By Seth Lukas Hynes
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
Starring Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder and Jenna Ortega
Rated M
3.75/5
It’s funny how Michael Keaton’s career has come full-circle.
Decades after playing Beetlejuice and Batman, Keaton starred in Birdman, a semi-autobiographical film about a frustrated actor struggling under the shadow of a past superhero role, then returned as Batman in The Flash, and is now back in Beetlejuice.
Beetlejuice and just as much of a morbidly fun, sleazy tornado of chaos in this very entertaining sequel.
A funeral reunites spiritual medium Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder) with her estranged daughter Astrid (Jenna Ortega), but also sees the return of the crafty, clownish demon Beetlejuice (Keaton).
Ryder and Ortega work incredibly well together as mother and daughter, and the film weaves a satisfying tapestry of family bonds resisting the toxic people around us.
Gloomy yet vibrant and hilarious, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice continues the first film’s blend of macabre humour and undead bureaucracy, and is full of warped sets and wonderful practical effects (with director Tim Burton insisting on the minimum of CGI).
Willem Dafoe is clearly having a blast as Wolf Jackson, an action star turned afterlife detective, and Justin Theroux is one of the most detestable characters of the year as Rory, Lydia’s manipulative fiance.
Beetlejuice’s limits and the rules of the afterlife are a little nebulous, which does dent the tension slightly, and while Beetlejuice Beetlejuice has a strong running thread of Astrid growing closer to Lydia as she discovers the afterlife that drove them apart, Monica Bellucci is an afterthought villain as Delores, Beetlejuice’s sensuous, deadly but easily-forgotten wife.
A ghastly, endearing and above all fun film with great performances from Keaton, Ryder and Ortega but some slack pacing and a wasted villain, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is playing in most Victorian cinemas.
