Beetlejuice Beetlejuice – Film Review

Director – Tim Burton
Writers – Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, Seth Grahame-Smith
Stars – Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Catherine O’Hara, Jenna Ortega

This film is a sequel to the much-loved Beetlejuice from 1988, so this release is a mere 36 years after the first instalment. “What is the longest gap between a film and its sequel” I hear you ask? A quick Google tells me it’s actually “Bambi, the animated film about a young deer, and its sequel Bambi II released 63 years and 178 days apart”. I can’t say that Bambi II had quite the impact of the original and I suspect this release will be the same, although it’s not without its merits.

The majority of the original cast returns with a few notable exceptions (Jeffrey Jones and Alec Baldwin). The family is brought back together by the death of Charles Deetz (once played by Jeffrey Jones, but here he only features briefly as an animated character). They return to the ‘ghost house’ where the initial film was set in Winter River, Connecticut. Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder) is now a middle-aged woman with a child of her own (Astrid – Jenna Ortega). Lydia is a famous ghost hunter and explorer of the unknown, with her own TV show. Her TV producer Rory (Justin Theroux) has latched onto her and aims to marry her. Delia Deetz (Catherine O’Hara) is now a famous artist, but just as self-absorbed as the last time we met her. Lydia has been seeing visions of Beetlejuice for a number of weeks, and it’s not long before he makes his return to their world!

There are a few welcome additions to the cast, with Willem Dafoe (Wolf Jackson) and Monica Bellucci (Delores) both featuring. While neither character is particularly well-written, they’re always impressive on screen. It is enjoyable to see the return of the characters, with Catherine O’Hara particularly hamming up her moments on screen, and fans of Moira Rose (Schitt’s Creek) will enjoy what they see. The script is a little flimsy at times, with some scenes working better than others. A lot of the visuals are taken directly from the first instalment if slightly expanded, so there is nothing particularly new from the art department. Some of the best moments in the film are set to music with MacArthur Park and the Soul Train both being highlights. It’s not quite the return to form that fans of Tim Burton were hoping for. Regardless of its failings, it does deliver a quirky and stylish slice of Beetlejuice pie.