People complain about sequels, but let’s get this out of the way. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is good. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice works. And that’s because the story works. It’s a semi-charming set up – replete with familiar Burton oddities – about a bio exorcist who is less than charming. The story by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar cleverly weaves older characters back into the sequel, and the best thing the team does is that they don’t try to explain too much. The ghost with the most has endured because he is mysterious.
What are his powers, why and how does he do what he does? Unclear. Do we care? Not really. The point is that the character is surprisingly as appealing as he is off-putting and it’s thanks to Burton’s genius and Keaton’s delivery. The original film had a standout eponymous character, and years later people still love the stripped one even though he only had 17 minutes of screen time.
The 1988 film was more about the Maitland and Deetz families, and this second outing sticks with the same formula focusing on the lives of the not yet deceased. And it really doesn’t get going until Catherine O’Hara shows up to do some heavy lifting. Surprise to no one, she’s hilarious! After a family tragedy, the three generations of Deetz women (O’Hara, Ryder, Ortega) return to the Vermont home and Lydia is still haunted by Beetlejuice. Everyone’s lives are turned upside down when Astrid accidentally opens the portal to the Afterlife. And take a guess who has to step in to help save the day?
With a second at bat, films tend to really swing for the fences and this really went for some crazy ideas (see Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey and Ghostbusters II for similar reference). Herein, some things have a great pay off, others less so. For one, this gets to feel like an hour-long TV special that stretches the material too far. It also suffers from too many characters (you have to pick Dafoe or Bellucci – both are just too much).
This hurts the film because it edges Beetlejuice out of his own movie, and he becomes more like a tag-along character. He was never the lead, and now he’s even less of a supporting role (although it was Keaton himself who didn’t want to pack too much Beetlejuice into this follow up). Second to that, there are several attempts to give him signature lines but very few work. Even the crowd in the theater was finding difficulty laughing.
The good news is that about halfway through, it gets a lot better, things start moving and the new elements develop nicely. Beetlejuice gets his time to shine. Things are tied up well and each character is given a satisfying resolution. Normally that might be too saccharine, but it oddly works here. Maybe those years at Disney are now starting to affect Mr. Burton. Either way, this sequel loses the dreariness of the ‘88 film, trading frights for delights, and the film succeeds in making the Afterlife kind of fun. People are really gonna love Bob and Baby Beetlejuice, and the dance numbers and music bring it home.
G-S-T RULING:
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice does make a perfect Halloween film, mostly because it’s set right at that time of year. If you think about it, it’s a pretty brilliant, if not entirely obvious move. So this feels more in line with Hocus Pocus than an obscure Burton film, especially when he’s not known for sequels. Treat yourself or the family and enjoy this trip back to Winter River. Get ready, it’s showtime!
