‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ Movie Review: Tim Burton Brings Gob-Smacking Giggles and Gore

A still from ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ Image credit: IMDB

One of the annoying things about modern-day trailers is that practically the entire story, including the best lines and stunts, is revealed in a two-minute promo. Not a problem with that Beetlejuice BeetlejuiceSequel to Tim Burton’s 1988 critical and commercial darling. The trailer, which has been showing since forever, serves its purpose as a teaser of all the goodies to come.

Lydia (Winona Ryder), a goth teenager who sees dead people, and married the politically incorrect ghost and bio-ghost Betelgeuse (Michael Keaton) around 1988, now has a show, Ghost House, where she visits haunted houses. Her rebellious daughter, Astrid (Jena Ortega), does not believe her mother can see ghosts especially since Lydia, her husband and Astrid’s father Richard (Santiago Cabrera), cannot see ghosts.

Lydia is in a relationship with her producer, Rory (Justin Theroux), but still feels Betelgeuse’s presence including seeing him in the audience at a taping of one of his shows. When her father Charles dies, it’s time for the Dietz women—Lydia, her stepmother, Delia (Katherine O’Hara) and Astrid—to return to the original ghost house in Winter River. In the afterlife, Betelgeuse is being hunted by his evil ex-wife, Delores (Monica Bellucci), a soul-sucking witch who poisoned Betelgeuse during the plague.

Astrid, unhappy at being stuck with her mother, finds some solace when she runs into Jeremy (Arthur Conti), who spends all his time in the tree house reading Dostoevsky. It’s Halloween in two days and a lot is going to happen, including Lydia’s wedding to Rory at magical time in the presence of “chosen influencers” and a potential Netflix executive. Astrid and Jeremy plan to hang out, handing out candy to trick-or-treaters while Delia records blood-curdled screams for her mourning installation.

There is everything to love and enjoy Beetlejuice BeetlejuiceFrom the visual design to the power of the spectacular cast. From the original cast, Keaton delivers a gloriously unflinching turn as Betelgeuse, Ryder portrays the lost goth girl, raised by a lost goth mother, and O’Hara is great fun as installation artist Delia.

All the new cast members add pops of manic joy, with Bellucci getting a special mention as well as Willem Dafoe as B-movie star Wolf Jackson, who portrays Dashiell Hammett’s hard-boiled detective, and Danny DeVito as the janitor. Delores is the first to cross.

The visual style is a marvel of limitless imagination. The bureaucratic minefield that is Afterlife or Soul Train to the Great Beyond that looks like a locomotive representation of the African American music genre are all mocking treats for the eye. From the classic black-and-white look to telling the ill-fated love story of Betelgeuse and Delores, to the animated look to Charles’ unfortunate death – not a plane crash (though he was in one), or drowning (the plane crashed into the ocean) but beheaded by a shark, this psychedelic The cake is additionally iced. There is a sweet joy in this sequel that makes the 36 year long wait for it worthwhile.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is currently playing in theaters