Tim Burton ’s follow - upto his 1988 repugnance comedy classic arrives guaranteed to tempt in viewers , especially the horde who ’ve long been in sexual love withBeetlejuice , its characters , and its wildly original idea about whatreallygoes on in the hereafter . And for nostalgia alone , the sequel could n’t be more potent , return fans to that white Victorian on the hill for a reunion withLydia Deetz(Winona Ryder ) anda certain chaotic bio - exorcist(Michael Keaton ) . For that aloneBeetlejuice Beetlejuicevery virtually justifies its existence . But though the movie is entertaining and eye - popping ( sometimes literally ) , anyone expecting a new classic may sense a certain letdown .
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice‘s adult problem is , unsurprisingly , its own loom legacy . How do you top a near - perfect movie ? Without the life - after - death journey of Adam and Barbara Maitland ( Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis ’ characters , who get a couple of quick mentions but are otherwise absent ) to ground the story — we be intimate what expect the of late deceased this time around — the aroused nidus is on Lydia . It ’s marvellous to see Ryder slip back into her breakout character , but any human at all would make a less exciting booster than two awkward and confused new ghosts .
And our former teen boor idol ’s life is n’t go so well . Her spectre - whispering talents have made her a small-scale fame , host a hangout - hunting TV show produced by her boyfriend , Rory ( Justin Theroux ) , who pretends to be enlightened but is obviously an emotional lamia . Her relationship with her stepmother , Delia ( Catherine O’Hara)—whose graphics milieu has morphed from carving to video , and is pretentious as ever — has de-ice into something resembling affection , but Lydia ’s deeply begrudge by her teenage daughter , Astrid ( Jenna Ortega ) , who thinks she ’s a fraudulence because for all her sixth - sentience power , she ’s never once made liaison with Astrid ’s not - so - recently asleep Church Father . And there ’s another deceased founding father , too : Charles Deetz , whose elaborately frightening dying is the understanding the three generation return to that intimate home in Connecticut . ( It ’s a commodious kick - off for the tale , and also a convenient way to absolve the absence of discredit worker Jeffrey Jones . )
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While the Deetz women are contend with their various levels of heartbreak and gall , there ’s a parallel narrative depart on beyond the head covering : Beetlejuice ’s long - discarded wife , Delores ( Monica Bellucci ) , is prowl for revenge . Delores offers an entryway point forBeetlejuice Beetlejuiceto further research the thought that ghosts can really “ buy the farm , ” as suggested by the firstBeetlejuicemovie . The story also pokes deeper into ways theHandbook for the latterly Deceasedcan be used and abused , and because it spends so much time in the afterlife , we get a greater coup d’oeil of what that world is like ; it ’s visually astounding , but also tilt on “ hey , remember this ? ” laugh from the first movie , include the shrivelled - drumhead character and the purifying wait elbow room . Beetlejuice Beetlejuicereally , really loves that wait room .
The afterlife also gives us more to meditate this time around , including the notion that … the undead need a police force ? Willem Dafoe is a welcome raft in any movie , but his character here — a B - movie player subsist out his fuzz fantasies , complete with a grovel blonde secretary constantly handing him coffee — isn’t very well integrated into the news report . It ’s clearly meant to be an extension of the “ afterlife as a bureaucratism ” schtick from the first moving-picture show , but does n’t find well-nigh as clever . Beetlejuice himself is also stuck in that bureaucracy , run his bio - exorcist business , but — especially when he learn that Delores is after him — he ’s settle on on Lydia being his just the ticket back to the world of the living . He ’s still devious , selfish , and crass , but he ’s perhaps mellow a tiny bit . And this time around , he ’s not even the worst baddie in the story , as far noisome antagonist aim the Deetz women for their own role .
If the plot is overall a minute clunky and disjointed , at least it ’s never tedious , thanks in large part toBeetlejuice Beetlejuice‘s arresting production design , a timbre even Burton ’s most regrettable picture portion . Beetlejuice Beetlejuiceisn’t regrettable , but it ’s also kind of forgettable . That ’ll be an vantage when it inevitably becomes an one-year Halloween re - look out — it literally takes position on Halloween , a clear if cynical sign it already knows exactly where it will fit into succeeding pop culture .
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Beetlejuice Beetlejuicehits theaters September 6 .
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