Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024) – Movie Review

Quick Thoughts – Grade – B – Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is a crowd pleasing romp that features inspired direction from Tim Burton and committed performances from Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Jenna Ortega, Willem Dafoe, Justin Theroux, and Catherine O’Hara. 

After a decade of movies like Dumbo, Alice Through the Looking Glass, and Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, it was a relief when Beetlejuice Beetlejuice immediately had audiences laughing. It’s a movie about ghosts and the people who can see them, but it feels very alive as Burton and his cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos (Belfast, A Haunting in Venice, Locke) unleash the camera and allow it to float like a ghost as it follows the journey of Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder) and her teenager daughter Astrid (Jenna Ortega) as they deal with supernatural maniacs. There is a freshness to the proceedings that wasn’t initially expected and there are some genuinely funny moments that had the people in the theater clapping with delight.

The biggest flaw of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is that it’s loaded with an absurd amount of storylines and characters. However, their payoffs seemed to satisfy everyone in the theater and the extra storylines do a nice job of bringing everyone together at the end. The multiple storylines feature Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton – hilarious) dealing with his literal soul sucking ex-wife Delores (Monica Belucci) who is scouring the afterlife for her former husband so she can get revenge for her death (things ended badly between them). Then, there’s Lydia, who has become a world famous TV personality who visits haunted homes for her television show Ghost House. During the taping of an episode she learns from her stepmom Delia (Catherine O’Hara) that her dad Charles (Jeffrey Jones – not shown for obvious reasons) was eaten by a shark AFTER his plane crashed in an ocean. This forces Lydia, Delia, Lydia’s boyfriend Rory (Justin Theroux), and her daughter Astrid (Jenna Ortega) to return to their home in Connecticut (that is now Maitland free because Lydia found a convenient way for them to move on). While there Astrid meets a cute kid named Jeremy (Arthur Conti), and the two bond over classic literature and the Pixies. Toss in Willem Dafoe’s underworld boss Wolf Jackson (who loves coffee), Beetlejuice’s assistant Bob, Lydia’s dead husband Richard (Santiago Cabrera), and a weirdo minister named Father Damien (Burn Gorman) and there’s a lot of characters getting screen time. Normally, this would prove to be a film’s undoing, but Beetlejuice Beetlejuice moves so quickly that it doesn’t really matter because there are so many laughs. 

All of these characters and storylines eventually converge, but it would be a shame to tell you how because there are some twists and turns that you should experience without spoilers. It’s worth noting that Ryder, O’Hara’ Ortega, Theroux, Dafoe and Keaton are all wonderful and their characters pop off the screen. A lot of credit goes to the screenplay from writers Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, and Seth Grahame-Smith (who got a story credit). They keep the film moving and the 104 minutes zip along towards a fun conclusion that had everyone in the theater clapping for Beetlejuice’s assistant Bob – who might be the film’s MVP. 

As always the costume design from four-time Oscar winner Colleen Atwood (Chicago, Sleepy Hollows, Alice in Wonderland, Sweeney Todd) is perfect, and the production design by Mark Scruton (Wednesday) feels real and alive. Michael Keaton said he’d only reprise the Beetlejuice role if the gags were filmed practically and not in front of a green screen. He most certainly got his wish as the cavernous sets built in London soundstages look wonderful. Burton thought about retirement after making Dumbo, and after it’s nice seeing him enjoy himself again with Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. The movie feels alive, and despite way too many characters, you should see it with a packed audience.