Written by Andreas Babiolakis

While I will always cherish how Tim Burton got me heavily interested in the works of stylish filmmakers, I feel like the iconic director has made enough duds that I feel like his authorial thumbprint can only take his features so far. This past decade has been especially rough, without a strong film since Frankenweenie (which I think is a highly underrated affair) or an even watchable one since Big Eyes (a film that is mostly strong until its flimsy conclusion). Who do you call when you need to deal with the dead (or, in this case, dead films like the awful Dark Shadows, the dull Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, or the annoying Dumbo)? Betelgeuse, of course, and Burton has done just that by revisiting one of his most beloved properties, Beetlejuice (his second feature film).

The fans have wanted it, and it’s not to say that what fans desire is always correct, but it’s what Burton needed to feel like he has some spark in his films again. While Beetlejuice Beetlejuice can’t hold a candle to the previous entry in this franchise, this sequel is inspired enough to make Burton fun again. Now, the director has always had a sense of humour, but — and this part is the most important — Beetlejuice Beetlejuice actually feels like a coherently told film: not one that is rushed or half-asses its exposition just to get to the good stuff. This actually feels like a complete film: maybe not a perfect one, but a complete one at that, and that’s all I can ask for considering how unfinished some of his stories can feel lately.

We revisit the tale of one Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder), who is now an adult and the host of a medium talk show to showcase her psychic capabilities of being able to communicate with the dead. She learns from her stepmother, Delia (Catherine O’Hara) that her father is dead after an unfortunate shark accident; while this is a plausible plot device, given the franchise’s connection to the afterlife, this was clearly a means of removing actor Jeffrey Jones from this sequel, considering that patriarch Charles Deetz is an important character in the series (and, obviously, I don’t think any director wants to include Jones in anything anymore). Lydia herself is a mom now, with a daughter named Astrid (Jenna Ortega) who is a skeptic of her mom’s ability to communicate with ghosts. All three women have their reasons for tapping into the undead as Beetlejuice Beetlejuice continues, and screenwriters Alfred Gough and Miles Millar do a great job of making this film not only matter but actually tie in to the previous film well enough to succeed as the very basic concept of what a sequel does: it furthers a story properly and cleverly.

*Beetlejuice Beetlejuice* is fun in the kind of way only Tim Burton can be.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice capitalizes on what makes the first film so memorable, from Michael Keaton being an absolute riot as the twisted entity Betelgeuse to the seamless connection between childish comedy and mature, gothic artistry. I appreciate the previous film because it’s a rare moment for adults or teenagers to feel like they’re young kids watching Saturday morning cartoons again, as if the afterlife is also where our youthfulness goes to die. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice keeps that same spirit alive, and now that I’m even older than when I first saw Beetlejuice, I appreciate forgetting that I have a receding hairline, bills, and grey hairs in my beard to match my crow’s feet that are slowly moving in. Burton brings back his stop motion animation antics to go alongside his typical sense of artistic direction (from the zany costumes and makeup to the elaborately exaggerated sets), and this feels all the more welcome in the day and age where corporations are finally revealing their AI generated commercials; I will always celebrate authentic, human compositions over generated filth.

While I think Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is mainly a success, it does have a couple of flaws I cannot overlook, mainly the Astrid storyline. This isn’t because the story itself is bad, but because the build up to it and the writing throughout it can be noticeably wonky (seeing how unfazed she is when she experiences hints of the afterlife and its ghosts, despite never believing her mother’s ability, was incredibly distracting, for instance). Even though the first act of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice takes its time to catch us up on the Deetz’s deets, it is the second act that may cut a few corners to try and get us in touch with Betelgeuse and the great beyond sooner rather than later (likely to keep the runtime a crisp one hundred minutes). Nonetheless, the majority of this film is great fun with oddities and slapstick comedy galore. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice does enough to further the lore of the previous film while have something new to say — primarily about generational, shared experiences — to feel welcome in both Tim Burton’s filmography and this adored franchise.

Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Toronto Metropolitan University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.