Say his name three times, though two will do for the title (Beetlejuice Beetlejuice)

My eyes rolled so hard to the back of  my head when Tim Burton announced the casting of the sequel to his seminal film Beetlejuice that they sounded like a drum roll on a marimba. Sure, Michael Keaton had sighted off on coming back because he said it was a great script and sure, Winona Ryder and Catherine O’Hara were in, but I don’t hold much of late period Burton in very hight regard (despite the presence of Big Eyes, Sweeny Todd, and Big Fish).

I didn’t realize or know that Burton has been as dissatisfied with his output in recent years as anyone. This may explain why those smaller films feel like outliers and how, once he moved farther away from the more organic processes of movie-making, his latter work feels so arch, artificial and just trying too hard. 

Admittedly, Burton was never a minimalist director, but even at his most outre, he didn’t lose a sense of connection with his characters. This is principally why, for me anyway, beginning with Sleepy Hollow, it was harder and harder to take his work seriously, or at all.

And yet, there are the three titles listed parenthetically. Away from Big Studio Output, Burton still retains a sense of the delicacy that was an earmark of his work from, at least, Edward Scissorhands through Ed Wood, and a wicked, subversive sense of humor that was present from the beginning in Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure. 

Beetlejuice, though, is a near sacred text for Burton fans and for a goud couple of generations who grew up with the film (and its cartoon spin-off, I suppose). It’s telling that everyone’s favorite bio-exorcist became a kid friendly commodity, along with the Ghostbusters cast of characters. Both of these films were founded on a bedrock of adult humor and subversion of a variety of tropes like romantic comedy and family dynamics. Plus, Beetlejuice is a wee bit of a horn-dog.

As the trailers for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice began showing up, I still wasn’t onboard. I distrust trailers, though I do enjoy them. However, in this case, I just felt that I was witnessing Burton’s cash grab, given how badly Dumbo performed and how much Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder’s careers have been reinvigorated. Plus, it felt like the addition of Jenna Ortega was cashing in on her popularity and piggy-backing on Wednesday’s acclaim.

Of course, after revisiting its predecessor, I knew I needed to see BB. I’m really glad I did. The old saw of “a return to form” is perfectly applicable here, and I agree with Keaton that there are some ways in which the current film might even be better. As a sequel, it more than succeeds at the assignment of following on the previous narrative, retaining the first film’s tone, and yes, maybe even exceeding the original in some regards.

 

Some have complained Beetlejuic Beetlejuice is a hodge-podge or a collection of episodes that don’t cohere. While I understand something of the criticism that the current film does feel like some of the parts don’t mesh, I see that as a feature, not a bug.

The parallel storylines of Beetlejuice and Lydia and Astrid and Jeremy work because Burton and his writers (the show runners for Wednesday - surprise!) are using that structure to emphasis how mother and daughter are dealing with, well, let’s face it, their respective conflicts and even their mother-daughter relationship. That sounds way too heavy handed, but it stands since that’s a major plot point in the movie and the theme of legacy looms large over both the Deetz family and film itself.

Some critics have slagged the movie for a cumbersome plot and I can see that for some people, but the truth is that plot has never been a primary concern for Burton; his focus on outcasts and themes of acceptance have provided a consistent throughline in his oeuvre. In this case, though, there’s intrafamily acceptance and understanding, in place of the societal critiques that have figured in other works. 

What I encountered was a hangout movie with some of the best characters Burton has ever created. It is entirely obvious to me that Delia and Lydia - O’Hara and Ryder - would grow into the women we ecnouter. It even makes sense that Ryder’s Lydia would wind up being taken advantage of by the oh-so-slick Rory (Justin Theroux never funnier and shiftier) and O’Hara’s Delia would find some not-at-all exploitative way of honoring her deceased husband through her performance art. 

“You’re that thing from my dreams!”

“Really more nightmare material.” (exchange between Rory and Beetlejuice)

All of this is well and good, but what of the man, uh, ghost behind the title? Beetlejuice has been continuing his scam as a bio-exorcist in the ensuing decades and doing his darned damnedest to find a way into our world (and even into Lydia’s arms) and the urgency picks up when his kind of ex- by way of deceased wife literally pulls herself back together to go in search of our boy and suck his soul into the further beyond.

For this, Monica Bellucci is tasked with basically a plot device of a role, which on the one hand, is a waste of talent and on the other, is a clever enough device to keep the proceedings moving apace. Also along to ratchet up the suspense is Willem Dafoe as Wolf Jackson, a dead actor who has refashioned himself as a detective in the Afterlife. He seems to have some kind of official cachet since he’s able to deploy uniforms to go after the Juice. Dafoe brings his usual commitment to the role and it works beautifully.

The fun part of a flick like this is how well the tightrope between screwball comedy and more grounded character development can be walked. In this case, pretty damn well.

There are comic set-pieces taht are as good as anything in the earlier film and there is a genuine look at the vagaries of just what does it mean to exist in the world when you’ve endured loss? Again, let me stress that Burton isn’t Bergman here; tho touch is absurdist through and through, and there’s no thudding sentimentality that otten derails the fun in movies like this. Even when it does look as if that’s going to happen, it turns out to be a dream sequence (and I swear, there’s a nod to last episode of Newhart (1982-1990) that I really don’t want to spoil). 

Also, there’s a ton of sight gags and sights that might make the frail among us gag, but describing them would be a waste.Suffice it to say that when the man asks who’s going to be first to spill their guts in a therapy session, guts will be spilled!

Of course, Keaton walks away with every scene he’s in because, duh. In a film replete with really good performances, it’s obvious he has to stand apart or the film doesn’t make it. This is a testimony to the writing team of Alfred Gough, Miles Millar and Seth Graham-Smith. It’s also telling that Burton trusted his cast to take risks and improvise and deliver a film that feels as organic as the first one. 

That most of the effect work is practical - stop-motion and puppetry - supercedes CG here is what makes the look and feel of the work so much more authentic. Tapping Haris Zambarloukos as cinematographer was a smart move (actually, a great one; he's one of the finest around - Belfast, Locke, Thor (no, seriously, there's some striking cinematography in there), and Kenneth Branagh's Agatha Christie adaptations which, while not great movies are beautifully lensed.)

It’s not a ding to say that Beetlejuice should be seen before seeing the sequel, but honestly, you could do worse. The two films complement and fill each other our delightfully.