It has been 36 years since the release of the original Beetlejuice back in 1988. Since then, Tim Burton has made some hits here and there. More or less, for the past twenty years, it seems that Disney specifically has caused him to have an identity crisis within his own filmmaking. From them forcing him to make big budget remakes like 2010’s “Alice in Wonderland” or 2019’s “Dumbo,” it seems as if Disney has been giving work that is made just for a quick cash grab rather than using his talents to make something that would complement his famous style. It seems that all has come to a beautiful bit of buildup that then led to the creation of his new film “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.”
Burton’s new film is not only a fair and entertaining follow up to its predecessor. It comes across, as previously stated, as though Burton is coming back to what made his work unique in the first place. With a sick sense of humor and a handful of impressive practical effects that ends up being much more memorable than any bit of CGI, while also making it easier for fans to believe that the film is indeed a followup to the original in both story and look alike. More than that, Burton adjusts for the modern audience by changing things by providing more violence and gore that is done in an overall whacky fashion that allows audiences to have a similar reaction to what they had when watching the original. Whether that reaction be disgust, laughter, horror or sympathy, all of it does work beautifully in this film. However, it does bring with it some of Burton’s more modern issues with creating convoluted stories.
Despite Burton committing to a wonderful return to form with what made him popular among audiences in the first place, it seems he can not help himself by introducing too many characters. At times it ends up being easy to forget that actors such as Willem Dafoe and Monica Bellucci are involved in the film at all. There are also times when the film can be a little lazy by giving little to no explanation as to why actors from the original like Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis end up being absent from the film entirely. Granted, the reasons for not including actors such as Jeffrey Jones, or Alec Baldwin as previously stated, are reasonable considering their criminal charges that would end up making audiences uncomfortable if they would be featured on the screen. Nonetheless, it comes off as just hiding it under the rug — this being obvious when viewing the film.
As a result of these issues there are some who may not be completely satisfied with how this sequel turns out, but the way the film manages to bring back Michael Keaton’s energy as Betelgeuse to such a high degree. This brings forth a wonderful two hours of laughs and scares, may be more than enough for the majority. It is definitely worth checking out for both “Beetlejuice” fans and casual moviegoers alike.
