In the age of the resurrected franchise, the Beetlejuice sequel has finally clawed its way out of Development Hell and into whatever passes for reality these days. It's something that we've said about a lot of movies lately, but this really is a film that didn't need to happen. Still, that doesn't mean it isn't a lot of fun.
Decades of cancellations and delays spared us from Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian and other questionable sequel ideas. The fact that 36 years have passed since the original Beetlejuice means that the new movie has a clear basis for a story, able to explore how the characters of the original have developed and to exposea new generation to the utterly bizarre world that Tim Burton created. Or, to put it another way, to see how this stuff holds up with fans of the original beyond pure nostalgia, and whether kids today will lap it up the way their parents did.
Of course, while we have Tim Burton, Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder and Catherine O'Hara all returning to their roles behind or in front of the camera, not everyone involved in the original was able to be involved, or indeed welcome. There's no sign of Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin (too old); Glenn Shadix (too dead); or Jeffrey Jones (too nonce). While the Maitlands are mentioned often, their absence is dealt with in a single throwaway line; still, better that than using yet more CGI de-aging to make Davis and Baldwin resemble their younger selves, as ageless ghosts should. Richard Deetz, on the other hand, is surprisingly embraced by the film, which is both decent and hilarious. Jones may be persona non grata, but his character is still a good guy and loved by his family, with the actor's absense being lampshaded through the use of an impersonation, stop-motion animation and, finally, just removing the character's head.
Keaton has aged as well, of course, but given how much make-up he was under as Beetlejuice (or Betelgeuse if you're old school) it doesn't matter so much. Hell, they probably had to use less make-up this time round. He steps back into the role like he never left, and is clearly having a whale of a time. He's used sparingly, which is wise; too much and he'd overwhelm the story, and his schtick would get tiresome.
Winona Ryder remains central, and so she should; Lydia was the heroine of the original (and, I'm pretty sure, my first screen crush, so I may have a biased interest here). Her character is well written, and she performs it beautifully: still the same quirky goth from 1988, but weighed down by the intervening years' strife and the trauma of her first brush with Beetlejuice. It's good to see that she's closer to her father and stepmother, and is now experiencing the same treatment from her own daughter. Having her present a show about her ghostly encounters is perfect; it's just a shame that creep Rory is dragging her down. Lydia grows considerably during the course of the film, taking back control of her life and even facing Beetlejuice without fear when she knew he was the only one who could help her daughter.
Catherine O'Hara is just as brilliant as ever, giving us an older, wiser, not quite as volatile Delia. The new cast are all pretty excellent. Jenna Ortega is perhaps too obvious casting for the next generation of pretty, sulky goth teen, but she's spot on as Astrid, undergoing her own growth and being a likeable character even as she infuriates with her dismissal of her mother. Justin Theroux is brilliant as the instantly-hateable Rory, a character you just can't wait to see get his comeuppance. (Nice of the writers to name a heroine after my daughter and a villain after my dog, by the way.) Arthur Conti, a virtual unknown, is excellent as the charming yet underhanded Jeremy, Astrid's love interest. He's definitely at the beginning of a stellar career.
Among the side characters, Willem Dafoe is predictably brilliant as actor-turned-ghost-turned-cop Wolf Jackson, and Burn Gorman is hilarious as the heavy-drinking, scripture-babbling Father Damien. Monica Bellucci, though, is sorely underused. She looks incredible as Delores, Beetlejuice's ex-wife/widow(?) and the sexiest zombie since Liv Moore, but she's scarcely in it and is more of a plot contrivance than a character. Bellucci deserves more than that. Still, her existence does explain that ring-bearing finger in Beetlejuice's pocket in the original (he must have put it back with the rest of her between films). There are a couple of fun cameos too, which are probably best left unspoiled.
So, we have a great cast performing some strong material. Unfortunately, the film itself is pretty incoherent. There's some great material in here, with some truly surreal moments, but the plot is convoluted and often breaks down into a series of sketches than a solid story, none of them funny enough to justify this approach. With multiple antagonists running around and continual twists and revelations, things never get boring, although the Big Twist that kicks off the endgame is howlingly obvious.
I dread to say it, though, but Beetlejuice itself wasn't that great a film. It's a cult classic, it's utterly unique (until now, at least) and those who watched it around the right age adore it, but it's objectively an indulgent mess. So it's not a surprise that Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is too. That doesn't mean I didn't have a great time watching it; it's got everything you could really want from a Beetlejuice sequel, evne if that means you know pretty much exactly what you're getting. (You love sandworms? I love sandworms!) It suffers, like a lot of modern films, from a trailer that paints something of a false picture (at least one joke falls flat, largely because a much better version was used in the trailer), but even so, you know what to expect going in. Judging by the stellar performance its had in the box office, that's precisely what audiences want.
Which is a good thing, because it's now inevitable that Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Beetlejuice will be along in short order. Will it be good? Just like this, objectively not. But who cares when it's this much fun?
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