Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” (2024).
Coming over thirty years after the original film, Tim Burton’s “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” is a complete marriage of ridiculous gags and charming storytelling.
“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” kicks off with the death of Charles Deetz, whose death by shark attack is told through stop motion animation. After learning of her father's demise, an adult Lydia (Winona Ryder) brings her daughter Astrid (Jenna Ortega), her stepmom Delia (Catherine O’Hara) and her partner Rory (Justin Theroux), back to Winter River for the funeral.
It’s here where the plot truly picks up. At Charles’ wake, Rory, a man reeking with ulterior motives, proposes to Lydia. He pushes her to agree to marry him in two days, on Halloween. Astrid, unhappy with this revelation, leaves home in a rush when she meets a cute boy in town. While the two other Deetz women are busy with their strange romantic subplots, O’Hara’s Delia is mourning the loss of her husband and resolves to honor him through art. All the while, Betelgeuse (Michael Keaton) plans his escape from the afterlife with the best character in the film, a zombie named Bob (Nick Kellington), and gives us insight into his backstory.
When Astrid’s cute boy, Jeremy (Arther Conti), reveals himself to be a ghost wanting to come back from the afterlife, Lydia is forced to enlist Betelgeuse’s help and agrees to marry him. After a ceremony gone wrong lands Delia in the afterlife, all three generations of Deetz women have to escape. And, of course, Betelgeuse is being hunted down by his ex-wife and soul-sucking demon Delores (Monica Belluci) and dead actor-turned-fake cop, Wolf Jackson (Willem Dafoe). The crazy night ends with another wedding gone awry, Betelgeuse being sent back where he came from, and all soul-sucking romantic interests entering the afterlife.
Noticeably missing in the film are Charles Deetz (Jeffrey Jones) and the Maitlands, played by Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis in the original film. The Maitlands’ absence is explained by the couple “finding a loophole” in the afterlife. Despite their absences, however, the film holds up against the original.
One of the biggest reasons for this is the use of practical effects throughout the film. In comparison to the original film, the sequel feels more rooted in realism, with darker and duller sets. Animatronics and special effects makeup bring the characters to life, especially the trickster demon and his crew of service workers. The film feels very much like the original, staying true to the world Tim Burton built in 1988.
Additionally, although some are a bit unnecessary and flat, the characters themselves generally keep you invested in this film, particularly in the second half. Bob, a “shrinker” from the afterlife, is one of the highlights of the film, despite having no lines. He simply oozes charisma that sticks throughout the film. One of the best scenes of “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” is a conversation between Bob and Jackson, Dafoe’s overly intense fake cop, as the latter interrogates the former.
O’Hara’s Delia is also a standout in the film; her completely energized and hilarious performance breathes life into the story. She nails scene after scene, from yelling at Astrid through a dormitory window to trying to capture the perfect “primal scream” to simply dying. O’Hara is possibly the best part of the sequel.
However, the film’s biggest drawback is common with works by Burton — some of the characters feel one-note and unnecessary to the story. In particular, Betelgeuse’s ex-wife Delores is an unnecessary addition to the story. After being introduced in a carefully constructed bodybuilding scene and explained in an amazing flashback by Betelgeuse, Delores does not do much beyond be a soul-sucker. In fact, her entire character could be removed from the film and cause very little changes. While not the worst offense, this surface-level writing does take away from the viewing experience of the film, making the audience question: why is she even here?
A perhaps clever part of this writing, however, is that it allows the situations these characters fall into to feel perfectly ridiculous. Specifically, the untimely ends most of these characters meet do not feel out of place because they are perfectly aligned with the writing throughout the rest of the film.
This film may have come 36 years after the original, but it stays true to its world through its absurd plotlines and practical effects. The story, although full of bad writing and one-dimensional characters, has plenty of charm, and the actors carry each and every performance through to the end.
“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” is a great addition to the franchise with its simple charm and ridiculous story — the Tim Burton package.
