Every family has demons, every house has spirits, but some are a bit more literal than others. That’s what audiences discovered in director Tim Burton’s 1988 horror comedy Beetlejuice, starring Alec Baldwin (The Departed), Geena Davis (The Fly), Winona Ryder (Heathers), Catherine O’Hara (After Hours), Jeffrey Jones (Howard the Duck), and Michael Keaton (Mr. Mom). With time, Beetlejuice has not only grown to be a staple during Spooky Season, it’s a part of cinema history that’s been passed down across multiple generations. As such, a follow-up story has been batted around since the late ‘80s and, now, with most of the central cast returning along with several new additions, audiences are invited back into the afterlife with Beetlejuice Beetlejuice 2024 A.D., stylized as simply Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. For many, seeing Keaton, Ryder, and O’Hara return is a welcome treat, learning just what the trio of living and dead have been up to in a nostalgia-filled trip. Unfortunately, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is so wrapped up in denial that it’s a long road toward acceptance, leaving audiences with too many ideas and not enough of them executed to a point of satisfaction.
Far Left: Winona Ryder as Lydia in Warner Bros. Pictures’ comedy, BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE, a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Parisa Taghizadeh. © 2024 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.
It’s been decades since the Maitland and the Deetz families collided, their differences inciting the presumed need for bio-exorcist Betelgeuse and his defeat creating an opportunity for peace that would help the spectral Maitlands come to terms with their afterlife and the Deetzes with life in the rustic Winter River, Connecticut. Now, upon the death of Charles Deetz (Jeffrey Jones) and the return of Delia (O’Hara), Lydia (Ryder), and Lydia’s daughter Astrid (Jenna Ortega), an occasion of a different sort arises that may see the return of the ghost with the most to terrorize the living once more.
L-R: Catherine O’Hara as Delia, Jenna Ortega as Astrid, Winona Ryder as Lydia, and Justin Theroux as Rory in Warner Bros. Pictures’ comedy, BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE, a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Parisa Taghizadeh. © 2024 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is a film with a lot of ideas. The good ones explore the briefness of life, the value of facing trauma, and how shared grief makes the experience more bearable. Given the macabre nature of these films, death is treated once more not as something to be feared, but as a natural part of the cycle of living. Instead, the terror comes from whether or not your afterlife is a bureaucratic nightmare or an embrosial peace. This being a Burton tale and a continuation of the 1988 classic, the hilarity comes from the horror, and what’s more terrifying than the realization that you may spend the rest of eternity exactly how you died, instead of how you lived? What sort of hell is the afterlife if your form forever is not a cosmic representation of your whole, but the one that makes up your final living moments? Oh, the horror, indeed. But that’s what makes the best parts of Burton’s two Beetlejuice films so great: we get to stare at the void without it staring back, enabling us to laugh at the disquiet in safety. It’s important to note that there’s tranquility in the afterlife as not a single entity is challenged based on their appearance nor reduced in any capacity based on their apparent utility. There’s equity (of sorts) for all who need to see a case worker, grab transport, head through their version of immigration services, or any other pre-afterlife service. In an oddball way, it’s hard not to think of Hirokazu Kore-eda’s After Life (1998), which explores the transition from life to afterlife through the lens of similar service workers as they try to create the perfect eternity for each new soul. The main difference between the two films being that there’re far more guts, ghouls, and sex jokes in Beetlejuice.
Michael Keaton as Betelgeuse in Warner Bros. Pictures’ comedy, BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE, a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Parisa Taghizadeh. © 2024 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.
The point, if you will, is that when Burton and the script by Alfred Gough (Shanghai Noon) and Miles Millar (Shanghai Noon) remains focused, this long-gestating sequel is a surprisingly poignant story that fans of the original can dig into. The contention between Astrid and Lydia is not a re-hash of the conflict between step-family Lydia and Delia, but is grounded in Astrid’s disbelief in her mother’s paranormal abilities. Even if one considers that grandparents Delia and Charles would have told Astrid stories of the Maitlands, a notion which would potentially pokes holes in some of this friction, Astrid harbors grief from the fully-unprocessed death of her father and presumes that Lydia is actively denying her access to the spectral version of her father, creating a foundation from which denial and rejection forms. It’s not so strange or unusual for a child to be embarrassed by a parent, but when that child feels rejected by the parent, why would they believe anything they say? Thus, their not-quite-estrangement makes sense and gives the whole of the narrative a fantastic tension. This, of course, creates the forced confrontation/team-up between Lydia and Betelgeuse (a marvelous setup that should delight fans of the animated series) which mines hilarity from Lydia’s own unprocessed trauma — some of which lands surprisingly well and others which thud on delivery.
L-R: Winona Ryder as Lydia and Michael Keaton as Betelgeuse in Warner Bros. Pictures’ comedy, BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE, a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures. © 2024 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.
The issue, however, is that there’re too many narrative threads that end up weighing down the whole experience. From the trailer, we’re introduced to Monica Bellucci’s (The Matrix Reloaded) Delores, who is after Betelgeuse; Willem Dafoe’s (Poor Things) Wolf Jackson, who oversees the afterlife police; Arthur Conti’s (House of the Dragon) Jeremy as a new friend for Astrid; and Justin Theroux’s (The LEGO Ninjago Movie) Rory as Lydia’s manager/producer. Bellucci is, as always, a great performer who’s willing to get weird with a role, but the inclusion of a character hunting Betelgeuse is ultimately wasted. It adds zero tension to the story as utilized and its resolution is comical in the sense that it’s a throwback to the first film. Her role, and that of Dafoe’s, is more significant for the access it provides on the workings of the afterlife, aspects that make where Astrid comes into play easier to understand. That said, neither Delores nor Wolf are significant to motivating the characters or the narrative’s resolution to be more than time-killers within the runtime. Conti (in his first feature film role) delivers an understated performance that smartly balances against the rest of the film’s mania which opens moments for the film to feel more like a teen-coming-of-age tale than the horror comedy it is. The use of Jeremy intelligently transitions the focus of Lydia-as-damsel to Astrid, while doing so in a very different manner from the original tale, enabling Beetlejuice Beetlejuice to avoid stepping into nostalgic waters (something which the film does so often that it reduces the enjoyment overall). The plotline with Jeremy and Astrid is sweet, natural within the scope of this world, and generates an excitement missing from the other threads. This, of course, brings us to Theroux’s Rory, whose performance would be unsettling if played straight, but by making him a New Age, self-help empath makes all the narcissism far less threatening or interesting. Instead, he’s an annoyance who we can’t believe Lydia can’t see through. If Rory were played sincere, his intentions would be more mysterious, putting the audience on edge regarding whether he is good for Lydia or not. Instead, the inclusion of the character more often slows down the energy of each scene he’s in, forcing us to wait until he leaves. It’s not comical or entertaining — it’s an albatross.
Jenna Ortega as Astrid in Warner Bros. Pictures’ comedy, BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE, a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures. © 2024 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.
The odd thing is that Keaton’s Betelgeuse is (reportedly) in this tale about as much as before. In the first outing, that made a great deal of sense as he’s meant to be a building threat — first toward the Deetzes, then toward everyone. Here, he’s meant to be something that haunts Lydia as a trauma she’s yet to heal from and something circumstances force her to confront. *This part* is fascinating and leads to some of the more engaging pieces of the narrative. Anyone who has watched the Beetlejuice cartoon (anachronistic and anarchistic as it is) understands that they contain the potential to make for a great pairing (better friends than lovers ‘cause he’s still a gasbag in any incarnation). And while we *know* Betelgeuse is gonna Betelgeuse, given the right direction, his brand of mayhem is both righteous and hilarious. By keeping Keaton’s time on screen short, he’s able to maintain a high level of energy without overstaying his welcome. The delay in confrontation by Lydia is part and parcel of a larger issue within Beetlejuice Beetlejuice wherein the storylines of Dolores, Wolf Jackson, and Rory don’t make up for Betelgeuse’s absence and instead highlight how much better the film would be with more of him and less of them. Would a Beetlejuice film work with more Geuse? That part’s unclear, but the energy of the film drags because it delays the confrontation and, when they start to work together, it’s over before we realize it. Choices are made, but wherein the two work together, even begrudgingly (on the part of Lydia), it’s far more interesting with endless possibilities than what is conceived of and delivered by trying to stick with what worked before.
Michael Keaton as Betelgeuse in Warner Bros. Pictures’ comedy, BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE, a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures. © 2024 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.
While the narrative is a mix of fan-service and honest-to-goodness brilliance co-existing on a precipice, at least one can count on the performances from Ortega, Ryder, and O’Hara to carry the film when Keaton’s off screen. Additionally, the visual and special effects work are exactly what one hopes for from within the Beetlejuice universe: gross nightmares that’ll make you snort at their inspired character design. Though the narrative may leave one feeling wanting, especially with the way something things are explained that don’t line up within the newly-established rules of the afterlife, at least one can count on the vibe and characterizations to carry you through. Given how the film ends, one may wonder if a third film is coming down the pike and, to that, should we say “Betelgeuse” three times in the future, may the film find its footing by narrowing its focus and using its characters far more wisely and beyond the reasoning of “because we can.” Put another way, it may be time to just let the Geuse loose for real.
In theaters September 6th, 2024.
For more information, head to the official Warner Bros. Pictures Beetlejuice Beetlejuice webpage.
Final Score: 2.5 out of 5.
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Categories: In Theaters, Reviews
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