer, some of the best stuff is saved for the movie itself. We even get a little bit of Beetlejuice’s origin story in a glorious black and white ode to Mario Bava and maybe a little bit of Coffin Joe. The guitar solo on the toy tombstone still has be laughing and I think both Burton and Keaton realized that taking the less is more approach with the character is the best way to go. Here he pops in and out of the story long enough to entertain, but never overstays his welcome and always leaves you itching for more. Keaton proves he still has that megastar appeal.

But as with the first film, what sets BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE apart from the rest of the wannabe horror comedies is Burton’s commitment to the horror of it all. There might be a darker tone in this film than the original as the film explores some of the other darker corners of this twisted realm of the afterlife and the sometimes more nightmarish world of the living. As with the original again, the afterlife sequences, where the dead are forced to do labors in menial office jobs, are some of the most entertaining with one particular sequence involving an express train being one of the most clever, non-PC, and funniest part of the movie. The effects are mostly practical or rudimentary animation and even Claymation. Still, it manages to be quite gory and goopy even though this is a PG-13 rated film. I was kind of surprised at the amount of blood and gru Burton got away with. And yes, the shrunken head characters almost steal the show this time around as well.

Criticisms and cringy subtext aside, BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE is one hell of a fun ride. It’s not perfect. But it’s legions better than most of the other modern reboots of old nostalgic properties. There are a few callbacks, but for the most part is this just a new story with some of your favorite characters, which is really what I want to see in a sequel like this. Keaton and the rest of the cast bring their best and while the plot is full and abundant, it manages to keep it all together by the end. Now, I hope the powers that be won’t rush a follow up, as the third installment feels inevitable. I mean, how can they not want to make a BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE? But if enough talent, imagination, passion and most important energy is put into another one, I’m there for it.

Like, Share, and Subscribe already!!!

Help me out at my Patreon page here – https://www.patreon.com/MLMiller
Read written reviews and my comics news at https://mlmillerwrites.com/
Follow me on Twitter @Mark_L_Miller

Want some spooky comics? My two new trade paperback collections of PIROUETTE and GRAVETRANCERS are out now! Please show your support and let your comic shop know you NEED a copy! If they’re out, tell them to order more!

You can find your local comic shop on the Comic Shop Locator. https://www.comicshoplocator.com/

Music Written by Tim Heidecker
Music & Arrangement by Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy https://youtu.be/PDySbxQgZMg
(I do not own this music)