Movie Review | ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ – Fun yet unfocused

Lydia Deetz has a problem. After escaping the clutches of a predatory trickster demon in Beetlejuice, she’s lived a full life. She’s been married, then divorced, then widowed, and became a mother to her very own moody teenager. When we meet her, she’s putting her ghost-seeing abilities to good use, becoming the famed host of a television show all about haunted houses. Everything’s going well, until one ghost in particular rears his ugly green-haired head.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is first and foremost a fun movie. It has a wild set design and costuming, with every frame filled with vibrant activity. Whether in the foreground or background, something is going on at all times in the film, and it’s usually worth a laugh. The characters are heightened, behaving not at all like real people, which is for the better, as it gives the cast of heavy hitters a chance to swing big.

It’s hard to know where to start with the performers in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. The film boldly takes a phenomenal actor like Willem Dafoe, known for his subtle, endearing performances, and lets him fully embrace the role of an over-the-top police detective in the afterlife, completely consumed by his own character. Then there’s the return of Catherine O’Hara as Delia Deetz, who is mesmerising as the narcissistic widow, mourning her late husband while seizing every opportunity to make it all about herself.

Then, of course, there’s the man himself, Michael Keaton, in the role he was born to play. At 73, it seems he’s been marinating for years, becoming even more perfectly suited to portray the gravelly, grotesque ghoul. His physicality is stupendous, and at a certain point, you’re just waiting for the characters to say his name three times so he can steal the screen once again.

Impressively, the film holds your attention even in the absence of its title character. There’s never a dull moment in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, but it lacks a clear focus. The trade-off for having so many vibrant characters is that there’s simply too much happening at once. By the end, any semblance of a central narrative is lost, as the movie’s overlapping plotlines converge into a chaotic third act that is, at worst, hard to follow, and, at best, anticlimactic

One thing is for sure, you will never be bored watching the film. It’s constantly throwing things at the audience that are inventive, hilarious, and visually impressive. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is a fun sequel, but don’t expect to be blown away by the ending.

Rating: Half Price

Damian Levy is a film critic and podcaster for Damian Michael Movies.