BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE movie poster | ©2024 Warner Bros.

Rating: PG-13
Stars: Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Catherine O’Hara, Jenna Ortega, Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci, Arthur Conti, Willem Dafoe
Writers: Alfred Gough & Miles Millar, story by Alfred Gough & Miles Millar and Seth Grahame-Smith, based on characters created by Michael McDowell & Larry Wilson
Director: Tim Burton
Distributor: Warner Bros.
Release Date: September 6, 2024

Back in 1988, when supernatural comedies that invented whole other worlds were still a novelty (GHOSTBUSTERS had already arrived in 1984), BEETLEJUICE felt fresh and inventive.

The second feature film from director Tim Burton, who had previously helmed 1985’s PEE-WEE’S BIG ADVENTURE, BEETLEJUICE introduced us to Adam (Adam Baldwin) and Barbara Maitland (Geena Davis), a loving couple determined to keep their home even though they had died.

To this end, they summoned a demon, Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton), by saying his name three times. Beetlejuice promised to scare away the living family that has moved into the Maitland house. However, Beetlejuice really had designs on the Deetz teen daughter, Lydia (Winona Ryder), who became able to see Adam and Barbara. In the end, Beetlejuice was sent back to the afterlife, and the Maitlands and the Deetzes found a way to happily coexist.

Scripted by Michael McDowell & Larry Wilson, BEETLEJUICE was animated by a spirit of true whimsy that extended from its narrative frills to Burton’s idiosyncratic images.

While Burton’s visual style has been imitated often, he’s still the best at fulfilling it. This is amply demonstrated in BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE, where his design flourishes are found in virtually every shot.

BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE movie poster | ©2024 Warner Bros.

On the other hand, since 1988, every story element of BEETLEJUICE has been tried out elsewhere, with greater and lesser success. That other filmmakers see it as copy-worthy rightly flatters the original BEETLEJUICE.

The problem with BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE is not really that it borrows a lot from its earlier incarnation, and from other sources. It’s more that Burton and screenwriters Alfred Gough & Miles Millar, working from a story they and Seth Grahame-Smith crafted, don’t seem to fully have their own attention in terms of storytelling.

Thus, there isn’t one big plot thread, but a bunch of interwoven ones. Lydia (still Ryder) has grown up to be a stressed-out professional spiritualist, romantically involved with her clearly toxic manager Rory (Justin Theroux). She’s lost touch with the Maitlands and doesn’t react when she’s told they’ve “moved on.” (So much for emotional resonance from the heart of the first film.)

Lydia’s teen daughter Astrid (Jenna Ortega) doesn’t believe in ghosts, but cheers up when she embarks on her own romance with young Jeremy (Arthur Conti). Lydia’s stepmother Delia (Catherine O’Hara) is trying to figure out what sort of performance art she should do to commemorate the death of her husband, Lydia’s father Charles (played in the original film by Jeffrey Jones, and represented here in some clever ways).

Meanwhile, in the afterlife, Beetlejuice is being pursued and investigated by several unaligned parties, while he still wants to marry Lydia. It all sort of stitches together, but apart from one solid plot twist, we don’t feel much urgency about any of it.

Some of the gags are amusing. Keaton, Ryder, and O’Hara certainly sell their characters’ eccentricities. Ortega is called upon to play it straight, and she’s fine. Burn Gorman, as a priest, demonstrates exactly how seriousness juxtaposed with lunacy can be very funny. But mostly, and this may be BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE’s biggest demerit, it tries for many more laughs than it gets.

BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE is of course recommended viewing for completionists of the works of Burton, Keaton, Ryder, O’Hara, and Ortega. A fair amount of what they do here is worth seeing. Those wanting to re-experience the charms of the original may rewatch it, rely on memory, or use the new movie as a basis for comparison.

Related: Movie Review: DON’T TURN OUT THE LIGHTS
Related: Movie Review:THE DEMON DISORDER
Related: Movie Review: RED ROOMS (LES CHAMBRES ROUGES)
Related: Movie Review: THE FRONT ROOM
Related: Movie Review: SLINGSHOT
Related: Movie Review: DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE
Related: Movie Review: HELL HOLE
Related: Movie Review: ALIEN: ROMULUS
Related: Movie Review: THE CROW (2024)
Related: Movie Review: BLINK TWICE
Related: Movie Review: STRANGE DARLING
Related: Movie Review: PLACE OF BONES
Related: Movie Review: SKINCARE
Related: Movie Review: CRESCENT CITY
Related: Movie Review: ROB PEACE
Related: Movie Review: SATRANIC PANIC
Related: Movie Review: BORDERLANDS
Related: Movie Review: CUCKOO
Related: Movie Review: MICKEY HARDAWAY
Related: Movie Review: TRAP
Related: Movie Review: THE BEAST WITHIN
Related: Movie Review: DOCTOR JEKYLL
Related: Movie Review: #AMFAD: ALL MY FRIENDS ARE DEAD
Related: Movie Review: STAVRE ACRES
Related: Movie Review: THE LAST BREATH
Related: Movie Review: MIDNIGHT TAXI
Related: Movie Review: ODDITY
Related: Movie Review: THE ABANDON
Related: Movie Review: THING EARS SHALL BLEED
Related: Movie Review: LONGLEGS
Related: Movie Review: THE INHERITANCE
Related: Movie Review: LUMINA
Related: Movie Review:SOUND OF HOPE: THE STORY OF POSSUM TROT
Related: Movie Review: THE IMAGINARY (YANEURA NO RAJÂ)
Related: Movie Review: MAXXXINE
Related: Movie Review: DESPICABLE ME 4
Related: Movie Review: THE MOOR
Related: Movie Review: A QUIET PLACE: DAY ONE
Related: Movie Review: A SACRIFICE
Related: Movie Review: THE BIKERIDERS

Follow us on Twitter at ASSIGNMENT X
Like us on Facebook at ASSIGNMENT X

Article Source: Assignment X
Article: Movie Review: BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE

Related Posts: