Beetlejuice Beetlejuice review – Tim Burton lets RIP

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is a hot mess. You’re going to have to resort to some spine-snapping (mental) contortions to argue otherwise. That said, an Eton mess is still enjoyable, and the same applies to director Tim Burton’s 36–years-later sequel to the dark supernatural comedy that elevated the former animator into the filmmaking big leagues. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is all over the place, but it’s still a lot of fun – for viewers, and evidently everyone involved in the ensemble project.

In Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder) has become a reality TV star with her own paranormal investigation show, but she continues to be plagued by visions of trickster ghost Betelgeuse (Michael Keaton). Drugs and dismissal have become Lydia’s unhealthy coping strategy, until a tragedy forces her return to the family home in Winter River. In tow are her artist stepmother Delia (Catherine O’Hara), and newcomers to the Beetlejuice franchise in the form of Lydia’s rebellious daughter Astrid (Jenna Ortega) and TV producer boyfriend Rory (Justin Theroux). This is only what’s happening in the world of the living, though. In the warped afterlife, Betelgeuse learns from pseudo detective Wolf Jackson (Willem Dafoe) that his ex-wife Delores (Monica Bellucci) has literally stapled herself back together and is hellbent on revenge.

If that hefty synopsis didn’t give it away, there’s a lot going on in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. Too much in fact for its 105-minute run time. The film feels over-stuffed with characters and plot threads that go nowhere or are severed in an abrupt, unsatisfying fashion. This applies especially to Bellucci, who is one of the film’s two (yes, two!) genuine villains, excluding mischievous Betelgeuse. After a menacing set-up with loads of potential, Delores vanishes for a large chunk of the film. Apart for her function in ticking off the “Stitch-Witch/Goth Barbie” role requisite to Burton’s work, she could have been left out of the film entirely. The same goes for Dafoe, although his uncharacteristically wholesome gusto elevates every one of his scenes.

With everyone jostling for screen time, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is an hour in before the title character even proposes one of his devious contracts. The film also features some very problematic racist stereotypes, in the form of a grumpy Asian laundromat owner, and black representation being limited to a non-speaking dance troupe in Afros and Seventies fashion. All this said, though, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is Burton having the most off-the-leash fun since 2012’s Dark Shadows. Whereas that soap opera-inspired film was consciously stilted, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice plays things expressive, fast and loose.

Looked at closely, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice seems to be set up as a career retrospective for Burton, complete with stop-motion animation sequences in a nod to The Nightmare Before Christmas and Corpse Bride. It’s also one of the clever ways the film includes Jeffrey Jones’s character from the original film, but not the actor himself, who has been a registered sex offender since the early Noughties. Burton has even managed to shoe-horn in a few in-jokes for fans, like a cameo from Danny DeVito where the star does nothing but dribble a disgusting substance. This ribs on complaints back in the day that DeVito’s Penguin was too visually disgusting to sell Happy Meals.

On that note, Burton is happy to be consistently gory and gross in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. Look out for a nightmare fuel baby. Things stay on the cartoony side though, realised through the extensive use of practical effects, animatronics and make-up, which were all hallmarks of the first Beetlejuice. With CGI dominating contemporary cinema, it’s a treat to see such a tangible, throwback approach to world-building on the screen again.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice probably won’t hit the bullseye for existing fans. It gets close but the magic isn’t quite there despite all the included ingredients. On the flipside, the film isn’t so deeply immersed in its own lore that it’s inaccessible to newcomers. New audiences are clearly welcome, while older viewers do have fresher aspects to appreciate, like the solidarity of the Deetz women when facing some very predatory men. While Keaton is probably the most muted of the cast – though that could be due to the “safer” writing of his character this time around – Ryder, O’Hara and Ortega are a pitch-perfect trio, warm and funny. Then there’s the very welcome addition of Theroux, who provides a good chunk of the film’s more sophisticated comedy.

In the end, amidst all the zaniness, and creative fumbles, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice delivers the enjoyable goods… even if only for the duration of the film. It’s not calculated, cookie cutter entertainment, and that’s to be appreciated. The heart of those involved is evident, beating strong and visible from within an exposed ribcage cast in resin and dripping with fake blood.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is in cinemas, including IMAX and other larger format screens, from 6 September.