By Trudi-Rose Edwards
★★★★
It’s not every day that a sequel manages to surpass the original. But Tim Burton’s sequel to his 1988 cult classic Beetlejuice Beetlejuice may just manage to do so. Bringing back most of the original’s cast (bar Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis whose ‘presence’ (get it?) is briefly missed but not to the detriment of the film) it’s clear to see that everyone is having fun in this silly follow up.
Set 36 years after the events of Beetlejuice, the Deetz family returns home to Winter River after an unexpected tragedy. Lydia (the fabulous Winona Ryder) is now a middle-aged psychic who has found fame with the success of a ghost-hunting style TV show. She’s also in a relationship with her producer Rory (Justin Theroux) who is clearly not The One, not least because of his pretty atrocious man bun.
Lydia’s (rather miserable) life is turned upside down when her rebellious daughter Astrid (played by the perpetually sullen Jenna Ortega) accidentally opens the portal to the Afterlife, leaving Lydia with no choice but to summon the help of Michael Keaton’s note-perfect Betelgeuse.
There’s plenty to love about this film. Tim Burton’s classic quirky aesthetic is in full force, even retaining some of the 80s vibe of the first film. The cast is perfect and everyone brings their A-game; the soundtrack is sensational; the jokes are appropriately stupid; and there’s just enough gore to be disgusting but not disturbing.
The film’s sole weakness is that there’s probably one plotline too many. The mystery of what happened to Astrid’s father (the only ghost Lydia can’t see, intriguing) is underwhelmingly resolved. The high stakes of the plotline involving Astrid’s cutesy relationship with Jeremy, the boy she meets via a bicycle accident, are too quickly dealt with, extinguishing all suspense that came with them (granted, no iteration of Beetlejuice has been big on drama). Willem Dafoe’s great role as an afterlife cop feels like something from a different movie; and Monica Bellucci’s Delores – Betelgeuse’s ex-wife (yes, really) is given the Marvel villain treatment and reduced to storming around glaring at menacingly down the camera lens.
Despite this, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is pure fun and a good return to form for Tim Burton who embraces his gothic oddball brand with aplomb; reuniting with some of his favourite acting talents; including unnecessary but highly enjoyable musical numbers and even throwing in some old-school stop motion for the fun of it.
And that’s exactly what Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is: fun!
On in cinemas now