Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024)

78% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 285 reviews)

Runtime: 105 minutes

Directed by: Tim Burton

Starring: The returning crew, plus Jenna Ortega, Justin Theroux, Willem Dafoe & Monica Belucci

From: Warner Bros.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice thankfully wasn't like leaving a cake out in the rain...

Beetlejuice is a film that has been viewed by me since childhood; sure, not that often as an adult but it's a film that has still held up even in 2024. Naturally, the news of a sequel 36 years later gave me great pause. I've avoided the Bad Tim Burton era entirely, hearsay's been enough to stay away. Yet, curiosity won out and someone did ask me last month if I would see the juice loose again, so the afterlife was visited once again; thankfully it was a journey worth taking.

I'll be cagey about plot specifics. As presented in the trailer, new and returning characters return to that familiar bucolic little town for someone's funeral. Hopefully people knew which person from the first wasn't asked to return, and why! Lydia now has a teen daughter-Astrid-but they're estranged and the viewer gets to see more of the afterlife than before.

Between the viewing last night and my writing this review today, time and thought did help improve my thoughts in regard to the film. Yeah, not all the humor landed nor did all the big swings BB took resulted in hits-one scene during the conclusion was too lengthy. Then, I realized that I shouldn't look at the deliberately irritating character so poorly as that was the point and they were as much a caricature as some were in the OG picture. This had to juggle several balls in the air but it wasn't as many as in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire & was not as much a mess either. As long as you can accept that a character or two won't appear too often...

What I definitely appreciate is that this avoids many of the modern movie tropes which just ruins films. The returning characters feel similar to what they were 36 years ago; “becoming more PC” was thankfully a direction they ran away from. The new faces were all interesting and fit in this macabre world. The Danny Elfman score was fine although what left the biggest impression was the soundtrack. Instead of Harry Belafonte, it was different music from a different era. Yes, I knew all those songs—except for the “post-rock” tune. That'd be because it's from a horribly pretentious band that tries and fails to be Pink Floyd... otherwise, the soundtrack was pretty rad.

Arguably the most important aspect: Beetlejuice Beetlejuice possessing the same Gothic, delightfully spooky, ghoulishly charming as in the first. In that regard, yes that was accomplished. Also critical: this was done without the usage of constant fan service moments. Aside from a popular supporting part returning, it rarely felt indebted to poking people in the ribs every two minutes by directing referencing what was done in the 80's. Instead, it was zany new ideas and references to pictures that the general public would find obscure.

If they HAD to make this sequel, thank heavens it wasn't one that sullied the memory of the original Beetlejuice. Heck, it's become increasingly rare that I like a popular new film as much as the consensus here; this is an occasion where I do. That's me keeping it real...