Beetlejuice had the kind of box-office success back in 1988 that makes you wonder how it’s taken almost four decades for a sequel to finally be made. There was an animated series that ran for 94-episodes, but that’s not canon and you can still have an animated show that lives separately from its silver-screen brethren, much like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Ghostbusters did around that same time. With that all said, it’s obviously better when a sequel isn’t rushed out just to capitalize on box-office, though that’s just not something that happens too often, mainly because if money can be made then that’s what will be done.
Whatever the case may be, here we are 36 years later and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice has arrived in 4K. Now, while Beetlejuice has grown in popularity over the years and remains an iconic Hollywood character (especially around Halloween), the timing of Tim Burton and Jenna Ortega working together on the hugely popular Wednesday and then casting her in the sequel helped with its box-office success by bringing in younger audiences who may not be overly familiar with the original ghost with the most. But new leading cast member aside, the most important question is: how does the return of our favourite bio-exorcist (I’m, of course, taking liberties…you may have another favourite out there!) fare all these decades later?
It may sound like a copout, but that opinion will probably differ from person to person. What I can say is that I really enjoyed everything that Burton and company brought to the table, and was happy that they didn’t just retread the same old story. Now, that’s not to say that they didn’t do some throwback gags, such as giving this film its own possessed song and dance sequence, but I felt that they worked as nods to fans and not simply taking the easy route to fill screen time.
I thought that the way they brought the Deetz family back to Winter River was smart, and having Lydia (Winona Ryder) be the host of a TV show called Ghost House (playing off all those ghost hunter shows out there) made sense for where her character is at currently in her life. Though while on set she’s struck with PTSD, as she thinks she sees Betelgeuse (that’s how his name is actually spelled, but we’ll just stick with Beetlejuice to keep it easy reading) in the audience. This sets her into a panic where we learn she takes medication to keep from seeing the actual dead who like to talk to her.
It’s probably no real spoiler to learn that Jeffrey Jones (who played Lydia’s dad Charles in the original) didn’t return due to charges laid against him back in 2002/2003, so what gets Lydia to return to Winter River is his off-screen death. Lydia, her daughter Astrid (Ortega), and her step-mother Delia (Catherine O’Hara) return to the house from the original film for the funeral. Oh, and Lydia’s manager/boyfriend, Rory (Justin Theroux) is also along for the ride.
On the Netherworld side of things Beetlejuice, who still longs for Lydia as the one who got away, is running a bio-exorcism business, with the memorable shrunken headed Bob from the original film as his top guy (and a bunch of similar looking fellows with shrunken heads filling out his employ.) Beetlejuice is taken into custody by “detective” Wolf Jackson, played fantastically by Willem Dafoe. Jackson was an actor who played the character Wolf Jackson and did all of his own stunts, which is what lead to his untimely death. So in the Netherworld he’s a cop, but he’s also not really a cop? He’s a cop who struggles with knowing he’s an actor playing a cop, but also embraces the character he was born to play. It’s a whole thing, but Dafoe is superb and is always great to watch when he’s on screen.
So Jackson tells Beetlejuice that his ex-wife Delores (Monica Bellucci) has returned from the dead…dead…and is on a killing spree looking for him. Beetlejuice is not keen to hear this news and doubles down on his efforts to get Lydia to notice him so that they can finally get married, which would also solve his Delores problem for reasons better explained in the film than here. So it turns out Lydia isn’t crazy or suffering PTSD and that Beetlejuice is doing his worst to get her to summon him once again.
There’s a lot more going on in this installment than there was in the first, but that’s not surprising, as sequels tend to up the ante and delving deeper into the Netherworld and the cast of characters within, while also keeping Beetlejuice front and center was a smart way to go. Embracing the almost 40-years since the first film passed and showing how Lydia has tried to deal with all that happened to her at such a young age was a good move, and having her daughter not believe that she has the ability to see ghosts is the “safe route” to go, but also makes the most sense. Sometimes the safe route or the most cliché take is that way for a reason – because it works.
Then there’s Michael Keaton, who returns as Beetlejuice and absolutely knocks it out of the park once again. Who would’ve thought that in the past two years we’d get to see Keaton reprise his roles from 1988 (Beetlejuice) and 1989 (Batman) and he’d step into them without missing a single beat. His comedic timing hasn’t flinched, and to me it felt like he was even better in the role this time out. That may be sacrilege to say, but I’m not knocking his ’88 performance at all. I’m just saying it felt like he was thrilled to get to play the part again and just let himself enjoy every aspect of it at this point in his career.
As mentioned earlier, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice may not be a sequel that everyone loves. While I believe it only makes the original film stronger for all the right reasons, there’ll be people who worship the original and nothing Burton could’ve done would’ve lived up to their expectations for revisiting the character. Some just may not enjoy the angle they took with the story, and that’s to be expected. It’s impossible to please everyone, but I do think that more will enjoy it than won’t, as it’s an incredibly fun, well-paced movie that helps flesh out this gorgeously atmospheric and creepy undead world full of characters new and old. Now, thanks to the simple yet magnificent titling of the film, the only question that remains is: how long until we see Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice?
Overall Movie Score: 4/5
4K Blu-ray Video and Audio Review:
If you want to see an incredible looking movie, well, I mean, the name Tim Burton being attached is usually a dead giveaway on that front, but this 4K release is truly a masterpiece in visual and audio formatting. There’s not much that can’t be gushed about in this HDR10/Dolby Vision delivery, which showcases every colour and every detail in every beautiful set piece, and all the fantastic costume design. Not to mention the makeup (which the original won an academy award for), which looks flawless even in 4K, which is no small feat.
The audio is just as strong, with a superb Dolby Atmos mix that fills the room with a wonderful score, top quality sound effects, and crystal-clear dialogue front and center. If you’ve got a full surround sound system that you can let loose on then you’ll truly get the most out of this ghost; however, even if you have to watch your audio levels where you live, having a couple of speakers off to the sides that help fill out the sound mix truly does wonders with everything this movie has to offer.
Special Features:
This disc has the amount of full, informative special features that we wish all films received. While we know that will just never be, let’s enjoy it when it happens!
Audio Commentary – We’ve got Burton delivering a full commentary track that really delves into all aspects of the filmmaking experience, from talking about the original, working with everyone again, and just getting to make the sequel in general. Top tier commentary track here that can’t be missed by fans of the film, or filmmaking in general.
The Juice is Loose: The Making of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice – Here we’ve got a 28-minute behind-the-scenes feature that sees cast and crew talking about working on the film, working together again, and so forth. This is just a fun feature that doesn’t overstay its welcome.
The Ghost with the Most: Beetlejuice Returns – Here we’ve got an eight-and-a-half minute featurette that sees the cast and crew talk about our title character and how he’s portrayed here and in the original film.
Meet the Deetz – This is a 7-minute featurette that focuses on the Deetz family that returns for this film, talking about the characters and so forth.
Shrinkers, Shrinkers Everywhere! – Here we’ve got a six-and-a-half-minute featurette that clearly focuses on the shrunken head characters and how they’ve taken on a bigger role in the sequel. Not that that’d be hard, given that Bob was just sitting on a couch in the first film.
An Animated Afterlife: The Stop-Motion Art of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice – Here we’ve got a featurette that’s just over 9-minutes in length and focuses on the stop-motion work done for the film. We’ve got the airplane crash sequence, which explains the death of Charles, as well as the returning sandworm, who brilliantly didn’t get a CGI upgrade and remains wacky and wonderful claymation!
The Handbook for the Recently Deceased – Here we’ve got a 12-minute feature that focuses on the supporting dead cast, and focuses more on the Netherworld visuals and effects in the film.
‘Til Death Do We Park: Beetlejuice and Lydia’s First Dance – This is an 8-minute featurette that focuses on the song and dance number in the film, which is just magnificently done. It’s great to watch it in the film, and I love that we get to see it broken down here as well!
Disclaimer: A review copy of this Blu-ray was sent to me to cover in honest and truthful fashion.
Warner Bros. Pictures Presents Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. Directed by: Tim Burton. Written by: Michael McDowell, Larry Wilson, Alfred Gough. Starring: Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Jenna Ortega, Catherine O’Hara, Justin Theroux, Willem Dafoe, Monica Bellucci, Danny DeVito. Running time: 104 Minutes. Rating: PG-13. Released on 4K Blu-ray: Nov. 19, 2024.
About Brendan Campbell
