By John Corrado

Michael Keaton returns to one of his most iconic roles in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, a legacy sequel that finds director Tim Burton going back to the world of his 1988 film. The result is the filmmaker’s freest and most spirited work in some time, with a refreshing sense of playfulness and creativity to it.

This sequel to Beetlejuice brings back Winona Ryder as Lydia Deetz, who is now struggling as the mother to her own sullen teenage daughter, Astrid (Jenna Ortega). Astrid has grown distant from her, and gives her a hard time, in the same way that teenage Lydia gave stepmother Delia (Catherine O’Hara) a hard time in the first movie.

Lydia has used her gift for seeing the undead to become the host of the ghost-hunting TV show Ghost House, with her producer boyfriend Rory (Justin Theroux) capitalizing on her paranormal gifts. She remains haunted by visions of Betelgeuse (Keaton), the exhuberent “bio-exorcist” who is still fixated on her from the afterlife, and just waiting for someone to say his name three times and summon him back to the land of the living.

The Deetz woman are drawn back to their old house in Winter River. Like the original, this is where much of the film takes place. Astrid discovers the old model of the town in the attic. Lydia warns her to be careful, but rules get broken, and portals to the Afterlife are opened. The sequences in the Afterlife are where Burton has the most fun, getting to showcase a whole host of comically macabre undead characters, brought to life through impressive makeup and prosthetics work (like the “shrinkers,” with their oversized suits and tiny, shrunken heads).

If the story has its shortcomings, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice mainly works as a showcase for its imaginative production design and practical effects, allowing Burton to play around again in this world. Despite all of the advancements in CG technology in the over three decades since the first movie, Burton makes the creative choice to go back to the sandbox of doing things on-set and in-camera, giving the film a more tactile feel.

Burton incorporates stop-motion elements, including a whole animated sequence, and a black-and-white flashback done in the style of an old Italian horror movie. We can tell that he is happy to be creatively freed from doing live action Disney remakes like Dumbo (the screenplay even gets in some digs at the Mouse House). At its best, such as the show-stopping climactic sequence set to the Richard Harris song “MacArthur Park” (all seven minutes of it), the film simply finds the director having fun.

The cast is also having a ball. Ryder has quite believably aged up her character, and Ortega – star of Burton’s Addams Family series Wednesday – is inspired casting as her daughter, taking up the mantle as goth-adjacent emo girl. Like in the first film, Keaton makes the most of his screen time, recapturing the manic energy of his titular character. The physicality of his performance is impressive, considering that Keaton is now in his 70s. Willem Dafoe is also a delightful addition to the cast as Wolf Jackson, a deceased B-grade actor who played a cop in real life and is now a detective in the afterlife.

The plot itself feels a bit undercooked and scattershot in places. Monica Bellucci is a little underused as Delores, a disembodied woman from Betelgeuse’s past who stitches her limbs back together. There is a teen romance subplot between Astrid and Jeremy (Arthur Conti) that has some interesting elements to it but also feels rushed. The film can feel short at 104 minutes. But Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is an enjoyable legacy sequel that serves as a worthy successor to the original. It’s simply an entertaining, darkly comic romp, and it’s good to see more of Burton’s imagination back onscreen.

Film Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)

Bonus Features (4K Ultra HD):

The 4K disc comes loaded with bonus features, including a commentary track and multiple “behind the scenes” featurettes. A code for a digital copy is also included in the package, which ships with a slipcover.

• Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Commentary by Director Tim Burton

• The Juice is Loose! The Making of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (27 minutes, 37 seconds): An interesting overview of the sequel’s development and production, from bringing back the original cast members, to going back to Vermont to shoot on-location, rebuilding the sets from the first movie, and doing pretty much everything with practical effects.

• The Ghost With the Most: Beetlejuice Returns (8 minutes, 34 seconds): Keaton talks about how he initially developed the character in the first film, and reprising the role over thirty years later.

• Meet the Deetz (6 minutes, 52 seconds): Ryder, Ortega and O’Hara talk about their roles in the film, and portraying the dynamic between the three generations of Deetz women.

• Shrinkers, Shrinkers Everywhere! (6 minute, 26 seconds): A look at bringing the “Shrinkers” to the screen through actors in suits with animatronic shrunken heads, based on the design of the one we saw sitting on the couch in the waiting room in the first movie. Now Betelgeuse has a whole office staff of them, led by Bob (Nick Kellington).

• An Animated Afterlife: The Stop-Motion Art of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (9 minutes, 14 seconds): The animators and puppet makers at Mackinnon & Saunders talk about crafting the stop-motion elements in the film, from the shark to the iconic black and white striped sandworms.

• The Handbook for the Recently Deceased (12 minute, 7 seconds): Supporting actor Danny DeVito “hosts” this look at how they crafted the look of the Afterlife, from the elaborate sets to various background characters, and the in-camera effects work behind key sequences with Bellucci and DeVito.

• ‘Til Death Do Us Park: Beetlejuice and Lydia’s First Dance (7 minutes, 54 seconds): A fun breakdown of how they crafted the climactic “MacArthur Park” set-piece, including Ortega and O’Hara’s choreography, made to mirror the “Day O” sequence in the original.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is a Warner Bros. Home Entertainment release. It’s 104 minutes and rated PG-13.

Street Date: November 19th, 2024