‘Beetlejuice’ Review: Tim Burton Is Having Fun…and So Are We!

There’s no doubt that this sequel is unnecessary, but what a pleasure to see Winona Ryder, Catherine O’Hara and Michael Keaton back, to which we must add Jenna Ortega, Justin Theroux, Willem Dafoe and the always impressive Monica Bellucci!

Can we blame Tim Burton, Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton and Catherine O’Hara for succumbing to the capitalist sirens of a sequel that didn’t need to see the light of day? Can we blame them for making us laugh and shamelessly playing on our nostalgic sensibilities?

The answer is no, because the brilliant director (whose last feature films have not kept their promises, just think of Dumbo to convince yourself) takes a mischievous pleasure in going crazy, making self-references and accumulating gags, winks and jokes, all wrapped up in a deliciously old-fashioned scent to the rhythm of a memorable soundtrack that notably includes the Bee Gees and soul from the 1970s (the two scenes in the form of a play on words on the soul train remaining in the minds).

Because Tim Burton, eager to dissociate himself from the current avalanche of computer special effects, goes for the “real” with makeup (especially for Monica Bellucci and Willem Dafoe), animatronics (the baby Beetlejuice, in particular) and spurts of fake blood.

“Unbridled” is also the right term for this. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice given the many subplots of this somewhat muddled tale. The whirlwind, the work of Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, takes us after Lydia (Winona Ryder, as helpless as ever), now the star of a sensationalist show about the paranormal. Her lover, Rory (Justin Theroux, impeccably stupid), is also her producer and has no other goal than to marry her for reasons that have nothing to do with sentimentality.

Lydia is also the mother of Astrid (a sympathetic Jenna Ortega), a rebellious teenager who hates her and has never gotten over her father’s disappearance. In addition, Delia (a wonderfully offbeat Catherine O’Hara), now a celebrated artist, must deal with the death of Charles (played in the first film by Jeffrey Jones, since convicted of child pornography and now an animated character in stop motion).

Elsewhere, Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton, more hammy than ever) still wants to marry Lydia, while Delores (Monica Bellucci, with her tragic and magnificent air of a bride of Frankenstein), his ex, is chasing him by sucking up the souls of the dead.

So no, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is not a great work, but if Tim Burton is happy… then so are we!

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice takes the screens by storm from September 6.