‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ movie review: Tim Burton brings gob-smacking giggles and gore

A still from ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ 
| Photo Credit: IMDb

One of the annoying things of modern-day trailers is practically the whole story, with the best lines and stunts, being revealed in the two-minute promo. That is not a problem with Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the sequel 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), the Goth teen who sees dead people, and nearly married the politically incorrect ghost and bio-exorcist Betelgeuse (Michael Keaton), in 1988, now has a show, Ghost House, where she visits haunted houses. Her rebellious daughter, Astrid (Jenna Ortega), does not believe her mum can see ghosts especially since Lydia cannot see the ghost of her husband, and Astrid’s father, Richard (Santiago Cabrera).

Lydia is in a relationship with her producer, Rory (Justin Theroux), but still feels Betelgeuse’s presence including seeing him in the audience at the taping of one of her shows. When her father, Charles, passes away, it is time for the Deetz ladies— Lydia, her stepmother, Delia (Catherine 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 to be stuck with her mother, finds some measure of comfort when she runs into Jeremy (Arthur Conti), a youngster who spends all his time in his tree house reading Dostoevsky. It is Halloween in two days and many things are set to happen including Lydia’s marriage to Rory at the witching hour in the presence of “select influencers” and a probable Netflix executive. Astrid and Jeremy plan to hang out, distributing candy to the trick or treaters while Delia records blood-curdling screams for her grief installation.

There is everything to love and enjoy in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, from visual design to the energy of the spectacular cast. From the original cast, Keaton delivers a gloriously unhinged turn as Betelgeuse, Ryder personifies the lost Goth girl, who has grown up into a lost Goth mum, and O’Hara is so much fun as the installation artist Delia.

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

The visual style is a marvel of limitless imagination. The bureaucratic minefield that is the afterlife or the Soul Train to the Great Beyond that looks like a locomotive representation of the African American music genre, are all gob-smacking treats for the eyes. The different looks from classic black-and-white to tell Betelgeuse and Delores’ ill-fated love story to the animated look to Charles unfortunate demise — not a plane crash (though he was in one), or a drowning (the plane crashed into the sea) but decapitation by shark, are extra icing on this psychedelic cake. There is a sweet delight to this sequel that makes the 36-year-long wait for it more than worthwhile.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is currently running in theatres